[EL] my statement on today's events

Wed Jan 6 14:36:37 PST 2021

Hi all:

Let's keep in mind that even if Congress is delayed in counting the
electoral votes from the states it does not really matter.  The electoral
votes have already been certified by the states and the 12th Amendment does
not require Congress to certify the  electoral votes.  Instead, the action
today is more ceremonial to determine if  a candidate has a majority of the
electoral vote.  If not, then  the House picks the president.  But short of
that eventuality, one should not be using the word "certify" to what
Congress is doing here.  At best it is ministerial, more exact ceremonial.
The Electoral Vote act, upon which the challenges occurred today, should
really only be thought on in situations where  there are questions about
which slate of electors  are valid, not a wholesale challenge to  state
elections where the results have already been certified.

On Wed, Jan 6, 2021 at 4:22 PM Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu> wrote:

> My Statement: When Order is Restored at the Capitol, Congress Needs to
> Quickly Count the Electoral College Votes Confirming Biden Victory and
> Trump Needs to Be Immediately Removed from Office
> <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120280>
>
> Posted on January 6, 2021 2:20 pm <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120280>
> by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Today has been a very sad day for American democracy. Just as Congress was
> beginning the formality of the process of counting state electoral college
> votes—as a disingenuous objection for counting Arizona’s electoral college
> votes from Rep. Gosar and Sen. Cruz was being debated separately in the
> House and Senate–an armed angry mob of Trump protesters, encouraged by
> President Trump, stormed the Capitol. The images were profoundly disturbing
> of Trumpist and QAnon protesters marching freely within the Capitol, with
> one in Speaker Pelosi’s office and another in the front of the Senate
> chamber. There has been violence, with reports of at least one person shot.
> Law enforcement has been slow to respond, and eventually we will find out
> why But order is slowly being restored.
>
> Within hours, I expect that law enforcement officers will regain control
> of the Capitol complex. Tonight or perhaps early tomorrow the Senate and
> House will resume their deliberations. If Senators like Ted Cruz and Josh
> Hawley were more responsible given today’s horrific events, they will
> withdraw their objections and no other Senators will raise objections. This
> would end the debates (because it takes a Senator and a Representative to
> join in an objection) and the formality of counting can be done
> expeditiously, formally declaring Joe Biden the winner of the election. If
> the objections continue, it will take more hours to get through the
> counting, but the counting will happen.
>
> (Even if protesters managed by delay things further, which they will not
> be able to do, Trump is out of office automatically by virtue of the 20th
> amendment on January 20 at noon, leaving Nancy Pelosi as Acting President.
> It won’t come to that.)
>
> Restoring order and finishing the constitutionally mandated counting of
> the ballots is step number one. Step number 2 is dealing with President
> Trump’s remaining two weeks in office. For years I have been writing about
> how dangerous he has been for American democracy, and indeed a big thrust
> of my most recent book (Election Meltdown) and my book in progress (Cheap
> Speech) is the dangers of Trump and Trumpism to American democracy. A
> democracy depends upon conducting fair elections and the losers (perhaps
> grudgingly) accepting those results as legitimate and agreeing to fight
> another day.
>
> Trump has never accepted this democratic value and never agreed to a
> peaceful transition of power. He has put forward completely debunked
> conspiracy theories saying that the election was stolen, that the results
> rigged. Whether he believes it or not, he has convinced millions of his
> followers to believe it. He told his followers for days to come to DC for
> today’s counting for a “wild” protest. He encouraged today’s march on the
> capitol. He’s only belatedly told protesters to “go home,” while still
> spewing conspiracy theories.
>
> This attempt to overturn the results by force followed his attempts to
> strong arm Republican election officials and legislators to overturn the
> results of the election in numerous states. They have admirably resisted
> despite relentless pressure. His most recent call, last Saturday, with
> Georgia’ secretary of state, is a likely crime under both federal and
> Georgia law. He continues to foment violent resistance based upon lies with
> his most ardent supporters.
>
> Trump’s term ends on January 20 unless he is removed from office earlier.
> It can happen either through invocation of the 25th amendment, done by VP
> Pence and a majority of the cabinet, on grounds that Trump has shown his
> unable or unwilling to fulfill his duties as President, or through
> impeachment and removal from office.
>
> It is not just liberals making this call. Business leaders and some
> Republicans and leading conservatives have said that today has crossed the
> line. Trump needs to be removed from office and it needs to happen
> immediately. If impeached, he should be disqualified from ever holding
> office again. (He can even be impeached and disqualified after leaving
> office.)
>
> Removal is very unlikely to happen given the hold that Trump continues to
> hold over the Republican Party base, but there’s no question that it should.
>
> It will take years to undo the damage to American democracy coming from
> what we have seen during this presidency culminating in today’s dangerous
> actions. That is Step 3 and we will have to think hard about how to make it
> happen.
>
> American democracy remains in peril. We need all hands on deck to restore
> it.
>
> [image: Share]
> <https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D120280&title=My%20Statement%3A%20When%20Order%20is%20Restored%20at%20the%20Capitol%2C%20Congress%20Needs%20to%20Quickly%20Count%20the%20Electoral%20College%20Votes%20Confirming%20Biden%20Victory%20and%20Trump%20Needs%20to%20Be%20Immediately%20Removed%20from%20Office>
>
> Posted in Election Meltdown <https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=127>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Rick Hasen
>
> Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
>
> UC Irvine School of Law
>
> 401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
>
> Irvine, CA 92697-8000
>
> 949.824.3072 - office
>
> rhasen at law.uci.edu
>
> http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
>
> http://electionlawblog.org
>
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
David Schultz, Distinguished University Professor
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