[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/9/21

[Rick Hasen]

“Facing Backlash, Republicans Confront Trump’s Effect on Their Party”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120358>
Posted on January 9, 2021 5:47 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120358> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT:<https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/09/us/politics/republican-party-trump.html>

When a distraught constituent accosted her on Tuesday night at a restaurant in the nation’s capital, Representative Nancy Mace confronted an impossible task that sprang from President Trump’s false promises: getting them to understand why she and other Republicans in Congress could not simply overturn the results of the election.

Driven by Mr. Trump’s fictitious claims that the election had been stolen from him — and that lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence could clinch him another four years in power during Congress’s official electoral count — the voter had come all the way from Ms. Mace’s home state of South Carolina to witness it. Now, the voter, shaking and in tears, demanded to know why Ms. Mace, a first-term congresswoman, had refused to join the effort.

Calm but firm, Ms. Mace tried to explain that it was not Congress’s role to subvert the results of an election — and that to do so would defy the Constitution.

“It didn’t matter what I said,” Ms. Mace said in an interview. “They didn’t believe it.”

Similar scenes — sometimes painful, always unresolvable — played out again and again in Washington this week in the hours before and after a violent mob urged on by Mr. Trump stormed the Capitol<https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/us/politics/capitol-breach-trump-protests.html>, as Republican voters loyal to the president cornered Republican lawmakers who voted to certify the election results, demanding answers and promising revenge.

The confrontations — and the scenes of mayhem that unfolded on Wednesday — have brought Republicans face to face with the consequences of their yearslong alliance with Mr. Trump, providing human evidence of the downside of his deep influence on the voters who form their party’s base.

It helps explain the searing anger that has prompted many Republicans to belatedly turn against Mr. Trump after years of enabling him and seeking his validation. But it also reflects the conundrum in which the Republican Party finds itself, beholden to voters who have internalized the president’s falsehoods and been emboldened by his divisive talk.

“Their hearts, minds and wallets were taken advantage of,” Ms. Mace said, her voice rising in fury. “Millions of people across the country who were lied to. These individuals, these hardworking Americans truly believe that the Congress can overturn the Electoral College.”

Many Republican members of Congress stoked that belief this week when they objected to Mr. Biden’s victory in battleground states<https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/us/politics/congress-gop-subvert-election.html> and backed the challenges<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/07/us/elections/electoral-college-biden-objectors.html> in votes that illustrated their party’s rift. In the House, more than half the Republicans, including the party’s top two leaders, voted in support of the challenges, while in the Senate, fewer than 10 Republicans did so and the leaders were vocally opposed.

The videos that emerged from the standoffs dramatized the yawning distance between elected Republicans in Washington who are increasingly desperate to peel away from the president and their constituents who say they will never let go.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Pence has not ruled out 25th Amendment, source says”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120356>
Posted on January 9, 2021 5:44 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120356> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

CNN:<https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/09/politics/mike-pence-25th-amendment/index.html>

Vice President Mike Pence has not ruled out an effort to invoke the 25th Amendment<https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/06/politics/25th-amendment-explainer/index.html> and wants to preserve the option in case President Donald Trump becomes more unstable<https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/09/politics/donald-trump-dangerous-capitol-riot/index.html>, a source close to the vice president says.

The source said there is some concern inside Pence’s team that there are risks to invoking the 25th Amendment or even to an impeachment process, as Trump could take some sort of rash action putting the nation at risk.

For now, the source said Pence and his advisers hope to provide a bridge to the next administration and do as much as possible to assist President-elect Joe Biden’s team in preparing for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“White House Forced Georgia U.S. Attorney to Resign”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120354>
Posted on January 9, 2021 5:39 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120354> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WSJ:<wsj:>

White House officials pushed Atlanta’s top federal prosecutor to resign before Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoffs because President Trump was upset he wasn’t doing enough to investigate the president’s unproven claims of election fraud, people familiar with the matter said.

A senior Justice Department official, at the behest of the White House, called Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney Byung J. Pak and told him he needed to step down because he wasn’t pursuing vote-fraud allegations to Mr. Trump’s satisfaction, the people said.

Mr. Pak resigned abruptly on Monday—the day before the runoffs—saying in an early morning email to colleagues that his departure was due to “unforeseen circumstances.”

The pressure on Mr. Pak was part of Mr. Trump’s weekslong push to try to alter presidential election results favoring President-elect Joe Biden<https://www.wsj.com/topics/person/joe-biden>, which included his win in Georgia. Mr. Trump this week, following the U.S. Capitol riot<https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-protesters-are-in-the-building-inside-the-capitol-stormed-by-a-pro-trump-mob-11609984654?mod=article_inline>, said he would leave office on Jan. 20 when Mr. Biden is inaugurated.
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>, Department of Justice<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>


“Can Twitter Legally Bar Trump? The First Amendment Says Yes”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120352>
Posted on January 9, 2021 5:35 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120352> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Adam Liptak NYT column.<https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/09/us/first-amendment-free-speech.html?smid=em-share>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“‘Find the fraud’: Trump pressured a Georgia elections investigator in a separate call legal experts say could amount to obstruction”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120350>
Posted on January 9, 2021 5:29 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120350> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Another Amy Gardner exclusive<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-call-georgia-investigator/2021/01/09/7a55c7fa-51cf-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html> for WaPo:

President Trump urged Georgia’s lead elections investigator to “find the fraud” in a lengthy December phone call, saying the official would be a “national hero,” according to an individual familiar with the call who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the conversation.

Trump placed the call to the investigations chief for the Georgia secretary of state’s office shortly before Christmas — while the individual was leading an inquiry into allegations of ballot fraud in Cobb County, in the suburbs of Atlanta, according to people familiar with the episode.

The president’s attempts to intervene in an ongoing investigation could amount to obstruction of justice or other criminal violations, legal experts said, though they cautioned a case could be difficult to prove.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger had launched the inquiry following allegations that Cobb election officials had improperly accepted mail ballots with signatures that did not match those on file — claims that state officials ultimately concluded had no merit.AD

In an interview with The Washington Post on Friday, Raffensperger confirmed that Trump had placed the Dec. 23 call. He said he was not familiar with the specifics of what the president said in the conversation with his chief investigator, but said it was inappropriate for Trump to have tried to intervene in the case.

“That was an ongoing investigation,” Raffensperger said. “I don’t believe that an elected official should be involved in that process.”

The Post is withholding the name of the investigator, who did not respond to repeated requests for comment, because of the risk of threats and harassment directed at election officials.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Since Election Day, Trump has made at least three calls to government officials in Georgia in an attempt to subvert President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, beginning with a conversation <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-kemp-call-georgia/2020/12/05/fd8d677c-3721-11eb-8d38-6aea1adb3839_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_14> with Gov. Brian Kemp (R) in early December to berate him for certifying the state’s election results.
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Posted in chicanery<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>


“NY-22: Tenney Appeals, Brindisi Awaits Victory In Still Uncalled Congressional Race”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120348>
Posted on January 9, 2021 5:20 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120348> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The latest.<https://www.wicz.com/story/43146249/tenney-appeals-judges-dec-8th-decision-to-not-certify-her-winner-of-ny22-election>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Pro-Trump dark money groups organized the rally that led to deadly Capitol Hill riot”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120346>
Posted on January 9, 2021 8:43 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120346> by Richard Pildes<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>

CNBC<https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/09/pro-trump-dark-money-groups-organized-the-rally-that-led-to-deadly-capitol-hill-riot.html> and others begin the process of following the money:

The rally, officially known as the “March to Save America,” was largely organized by a 501(c)(4) group known as Women for America First. The organization was certified by the Internal Revenue Service as a nonprofit that can engage in limited political activities. These groups are known as dark money organizations as they do not publicly disclose their donors.

However, America First Polices, a pro-Trump policy advocacy dark money group, did disclose in 2019 that they contributed to Women for America First. America First’s 990 disclosure form<https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/7330801/America-First-Policies-2019-990.pdf> from that year shows they contributed $25,000 to Women for America First.

America First Policies, which is also a 501(c)(4) that does not disclose its donors, is chaired by Linda McMahon, a longtime Trump ally and former head of the Small Business Administration. The 2019 filing shows America First Policies ended up raising over $30 million. They were not involved with the planning of the rally itself.

Women for America First is chaired by Amy Kremer, a longtime political operative that was once the head of the Tea Party Express, an organization that was created to support the conservative Tea Party movement. Kylie Jane Kremer, the executive director of Women for Trump, is named on the rally’s permit as the person in charge. The permit was first obtained by The Washingtonian<https://www.washingtonian.com/2021/01/05/heres-what-we-know-about-the-pro-trump-rallies-that-have-permits/>.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“New U.S. attorney in Atlanta brings in assistants who worked on election-fraud issues, raising fears of political interference”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120344>
Posted on January 8, 2021 4:54 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=120344> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo<https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/atlanta-us-attorney-brings-in-assistants-who-worked-on-voter-fraud-issues-raising-fears-of-political-interference/2021/01/08/c4057f9a-51c9-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html>:

The top federal prosecutor in Savannah, Ga. — whom President Trump recently tapped to take over the U.S. attorney’s office in Atlanta — has brought to his new assignment two assistants previously tasked with monitoring possible election fraud, raising fears that he might be taking steps to lend credibility to Trump’s baseless claims of electoral malfeasance, people familiar with the matter said.

The move by U.S. Attorney Bobby Christine in the waning days of the Trump administration follows unusual events this week in the federal prosecutor offices in Atlanta and Savannah that have fueled suspicions among legal observers of political interference in law enforcement work.

On Monday, Byung J. “BJay” Pak, whom Trump had appointed as the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia in 2017, unexpectedly told colleagues he was stepping down. On Tuesday, officials announced that Christine would take over for Pak, bypassing Pak’s top deputy, who otherwise might have moved into the job by default.

Then, Christine tapped two assistant U.S. attorneys in the Southern District of Georgia — Joshua S. Bearden and Jason Blanchard — for some type of work in the Northern District, people familiar with the matter said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s political sensitivity. Their task is unclear, but Christine had recently assigned both to serve as district election officers<https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdga/pr/four-assistant-us-attorneys-named-elections-officers-southern-district-georgia> reviewing complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>



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<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org<http://electionlawblog.org/>

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