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Defend Our Country Digest

Defend Our Country Digest — September 6, 2022

By September 6, 2022No Comments

Driving the Day: 

What To Watch For Today:  

Primary election in Massachusetts

Must Read Stories

Trump-Appointed Judge Issues Radical Ruling Granting Trump Request For Special Master In Mar-A-Lago Document Case 

  • Washington Post: Judge Grants Trump Request For Special Master To Review Mar-A-Lago Documents: A federal judge will appoint a special master to sift through nearly 13,000 documents and items the FBI seized from Donald Trump’s Florida residence and identify any that might be protected by attorney-client or executive privilege, according to a court order posted Monday. In a ruling that could slow down and complicate the government’s ongoing criminal probe, U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon wrote that the Justice Department cannot continue reviewing the materials taken from Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8, or use them in its investigation, until the special master concludes his or her examination. But she ruled that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence may continue its analysis of the possible risk to national security posed by the removal from government custody of classified documents, some of them related to highly sensitive government and intelligence secrets. Legal experts noted that the Justice Department can still interview witnesses, use other evidence and present information to a grand jury while the special master examines the seized material.
  • New York Times: ‘Deeply Problematic’: Experts Question Judge’s Intervention in Trump Inquiry: A federal judge’s extraordinary decision on Monday to interject in the criminal investigation into former President Donald J. Trump’s hoarding of sensitive government documents at his Florida residence showed unusual solicitude to him, legal specialists said. This was “an unprecedented intervention by a federal district judge into the middle of an ongoing federal criminal and national security investigation,” said Stephen I. Vladeck, a law professor at University of Texas. Siding with Mr. Trump, the judge, Aileen M. Cannon, ordered the appointment of an independent arbiter to review the more than 11,000 government records the F.B.I. seized in its search of Mar-a-Lago last month. She granted the arbiter, known as a special master, broad powers that extended beyond filtering materials that were potentially subject to attorney-client privilege to also include executive privilege. Judge Cannon, a Trump appointee who sits on the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida, also blocked federal prosecutors from further examining the seized materials for the investigation until the special master had completed a review. In reaching that result, Judge Cannon took several steps that specialists said were vulnerable to being overturned if the government files an appeal, as most agreed was likely. Any appeal would be heard by the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, where Mr. Trump appointed six of its 11 active judges.

GOP Escalates Fight Against Democratic Governance 

  • Associated Press: GOP Escalates Fight Against Citizen-Led Ballot Initiatives: Hundreds of thousands of people signed petitions this year backing proposed ballot initiatives to expand voting access, ensure abortion rights and legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona, Arkansas and Michigan. Yet voters might not get a say because Republican officials or judges have blocked the proposals from the November elections, citing flawed wording, procedural shortcomings or insufficient petition signatures. At the same time, Republican lawmakers in Arkansas and Arizona have placed constitutional amendments on the ballot proposing to make it harder to approve citizen initiatives in the future. The Republican pushback against the initiative process is part of a several-year trend that gained steam as Democratic-aligned groups have increasingly used petitions to force public votes on issues that Republican-led legislatures have opposed. In reliably Republican Missouri, for example, voters have approved initiatives to expand Medicaid, raise the minimum wage and legalize medical marijuana. An initiative seeking to allow recreational pot is facing a court challenge from an anti-drug activist aiming to knock it off the November ballot. Some Democrats contend Republicans are subverting the will of the people by making the ballot initiative process more difficult.
  • New York Times: A Second Constitutional Convention? Some Republicans Want to Force One: Representative Jodey Arrington, a conservative Texas Republican, believes it is well past time for something the nation has not experienced for more than two centuries: a debate over rewriting the Constitution. “I think the states are due a convention,” said Mr. Arrington, who in July introduced legislation to direct the archivist of the United States to tally applications for a convention from state legislatures and compel Congress to schedule a gathering when enough states have petitioned for one. “It is time to rally the states and rein in Washington responsibly.” To Russ Feingold, the former Democratic senator from Wisconsin and president of the American Constitution Society, a liberal judicial group, that is a terrible idea. Mr. Feingold sees the prospect of a constitutional convention as an exceptionally dangerous threat from the right and suggests it is closer to reality than most people realize as Republicans push to retake control of Congress in November’s midterm elections. “We are very concerned that the Congress, if it becomes Republican, will call a convention,” said Mr. Feingold, the co-author of a new book warning of the risks of a convention called “The Constitution in Jeopardy.” “This could gut our Constitution,” Mr. Feingold said in an interview. “There needs to be real concern and attention about what they might do. We are putting out the alert.” While the rise of election deniers, new voting restrictions and other electoral maneuvering get most of the attention, Mr. Feingold rates the prospect of a second constitutional convention as just as grave a threat to democratic governance.

Election Conspiracy Theorists Are Finding Fertile Ground In Conferences And Campaigns For Office 

  • New York Times: They Were at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Now They’re Running for Congress: As rioters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Derrick Van Orden, a retired Navy SEAL, had a front-row seat to the mayhem, perching on the grounds beside a tall, intricately carved, sandstone lantern pier. J.R. Majewski, an Air Force veteran from Ohio, was also at the Capitol that day, alongside a live-streamer who frequently elevates the QAnon conspiracy theory. So was Sandy Smith, a self-described entrepreneur and farmer from North Carolina who attended former President Donald J. Trump’s speech at the Ellipse and then marched up Capitol Hill. “I still stand with President Trump and believe he won this election!” Ms. Smith wrote on Twitter the night of Jan. 6, 2021. She had posted that afternoon that she had come to Washington to “#FightForTrump.” All three are seeking to return to the Capitol next year — this time as members of Congress. Nearly two years after the deadly attack, which sent lawmakers and the vice president fleeing for their lives, people who were on hand for the riot are seeking to become members of the institution that the mob assaulted. They are running for Congress in competitive districts, in some cases with the support of Republican leaders. None of the candidates have been charged with entering the Capitol or otherwise engaging in illegal behavior. And almost all of them have sought to distance themselves from the events of Jan. 6 and denounced the violence they witnessed. But their presence on the ballot is the latest sign of how the extreme beliefs that prompted the Capitol assault — which was inspired by Mr. Trump’s lies of a stolen election and fueled by a flood of disinformation — have entered the G.O.P. mainstream. And it underscores how Republican leaders whose lives were in peril on Jan. 6 are still elevating those voices in the hopes of taking control of the House.
  • Associated Press: US Election Conspiracies Find Fertile Ground In Conferences:  On a quiet Saturday in an Omaha hotel, about 50 people gathered in a ballroom to learn about elections. The subject wasn’t voter registration drives or poll worker volunteer training. Instead, they paid $25 each to listen to panelists lay out conspiracy theories about voting machines and rigged election results. In language that sometimes leaned into violent imagery, some panelists called on those attending to join what they framed as a battle between good and evil. […] It’s a sentiment now shared by millions of people in the United States after relentless attacks on the outcome of the 2020 presidential election by Trump and his allies. Nearly two years after that election, no evidence has emerged to suggest widespread fraud or manipulation while reviews in state after state have upheld the results showing President Joe Biden won. Even so, the attacks and falsehoods have made an impact: An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll from 2021 found that about two-thirds of Republicans say they do not think Biden was legitimately elected. Events like the one held Aug. 27 in Nebraska’s largest city are one reason why. Billed as the “Nebraska Election Integrity Forum,” the conference featured some of the nation’s most prominent figures pushing conspiracy theories that the last presidential election was stolen from Trump through widespread fraud or manipulation of voting machines. It was just one of dozens of similar events that have been held around the country for the better part of a year. Despite the relatively light attendance, the events are often livestreamed and recorded, ensuring they can reach a wide audience.

In The States 

ARIZONA: Arizona State Bar Investigates Fake Elector Scheme 

  • Arizona Republic: Arizona State Bar Investigates Lawyer Involved In ‘Fake Electors’ Effort By State Republicans: The State Bar of Arizona is investigating multiple attorneys related to the 2020 election, with one inquiry requesting the emails of a lawyer who was prominently involved in assembling the “fake electors” who falsely claimed then-President Donald Trump won the state.  A retired judge involved in the probe sought emails Friday from a reporter with The Arizona Republic involving Phoenix lawyer Jack Wilenchik, who helped convene the Trump slate of electors for Arizona in December 2020. The judge also asked for any communications between Wilenchik and Republic reporters.  

FLORIDA: Florida Ex-Felons Were Told They Could Vote And Now Face Prosecution By Ron DeSantis’s Election Police 

  • Washington Post: Florida Let Them Vote. Then Desantis’s Election Police Arrested Them: When Leo Grant Jr. cast his ballot in the 2020 election, it was the first time the 53-year-old had ever voted — an act that made him feel like he was setting a good example for his three sons and fulfilling his role as a citizen. But in August, three Florida officers showed up at his home near Lake Okeechobee in Palm Beach County as he was about to go bass fishing with a friend. They had handguns tucked into holsters strapped to their jeans and carried shackles. Grant had committed a grave offense, they said: election fraud. He’d voted despite a sexual offense conviction two decades earlier in 1999. They placed handcuffs around his wrists and drove him to jail. “I’ve been a good father and I follow the law,” he thought. “I do good for the community. And here they come to my house and pick me up for voting?” Grant, a high-ranking officer in his local Freemasonry chapter, is one of 20 individuals — most of whom are Black — charged by an elections police force created by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to pursue allegations of election fraud and improper voting. Those arrested are all accused of voting in violation of a state law that forbids those convicted of murder or felony sexual offenses from casting ballots. Yet, in the days that followed DeSantis’s campaign-style event to announce those arrests, cracks have begun to emerge in the state’s case amid intensifying questions about whether the governor and his election police unit have weaponized their new powers for political gain. Several of those charged told The Washington Post that they were led to believe by election officials and voter registration groups that they were eligible to vote as part of Florida’s widely publicized push to restore the voting rights of most felons. They expressed despair that they could face prison time for simply misunderstanding the law.

MICHIGAN:  GOP Attorney General Candidate Matthew DeParno Claims To Have A Secret “Lab” To Demonstrate Voter Fraud Techniques 

  • Detroit News: DePerno Once Said He Had A ‘Lab’ Where He Could Show How To ‘Stuff’ Ballots:  Michigan Republican attorney general candidate Matt DePerno told a crowd last year he had a “lab” where he could take people and show them how election equipment can be manipulated, according to a previously unreported video obtained by The Detroit News. The footage, dated Sept. 9, 2021 and shared in a Facebook group, appears to support some of the allegations brought by Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office, which has said DePerno was involved in an effort to gain access to voting machines in Michigan and run “tests” on them. DePerno, a lawyer from Kalamazoo who rose to prominence advancing unproven election fraud claims, is challenging Nessel to be Michigan’s top law enforcement official. In the video clip, DePerno says Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson was “trying to find” his “lab.”

WISCONSIN: GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Tim Michels Calls For His Supporters To Use “Pitchforks And Torches” Against The Media 

  • Associated Press: Wisconsin GOP Candidate Calls For ‘Pitchforks And Torches’: he Republican candidate for governor in Wisconsin endorsed by Donald Trump is calling for people to take up “pitchforks and torches” in reaction to a story that detailed his giving to anti-abortion groups, churches and others — rhetoric that Democrats say amounts to threatening violence. Tim Michels, who co-owns the state’s largest construction company, faces Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in the battleground state. If Michels wins, he will be in position to enact a host of GOP priorities passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature leading into the 2024 presidential election. Evers has vetoed more bills than any governor in modern state history and is campaigning on his ability to serve as a check on Republicans. Michels, a multimillionaire, this week reacted strongly to a story published by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel detailing charitable giving by he and his wife’s foundation, some of which went to anti-abortion groups and churches that have taken anti-gay positions. Since the story’s publication, Michels has gone after not just Evers and Democrats, but also the Journal Sentinel and, more broadly, all reporters. “I believe people should just, just be ready to get out on the streets with pitchforks and torches with how low the liberal media has become,” Michels said Thursday on a conservative talk radio show. “People need to decide ‘Am I going to put up with this? Am I going to tolerate this, taking somebody that gives money to churches or cancer research and use that as a hit piece in the media?’ I’m appalled. It’s disgusting.”

What Experts Are Saying

Steve Vladeck, Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal Courts at the University of Texas School of Law: “So much for the hope that Judge Cannon was bending over backwards to look like she was accommodating Trump. This is twisting the law into a pretzel in ways that are as unsupported in precedent as they are unlikely to be followed in any future cases. Just a sad day for the courts.” Tweet 

Asha Rangappa, former FBI agent: “This judge basically did Trump’s lawyers’ work for them, making arguments under the 4-part Richey test which Trump did not brief or argue, making executive privilege arguments that Trump did not press fully in the hearing, and granting an injunction when one wasn’t requested” Tweet

Matthew Miller, former special advisor to the National Security Council and former director of the office of public affairs at the Department of Justice: “So all Judge Cannon has to do now is find a special master who:

  1. is an expert in one of the more contested, unexplored areas of the law;
  2. already has a Top Secret clearance;
  3. isn’t seen as tainted through service in a recent administration. 

Goood luck.” Tweet 

Norm Eisen, senior fellow at the Brookings Institute: “The most profound error in the order is on p 16-18: using a special master for the first time in history to adjudicate an executive privilege dispute within the executive branch[.] It is contrary to the PRA & precedent as we explained in our amicus brief 👉” Tweet  

Andrew Weissmann, former lead prosecutor in Robert S. Mueller’s Special Counsel’s Office:  “Nothing about the MAL search warrant process was special and her reasoning wd lead to appointment of a special master in EVERY criminal case. The only thing special is a former president stealing highly classified docs.” Tweet 

Harry Litman, former US attorney: “I think about as bad as it could have been.  Leaving aside the legal incoherence and the opening for holding Trump has a right of executive privilege in the docs he stole (meaning for starters the PRA is unconstitutional), the practical possibilities of delay are enormous.” Tweet 

Headlines

The MAGA Movement And The Ongoing Threat To Elections

New York Times: Trump Lashes Out in First Rally Since F.B.I. Search

NPR: Claims of voter fraud, old as the republic, still work as weapons for Trump

Washington Post: Trump plots aggressive midterm strategy seen in GOP as double-edged sword

January 6 And The 2020 Election

Bloomberg: Jan. 6 Panel’s Raskin Expects Pence to Testify as Clock Ticks

Talking Points Memo: Trump Rally Speaker Laments Plight Of Alleged Neo-Nazi Convicted Over J6 Role

Washington Post: Jan. 6 committee withdraws subpoena against RNC and Salesforce

Other Trump Investigations 

Associated Press:  ​​Trump search inventory reveals new details from FBI seizure

CNN: Donald Trump has repeatedly called for lengthy jail sentences for those who he claimed mishandled classified information

CNN: After Mar-a-Lago search, Meadows turns over more texts and emails to Archives

NBC: Barr suggests Trump ‘deceived’ the government over classified records

New York Times: Barr Dismisses Trump’s Request for a Special Master

Opinion

Washington Post (Tom Ricks): Why I’ve stopped fearing America is headed for civil war

Political Violence

Washington Post: Police supervisor chatted up Patriot Front poser who recorded it all

In The States 

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Handling of Georgia election breach investigation questioned

Boston Globe: Free Staters seek to undo New Hampshire government from within

The Hill: Michigan secretary of state says officials worried about ‘violence and disruption’ on Election Day

Jezebel: ‘Fuck It, I’ll Kill Us All’: Kristina Karamo’s Ex-Husband Accused Her of Trying to Crash Car with Entire Family Inside

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: FEC dismisses complaint alleging Derrick Van Orden unlawfully used campaign cash to attend Jan. 6 rally before insurrection

Reuters: In battleground Pennsylvania, Trump-backed Mastriano sticks with hard-right rhetoric