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Defend Our Country Digest

Defend Our Country Digest — August 23, 2022

By August 23, 2022No Comments

Driving the Day: 

What To Watch For Today: 

Primary elections in New York and Florida. Runoff election in Oklahoma. 

Must Read Stories

Trump Had More Than 300 Classified Documents At Mar-A-Lago 

  • New York Times: Trump Had More Than 300 Classified Documents at Mar-a-Lago: The initial batch of documents retrieved by the National Archives from former President Donald J. Trump in January included more than 150 marked as classified, a number that ignited intense concern at the Justice Department and helped trigger the criminal investigation that led F.B.I. agents to swoop into Mar-a-Lago this month seeking to recover more, multiple people briefed on the matter said. In total, the government has recovered more than 300 documents with classified markings from Mr. Trump since he left office, the people said: that first batch of documents returned in January, another set provided by Mr. Trump’s aides to the Justice Department in June and the material seized by the F.B.I. in the search this month. The previously unreported volume of the sensitive material found in the former president’s possession in January helps explain why the Justice Department moved so urgently to hunt down any further classified materials he might have. And the extent to which such a large number of highly sensitive documents remained at Mar-a-Lago for months, even as the department sought the return of all material that should have been left in government custody when Mr. Trump left office, suggested to officials that the former president or his aides had been cavalier in handling it, not fully forthcoming with investigators, or both.
  • Politico: Archives Warned Of National Security Damage From Trump’s Classified Mar-A-Lago Docs, Letter Shows: The National Archives found more than 700 pages of classified material — including “special access program materials,” some of the most highly classified secrets in government — in 15 boxes recovered from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in January, according to correspondence between the National Archivist and his legal team. The May 10 letter — posted late Monday on the website of John Solomon, a conservative journalist and one of Trump’s authorized liaisons to the National Archives to review papers from his presidency — showed that NARA and federal investigators had grown increasingly alarmed about potential damage to national security caused by the warehousing of these documents at Mar-a-Lago, as well as by Trump’s resistance to sharing them with the FBI. These records included 700 pages of classified material, according to the letter, sent by National Archivist Debra Wall to Trump’s attorney, Evan Corcoran, and it doesn’t include records recovered by the Justice Department and FBI during a June meeting and the Aug. 11 search of the Mar-a-Lago premises.

Trump-Allied Lawyers Gave Sensitive Voting Machine Files To Trump Supporters And Election Deniers 

  • Washington Post: Files Copied From Voting Systems Were Shared With Trump Supporters, Election Deniers: Sensitive election system files obtained by attorneys working to overturn President Donald Trump’s 2020 defeat were shared with election deniers, conspiracy theorists and right-wing commentators, according to records reviewed by The Washington Post. A Georgia computer forensics firm, hired by the attorneys, placed the files on a server, where company records show they were downloaded dozens of times. Among the downloaders were accounts associated with a Texas meteorologist who has appeared on Sean Hannity’s radio show; a podcaster who suggested political enemies should be executed; a former pro surfer who pushed disproven theories that the 2020 election was manipulated; and a self-described former “seduction and pickup coach” who claims to also have been a hacker. Plaintiffs in a long-running federal lawsuit over the security of Georgia’s voting systems obtained the new records from the company, Atlanta-based SullivanStrickler, under a subpoena to one of its executives. The records include contracts between the firm and the Trump-allied attorneys, notably Sidney Powell. The data files are described as copies of components from election systems in Coffee County, Ga., and Antrim County, Mich. A series of data leaks and alleged breaches of local elections offices since 2020 has prompted criminal investigations and fueled concerns among some security experts that public disclosure of information collected from voting systems could be exploited by hackers and other people seeking to manipulate future elections.

How Trump’s Endorsements Elevate Election Lies And Inflate His Power 

  • New York Times: How Trump’s Endorsements Elevate Election Lies and Inflate His Political Power: Donald J. Trump has endorsed more than 200 candidates for state and federal office during the 2022 midterm elections, an unusually wide-ranging effort by a former president to consolidate and enhance his personal political influence. The main objective for both parties in a midterm election year is to capture control of the next Congress, state legislatures and governor’s offices. But turning blue seats red has not been a central focus for Mr. Trump as he weighs an increasingly likely third bid for the White House in 2024. Instead, a New York Times analysis shows his endorsements fall into two major categories: election deniers who have openly spread the lie that he won in 2020, and incumbents whose likely victories — in some cases uncontested — help sensationalize his power inside the party. Meanwhile, a much smaller percentage of Mr. Trump’s endorsements have been aimed at Democratic seats that would help Republicans win back the majorities in the House and Senate that his party lost while he was in the White House.

In The States 

COLORADO:  GOP State Senator Switches Parties, Citing Threats To Democracy 

  • Colorado Public Radio: GOP State Sen. Priola Switching To Democrats, Cites Jan. 6, Climate Change: Colorado’s most moderate Republican state lawmaker has switched his party affiliation to become a registered Democrat. State Sen. Kevin Priola is serving his second and final term in the Senate after previously serving in the House.  In a written statement released Monday morning, Priola said he has been waiting for the GOP to distance itself from former president Donald Trump after the Jan. 6 insurrection,  but “it never came.” “I cannot continue to be part of a political party that is okay with a violent attempt to overturn a free and fair election and continues to peddle claims that the 2020 election was stolen,” he wrote. “Simply put, we need Democrats in charge because our planet and our democracy depend on it.” Priola said he didn’t expect to vote differently in the future, but would simply have a D by his name instead of an R. He noted he will continue to support Second Amendment rights and oppose legal abortion.

MICHIGAN: Tudor Dixon Selects Far Right Election Denier As Her Lieutenant Governor, But Could Face A MAGA Challenge At The GOP Convention 

  • Detroit News: Donald Trump Backs Shane Hernandez, Says Michigan Republicans ‘Must Unite’:  A challenge to Republican nominee for governor Tudor Dixon’s running mate selection surfaced Monday, setting up a potentially testy Michigan GOP convention and quickly spurring an intervention from former President Donald Trump. Trump issued a statement after 7 p.m. Monday backing Shane Hernandez for the No. 2 spot on the GOP ticket about 90 minutes after Farmington Hills pastor Ralph Rebandt, a former candidate for governor, said he planned to challenge Hernandez’s nomination at Saturday’s Michigan Republican Party convention in Lansing. Dixon, a political commentator and businesswoman from Norton Shores, on Friday revealed her selection of Hernandez, a former state lawmaker from Port Huron, as her preferred running mate. “The MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement should support the ticket,” Trump said. “This is who Tudor wants and therefore, Shane is who I want as your next lieutenant governor.” Trump’s statement was an effort to quell a potential feud at Saturday’s convention in Lansing. Some Republicans have called Dixon an “establishment” candidate and remain unhappy with her victory in the Aug. 2 primary. They’ve discussed adding someone to the ticket who’s been backed by the party’s grassroots wing.

What Experts Are Saying

Ty Cobb, Trump White House special counsel in 2017 and 2018: “‘No matter what, the most serious case he faces is the January 6 investigation…Not necessarily because of January 6 alone but coupled with the fake electors scheme and the interference alleged in Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere.’ ‘”That’s the case that has him at the most risk and is more at the heart of what the Justice Department would take seriously[.]’” Business Insider 

Peter Zeidenberg, former federal prosecutor: “told Insider on Monday that he believes the department’s investigation into Trump’s handling of the documents is ‘the most direct and immediate threat by far’ to the former president. He added that Attorney General Merrick Garland and other top DOJ and FBI officials are ‘politically savvy’ and likely anticipated the blowback from Trump and his allies following the raid. ‘The only reason they would open themselves up to it is if they thought’ that the public would view the raid as ‘being completely defensible once the facts came out,’ Zeidenberg said. ‘I think that it’s going to be a pretty clean case,’ he said, adding that by contrast, the department’s Capitol riot probe is much more complex.” Business Insider 

Joyce Vance, former US attorney: “The district judge overseeing Lindsey Graham’s subpoena quashal has set an expedited briefing schedule that ends 8-31. After her decision, the case will return to the 11th Circuit. The order is a good read-she sets forth the precise speech & debate clause issue she will consider.” Tweet 

Barbara McQuade, former US attorney: “Again (deep breath), the statutes listed on the search warrant for which probable cause was found do NOT require that the documents be classified. Trump’s ‘declassification’ defense is not just made-up and silly, it’s an irrelevant distraction to give defenders a talking point.” Tweet 

Laurence H. Tribe, Carl M. Loeb University Professor of Constitutional Law Emeritus at Harvard University, Dennis Aftergut, former federal prosecutor, and Jeffrey Abramson, professor of law and government at the University of Texas, Austin: “In this sense, all of us who opt for legal process over threats of war and violence are conservatives. The system of checks and balances at work in the Mar-a-Lago search is familiar, tried, fact-based, and limited by oversight. On this foundation lies whatever hope there is that reasonable people on both sides of the political divide may find common ground and avoid the chaos that threatens everyone’s liberty.” Fox News Op-Ed: Checks and balances on search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and resort display limited government at its best

Headlines

The MAGA Movement And The Ongoing Threat To Elections

Axios: FBI’s Mar-a-Lago search ignites the right

CNN: Ex-Twitter exec blows the whistle, alleging reckless and negligent cybersecurity policies

Los Angeles Times: California congressman becomes latest Republican to invoke Nazis to defend Trump, bash Biden

NBC: McConnell says voter fraud is rare and he isn’t worried about threats to democracy

New York Times: The Question Menacing Brazil’s Elections: Coup or No Coup?

ProPublica: How a Secretive Billionaire Handed His Fortune to the Architect of the Right-Wing Takeover of the Courts

January 6 And The 2020 Election

CNN: Justice Department issues new subpoena to National Archives for more January 6 documents

Insider: Trump’s former White House lawyer says the DOJ’s Capitol riot investigation is the most dangerous legal threat he faces

Other Trump Investigations

NBC: Donald Trump asks judge to review ‘shockingly aggressive’ Mar-a-Lago search

Politico: Gang of 8 wants to see Trump Mar-a-Lago search docs

Washington Post: Some Trump records taken to Mar-a-Lago clearly marked as classified, including documents at ‘top secret’ level

Opinion

Washington Post (Jennifer Rubin): How to cover election deniers? Try calling them election liars.

In The States 

New York Times: Arkansas violated the Voting Rights Act by limiting help to voters, a judge rules.