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Defend Our Country Digest

Defend Our Country Digest — January 26, 2023

By January 26, 2023No Comments

Driving the Day: 

Must Read Stories

Charging Decisions Are “Imminent” In Georgia Probe Of Trump’s Attempt To Overturn The 2020 Election 

  • CNN: ‘Decisions Are Imminent’ On Charges In Trump’s Effort To Overturn 2020 Election In Georgia, Fulton County DA Says: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis suggested Tuesday that the special grand jury investigating Donald Trump and his allies’ efforts to upend the 2020 election in Georgia has recommended multiple indictments and said that her decision on whether to bring charges is “imminent.” At a hearing in Atlanta on whether to publicly release the special grand jury report. Willis, a Democrat, said she opposes making it public at the moment, citing her ongoing deliberations on charges. “Decisions are imminent,” Willis told Judge Robert McBurney. “We want to make sure that everyone is treated fairly, and we think for future defendants to be treated fairly it’s not appropriate at this time to have this report released,” she said. The special grand jury, barred from issuing indictments, penned the highly anticipated final report as a culmination of its seven months of work, which included interviewing witnesses from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.

2023’s Biggest Election Campaign Centers On Democracy And Abortion 

  • New York Times: 2023’s Biggest, Most Unusual Race Centers on Abortion and Democracy: In 10 weeks, Wisconsin will hold an election that carries bigger policy stakes than any other contest in America in 2023. The April race, for a seat on the state’s evenly divided Supreme Court, will determine the fate of abortion rights, gerrymandered legislative maps and the Wisconsin governor’s appointment powers — and perhaps even influence the state’s 2024 presidential election. The court’s importance stems from Wisconsin’s deadlocked state government. Since 2019, Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, has faced off against a Republican-controlled Legislature with near-supermajority control thanks to one of the country’s most aggressive partisan gerrymanders, itself approved last year by the Wisconsin justices. Wisconsin’s Supreme Court has been left to arbitrate a host of thorny issues in the state, and has nearly always sided with Republicans. But now, with a conservative justice retiring, liberals hope to reverse many of those decisions by taking control of the open seat and its 10-year term. […]  The contest will almost certainly shatter spending records for a judicial election in any state, and could even double the current most expensive race. Wisconsinites are set to be inundated by a barrage of advertising, turning a typically sleepy spring election into the latest marker in the state’s nonstop political season. The seat is nonpartisan in name only, with officials from both parties lining up behind chosen candidates.

Democrats Race To Protect And Expand Voting Rights In States 

  • CNN: With Newfound Powers, Statehouse Democrats Race To Expand Voting Rights: After strong electoral results in the midterm elections, Democrats in some key states are moving quickly this year on voting rights – pushing ambitious plans to expand access to the ballot ahead of the 2024 presidential election. In the presidential swing state of Michigan – where Democrats have gained the governorship and both legislative chambers for the first time in roughly four decades – Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and a group of legislators recently announced a package of voting-related priorities. They range from criminalizing the harassment of election workers to carrying out a voter-approved expansion of early voting. Newly empowered Democrats in Minnesota, meanwhile, are advancing a suite of election changes through the legislature that include instituting automatic voter registration and restoring voting rights to people convicted of felonies. And in Arizona – a battleground state where Democrats flipped key statewide offices – the new Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes recently announced plans to shift the focus of an “election integrity unit” established by her Republican predecessor from investigating voter fraud to “protecting voter access” and fighting voter suppression.

Insurrectionist Extremist Marjorie Taylor Greene Wants To Be Trump’s 2024 VP Pick

  • NBC: Marjorie Taylor Greene Aims To Be Trump’s VP Pick In 2024: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., is angling to be Donald Trump’s running mate in 2024, according to two people who have spoken to the firebrand second-term congresswoman about her ambitions. “This is no shrinking violet. She’s ambitious — she’s not shy about that, nor should she be,” said Steve Bannon, the former top Trump aide who hosts the “Bannon’s War Room” podcast, on which Greene has been a guest. “She sees herself on the short list for Trump’s VP. Paraphrasing Cokie Roberts, when MTG looks in the mirror she sees a potential president smiling back,” he added in an interview, referring to Roberts, the late political reporter who worked for NPR, ABC News and other outlets. A second source who has advised Greene said her “whole vision is to be vice president.” The source, who has ties to Trump and spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations, said he also believes Greene would be on Trump’s short list. That goal is at the heart of Greene’s recent efforts to rebrand herself as a politician who can stand astride the divide between the party’s hard-liners and its establishment wing, the sources said.

January 6 Rioters Gain Support In Red States 

  • Associated Press: Some Jan. 6th Rioters Gain Sympathy For Cause In Red States: Trennis Evans III joined the mob in the 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, climbing through a broken window and tossing back a swig of whiskey in a congressional conference room. On Wednesday, Evans was at the South Dakota Capitol, urging lawmakers to support a resolution encouraging “the humane and fair treatment” of those, like himself, who faced or are facing federal criminal charges related to the deadly siege on Jan. 6, 2021. The resolution failed by unanimous vote after he spoke before the Legislature’s House State Affairs Committee. But Evans’ presence in the South Dakota Capitol underscored how sympathy for the Jan. 6 attack resounds among the grassroots of the GOP’s right-wing. While the Justice Department’s largest-ever investigation has expanded to charge nearly 1,000 people like Evans for federal crimes related to the siege, Evans and others who participated in the attack have found sympathetic audiences in places like ruby-red South Dakota. 

In The States 

ARIZONA:  Republican Election Bills Based On Conspiracy Theories Advance 

  • Arizona Mirror: Republican Election Bills Based On Conspiracy Theories, Political Grudges, Advance: Fueled by election conspiracy theories and axes to grind against political opponents, Republican legislators gave initial approval to a slate of bills on Wednesday that served as veiled rebukes against the 2022 midterm elections and the officials who oversaw them. Democrats and Republicans clashed over the insinuation that Gov. Katie Hobbs, who served as Secretary of State during the November midterms she won her seat in, behaved improperly when she refused to recuse herself from her duties. House Bill 2308 would bar any future secretary of state from handling any part of an election they are a candidate in.  “There’s a lack of confidence from some of my constituents in the election itself. I think the optics of that – of a secretary of state running their own election for governor and then certifying that election was a major concern,” said Rep. Rachel Jones, R-Tucson. 

OHIO:  New Voter ID Law May Block Some Veterans From Voting 

  • WXIX: New Photo ID Law Intended To Limit Voter Fraud May Impact Ohio Veterans, Others: A new Ohio law that will require a government-authorized photo ID to vote in person may make it more difficult, and possibly even prevent some Ohioans from voting. House Bill 458, a bill that modifies voter ID laws and absentee voting, received Gov. Mike DeWine’s signature on Jan. 6 where he expressed concern for voter fraud. […] While DeWine made sure legislatures omitted some of the more restricting amendments from the photo ID bill, it may cause issues for some Ohio communities, including veterans. Previously, Ohioans were able to vote with a bill or bank statement with their name and address on it or a paycheck with the correct address, and veterans could use their Ohio Veteran ID card. Starting in May 2023, anyone who does not have an Ohio driver’s license, Ohio ID card, military card or U.S. passport will not be able to vote in Ohio elections in person.

What Experts Are Saying

Gwen Keyes Fleming, former DeKalb County, Georgia district attorney, and Barbara McQuade, former U.S. attorney (VIDEO): [T]alk with Alex Wagner about why Fulton County, Georgia D.A. Fani Willis asked a judge to keep the report by the special grand jury investigating Donald Trump sealed while “decisions are imminent” in the case. MSNBC’s Alex Wagner Tonight: Why a Georgia D.A. investigating Trump wants to keep grand jury’s report sealed 

Norm Eisen, legal scholar and counsel in the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump: “DA Willis wants to delay the release of the SGJ report[.] She’s right & for good reason[.] Releasing the report before indictments could lead to identifying witnesses—& to possible witness tampering[.]” Tweet | Business Insider 

Dennis Aftergut, former federal prosecutor: “The crime of seditious conspiracy is one that no republic can tolerate. Those committed to overturning constitutional order must be held to account.” The Hill Op-Ed: 5 reasons why the new Oath Keeper convictions matter

Headlines

The MAGA Movement And The Ongoing Threat To Elections

Vice: The MyPillow Guy’s Fake Campaign For RNC Chair Is a Real Disaster

Trump 2024

Washington Post: Meta restores Trump’s social media megaphone ahead of 2024 election

January 6 And The 2020 Election

Associated Press: Proud Boys expecting ‘civil war’ before Jan. 6, witness says

Boston Globe: Lapses Persist for Capitol Hill Panic Buttons Two Years After The Insurrection 

CNN: News outlets ask judge to unseal documents in Dominion’s defamation case against Fox News

Politico: Trump tries to intervene as Navarro faces trial for defying Jan. 6 committee

Rolling Stone: ‘We Are in Hell’: Texts Reveal the Jan. 6 Spiral of Ali Alexander, Kanye’s Election-Denying Confidant

Other Trump Investigations

The Hill: Trump drops another lawsuit against New York attorney general

Political Violence

NBC: One-quarter of mass attackers driven by conspiracy theories or hateful ideologies, Secret Service report says

New York Times: Judge Orders Release of Video Showing Attack on Paul Pelosi

Opinion

Washington Post (Ben Wittes): The Jan. 6 committee report footnotes: A treasure trove in fine print

In The States

Votebeat: Cochise County elections director resigns after protecting midterm ballots from Republican officials