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Defend Our Country Digest

Defend Our Country Digest — November 2, 2022

By November 2, 2022No Comments

Driving the Day: 

Must Read Stories

Victories For Accountability As Supreme Court Rules Lindsey Graham Must Testify In Georgia And Rudy Giuliani’s Attempt To Dismiss Defamation Suit By Georgia Election Workers is Denied 

  • New York Times: Supreme Court Rules That Lindsey Graham Must Testify In Georgia Inquiry: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to block a Georgia grand jury subpoena seeking testimony from Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, about his activities in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. The court’s order was one paragraph and did not note any dissents. It said that Mr. Graham had been afforded substantial protections by lower courts, which had ruled that he did not have to testify on subjects related to his official duties. “The lower courts assumed that the informal investigative fact finding that Senator Graham assertedly engaged in constitutes legislative activity protected by the speech or debate clause” of the Constitution, the order said, “and they held that Senator Graham may not be questioned about such activities.” But the Supreme Court’s order refused to block rulings by lower courts that permitted questioning on other topics, and it noted that Mr. Graham remained free to object to questions that implicated his legislative activities.
  • Politico: Giuliani Attempt To Dismiss Defamation Suit By Georgia Election Workers Is Denied:  A federal judge has rejected Rudy Giuliani’s effort to dismiss a lawsuit brought by two Georgia election workers who he falsely accused of election fraud — stoking a furor that led to threats and harassment against both women. U.S. District Court Chief Judge Beryl Howell ruled in a 27-page opinion that the case brought by both the mother-daughter duo — Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss — was enough to justify advancing their lawsuit against Giuliani and presented “ample circumstantial evidence of a civil conspiracy between Giuliani and members of the Trump Campaign.” Howell described Giuliani as “a current media personality and former politician once dubbed ‘America’s mayor’” and called him a key figure in promoting false election fraud claims.

Mimicking Trump, Republicans Push Conspiracy Theories And Mean Spirited Ridicule Of Violent Attack On Paul Pelosi 

  • New York Times: With Falsehoods And Ridicule About Pelosi Attack, Republicans Mimic Trump:  Speaking on a conservative radio talk show on Tuesday, former President Donald J. Trump amplified a conspiracy theory about the grisly attack on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, that falsely suggested that Mr. Pelosi may not have been the victim of a genuine attack. “Weird things going on in that household in the last couple of weeks,” Mr. Trump said on the Chris Stigall show, winking at a lie that has flourished in right-wing media and is increasingly being given credence by Republicans. “The glass, it seems, was broken from the inside to the out — so it wasn’t a break-in, it was a break out.” There is no evidence to suggest that. Mr. Pelosi, 82, was attacked on Friday with a hammer by a suspect who federal prosecutors say invaded the Pelosis’ San Francisco home, bent on kidnapping the speaker and shattering her kneecaps. But Mr. Trump, a longtime trafficker in conspiracy theories who propelled his political rise with the lie that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States, has never let such facts get in his way. The reaction to the assault on Mr. Pelosi among Republicans — who have circulated conspiracy theories about it, dismissed it as an act of random violence and made the Pelosis the punchline of a dark joke — underscores how thoroughly the G.O.P. has internalized his example. It suggested that Republicans have come to conclude that, like Mr. Trump, they will pay no political price for attacks on their opponents, however meanspirited, inflammatory or false.

In The States 

ARIZONA: Judge Blocks Aggressive Dropbox Monitoring By Right Wing Groups In Arizona

  • New York Times: Judge Curbs Actions of Election-Monitoring Group in Arizona: A federal judge in Arizona has sharply curtailed the activities of an election-monitoring group in the vicinity of ballot boxes, including taking photos or videos of voters, openly carrying firearms, posting information about voters online, or spreading falsehoods about election laws. The group, Clean Elections USA, has the stated goal of preventing voter fraud by staking out ballot boxes to ensure that people don’t behave as “mules” by illegally casting multiple ballots. In recent weeks, self-described “mule watchers” — some armed — have gathered around outdoor ballot boxes in Maricopa County to take pictures of voters and, in some cases, post those images online. Last week, the League of Women Voters sued the group, saying that its actions amounted to “time-tested methods of voter intimidation,” and seeking an injunction to halt its activities. Early on Tuesday before a hearing on the matter, Clean Elections USA said it had agreed to cease some activities, including refraining from openly carrying guns or wearing visible body armor within 250 feet of ballot boxes, as well as following or interacting with voters within 75 feet of the boxes. But the temporary restraining order issued by Judge Michael T. Liburdi, who was appointed by former President Donald J. Trump, goes well beyond that agreement, prohibiting the group “and other persons in active concert or participation with” it from taking photos or videos of voters or disseminating information about voters online, and also from “making false statements” about Arizona’s statutes regarding early voting in interviews or on social media.

GEORGIA:  Eligibility Challenges Impede Georgia Voters 

  • Atlanta Journal Constitution: Eligibility Challenges Impede Several Georgia Voters At The Polls: When Barbara Helm tried to vote, she found out that her Georgia voter registration had been challenged by another voter and canceled last summer. Helm, who is homeless and sleeps in her car, lost her ability to vote after a local Republican voter used the state’s election laws to contest the registrations of over 31,000 Forsyth County voters this year. About 600 of his challenges were successful. In Helm’s case, the county elections board upheld the challenge against her in June because, lacking a residential address, she had registered to vote using the address of a post office in Cumming. “You shouldn’t just block voters because of the address,” Helm said Monday. “My vote should be counted. I don’t feel like they should have done that to me.” Helm is one of several eligible Georgians who have encountered hurdles during early voting following challenges to their qualifications.Georgians who identify themselves as conservatives or election skeptics have challenged over 65,000 voter registrations across the state this year, based on a belief that voter lists are inaccurate and vulnerable to fraud. County election boards have upheld about 3,200 of the challenges and thrown out the rest. State election investigations have repeatedly debunked allegations of illegal voters, counterfeit ballots and drop box abuse during the 2020 presidential election. The people who have filed voter challenges often rely on change-of-address records or addresses that don’t match residential properties. But some of their challenges affect eligible voters such as Helm.

MICHIGAN: FBI Search Leads To Domestic Terror Arrest Amid Fears Of Election Violence

  • Detroit News: FBI Terror Team Search Leads To Arrest Of Boogaloo Boy Amid Election Fears: FBI agents Tuesday arrested a prominent member of the Boogaloo Boys, a far-right anti-government extremist group, less than one week after searching the man’s Metro Detroit home amid concerns about attacks on politicians and plans to disrupt the Nov. 8 midterm elections. Few details were available early Wednesday about the arrest of 24-year-old Plymouth resident Timothy Teagan but his arrest follows an investigation by members of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. Agents searched his home Thursday and seized an AR-15 rifle, a pistol, ammunition, cellphones and drug paraphernalia. The FBI search came two days after Teagan was charged in a separate case with misdemeanor assault and battery. FBI spokeswoman Mara Schneider confirmed Teagan’s arrest but declined further comment and there have been no criminal charges unsealed in federal court in Michigan. Teagan is expected to appear later Wednesday in federal court.

PENNSYLVANIA: PA Supreme Court Blocks Counting Of Undated And Wrongly Dated Ballots 

  • Philadelphia Inquirer: Pa. Supreme Court Orders Counties To Set Aside Undated And Wrongly Dated Mail Ballots And Not Count Them: Pennsylvania counties must segregate and not count mail ballots with missing or incorrect dates, the state Supreme Court said Tuesday in a ruling that could affect thousands of votes in November’s midterm elections. The order came as the result of a 3-3 deadlock on the court over whether rejecting such ballots — which have been at the center of an ongoing political and legal fight between Democrats and Republicans — violates federal civil rights law. Three of the justices said throwing out the ballots of otherwise qualified voters over a missing or incorrect date would improperly exclude legal votes. Three others disagreed. The seventh spot on the court remains vacant after the death of former Chief Justice Max Baer.

WISCONSIN:  Republican Candidates Question Integrity Of Wisconsin Elections 

  • Washington Post: Candidate Promises Republicans Can Take Permanent Control Of Wisconsin: Hinting at his plans to overhaul how elections are run, the Republican running for governor of Wisconsin this week said his party would permanently control the state if he wins. “Republicans will never lose another election in Wisconsin after I’m elected governor,” construction executive Tim Michels told supporters Monday at a campaign stop. Michels is seeking to unseat Gov. Tony Evers (D), who over his four years vetoed a string of Republican-backed bills that would have changed voting rules in a battleground state that Donald Trump narrowly won in 2016 and narrowly lost in 2020. Michels has promised to sign similar legislation and has said he would restructure the state’s bipartisan elections commission. He has never spelled out what specific changes he would make to the commission, which is run by three Democrats and three Republicans.
  • Washington Post: Sen. Johnson Says He Isn’t Sure Whether He’ll Accept Election Results: Sen. Ron Johnson said Tuesday that he’s uncertain about whether he’ll accept the results of the 2022 midterm elections which will be held next week. “We’ll see what happens,” Johnson said Tuesday evening at a brief stop on his bus tour that included stops in small towns in southwestern Wisconsin. “I mean, is something going to happen on Election Day? Do Democrats have something up their sleeves?”

What Experts Are Saying

Orion Danjuma, Counsel at Protect Democracy, re: federal court order to block unlawful voter intimidation at ballot drop boxes: ““The brave voters who came forward today offered powerful testimony about the harm that voter intimidation wreaks on our democracy,” said Orion Danjuma, Counsel at Protect Democracy. “The court’s order today recognizes the importance of the federal laws that ensure voters’ ability to participate in democracy without fear, and strikes an appropriate balance between protecting voters from intimidation and not infringing First Amendment rights.” Statement | OVERVIEW: League of Women Voters of Arizona vs. Lions of Liberty LLC, et al

Daniel Squadron, executive director of The States Project: “‘When election deniers are in control, they will do whatever they can to undermine free and fair elections,’ said Daniel Squadron, The States Project’s executive director. ‘We know that the rules for elections and determining the winners are set through the legislative process, so what these folks do would have enormous impact’ on ‘everything from who can register and who can vote to how the results are counted’, Squadron added.” NBC News

Rick Pildes, elections expert and professor at New York University Law School: “‘People who have such extreme views about the last election might push for changes to the voting process that would both make it harder to vote for eligible voters and make it much harder to administer elections,’ said elections expert Rick Pildes, a New York University School of Law professor. Pildes pointed to various proposals in states like Arizona and Nevada that would mandate counting ballots by hand and cut back on mail-in and absentee voting. Kari Lake, Arizona’s Republican nominee for governor, suggested last weekend that she would support efforts to curtail early voting if elected.” NBC News

Norm Eisen, Brookings Institute senior fellow (CNN Video): “The American people have a right to transparency when it comes to public figures as influential as Donald Trump[.] & we will likely get it when the Supreme Court denies his appeal[.] I joined @CNN @OutFrontCNN @KateBolduan to discuss” Tweet 

Headlines

The MAGA Movement And The Ongoing Threat To Elections

The 19th: Conspiracy theories, records requests and lies: What running an election looks like right now

Associated Press: Most candidates for top election posts say no to hand counts

Associated Press: Trump 2024 campaign prepares for post-midterms launch

Five Thirty Eight: Meet The Midterm Candidates Who Attended The Jan. 6 Rally

NBC: Text messages with misleading election info hit voters in 5 states

New York Times: Once a G.O.P. Stalwart, Liz Cheney Hits the Trail for Democrats

New York Times: Inflammatory Radio Ads From 2 Trump-Aligned Groups Are Airing in Battleground States

ProPublica: What Fortune 500 Companies Said After Jan. 6 vs. What They Did

ProPublica: How the Biden Administration Caved to Republicans on Fighting Election Disinformation

Reuters: Explainer: How new U.S. laws could trip up voters in the midterm elections

January 6 And The 2020 Election

CNN: House January 6 committee ‘in discussions’ with Trump’s attorneys for him to testify under oath, Cheney says

NBC: Nevada GOP chair says he was interviewed by the Jan. 6 committee

New York Times: Even After Jan. 6 Riot Was Quelled, Oath Keepers Were Urged to Fight On

New York Times: Prosecutors Look at Florida Election Protest as a Model for Jan. 6

Washington Post: Jan. 6 panel interviews Secret Service spokesperson over Cassidy Hutchinson testimony

Other Trump Investigations 

Washington Post: Chief Justice Roberts temporarily delays release of Trump tax records

Opinion

Boston Globe (Laurence Tribe, Jeffrey Abramsom, and Dennis Aftergut): Americans can stop political violence — if we choose

Los Angeles Times (Editorial): GOP responds to Pelosi attack with cruel, baseless jokes. It’s shameful

Political Violence

New York Times: Suspect in Pelosi Attack Was Consumed by Conspiracy Theories, Boss Says

Washington Post: Pelosi’s attacker told police he was on a ‘suicide mission,’ court filings allege

Washington Post: Capitol Police cameras caught break-in at Pelosi home, but no one was watching

In The States 

New York Times: Vance Says He Will Accept Election Results, While Still Questioning 2020’s

Texas Tribune: Texas Secretary of State John Scott says our elections are secure, but he sometimes muddles that message

Vice: GOP Candidate Said Elites Drink Blood, Sell ‘Baby Body Parts’ After Abortion

Washington Post: GOP push to monitor voting in Texas’s Harris County spurs outcry