By Joe Miller
This Week: Accountability for the Jan. 6 Attack on Our Capitol
Next Monday, December 19th, the Jan. 6 Committee will hold a final public meeting ahead of the full report release next Wednesday with criminal referrals likely to follow. The Committee has spent months meticulously gathering evidence, and is expected to release full transcripts and all video evidence presented throughout the nine public hearings held this year. Ahead of the meeting, a new report exposed thousands of former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ text messages related to the former President’s plot to overturn the 2020 election, revealing communications with 34 members of Congress from key states like Arizona, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Minnesota, Georgia, and Wisconsin (among others).
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has ramped-up efforts to pursue evidence related to the Jan. 6 investigation as criminal referrals from the Select Committee appear imminent. A group of election security experts are calling on DOJ Special Master Jack Smith to investigate a coordinated, multi-state plot by close affiliates of former President Trump to access and copy secure election data in Georgia, Michigan and Nevada after the 2020 election. In Georgia, the Department has subpoenaed Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office as part of the investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Likewise in Nevada, the DOJ has subpoenaed Las Vegas-based Clark County officials for any communications with former President Trump and his attorneys/affiliates.
In Pennsylvania, the timing of three fateful special elections has roiled the divided state House. Pennsylvania House Republicans are suing to preserve their razor-thin majority by blocking the three Democratic-leaning special elections poised to topple their MAGA majority. Though all three special elections have already been scheduled for February, a delay would allow the state GOP to maintain minority rule over the state legislature until May at the latest.
Last week, The U.S. Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments in North Carolina’s gerrymandering case with massive implications for the future of federal elections in Moore v. Harper. Unfortunately for MAGA plaintiffs, the SCOTUS seems “skeptical” of the radical ‘independent state legislature’ legal theory – which North Carolina Republicans hope would allow them to force through an aggressive voter suppression agenda without any state court oversight or intervention. The court is set to reconvene next in January.
Elsewhere, threats to democracy persist:
In Nevada, efforts to overturn the state’s easily-accessible, secure voting system continue as election skeptic Joe Lombardo prepares to take office as Governor in January.
In Arizona, defeated MAGA candidate Kari Lake is still refusing to concede her certified election loss, alleging that “intentional misconduct” supposedly skewed the outcome in a new lawsuit seeking to overturn the results. Similarly, failed Arizona Attorney General candidate Abe Hamadeh has filed yet another election lawsuit seeking to eliminate unfavorable votes.
In Michigan, the state Supreme Court rejected a bid by election denier and failed Attorney General candidate Matt DePerno to revive a long-dormant 2020 election lawsuit centering around Antrim County.
And finally, former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn appeared in court last week to testify in front of the Fulton County grand jury investigating Trump’s 2020 election interference in Georgia.
