Tag: sore loser Trump

Conservative legal expert explains why Trump’s latest ‘frivolous lawsuits’ show his ‘appalling constitutional ignorance’

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Last week in a federal court in his adopted state of Florida, former President Donald Trump filed a civil lawsuit against three major tech companies: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, claiming that all them of them have violated the 1st Amendment rights he enjoys under the United States Constitution. Law professor Kimberly Wehle, in an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on July 14, explains why Trump’s “frivolous lawsuits” have absolutely no merit.

Following the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol Building — an insurrectionist attack that Trump incited, according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, arch-conservative Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and others who voted to impeach him — Trump’s Twitter and Facebook accounts were suspended. And his YouTube channel was suspended as well.

Wehle, who teaches law at the University of Baltimore and is a former assistant federal prosecutor, explains, “Given his utter ignorance about the U.S. Constitution, it remains shocking that Donald Trump was — as recently as half a year ago! — charged with preserving, protecting and defending it. The latest evidence of his appalling constitutional ignorance comes in the form of a series of frivolous lawsuits that reveal an embarrassingly distorted understanding of our national charter. At least this legal mess has one silver lining: It’s an opportunity for another mini-lesson in basic civics.” Continue reading.

Trump’s team fired the White House chief usher right before Biden took office, maybe at Biden’s request

When President Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden arrived at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, there was no chief usher to greet them. He had been fired at about 11:30 a.m., half an hour before Biden was sworn in as president, The New York Times reports. Former first lady Melania Trump had hired the chief usher, Timothy Harleth, from the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., in 2017, after the previous chief usher, Angella Reid, was dismissed a few months into Donald Trump’s term.

The White House chief usher is in charge of the first family’s residence, overseeing everything from personnel issues to budgets. It is typically an apolitical job, and ushers typically stay through several administrations. Reid, hired in 2011, was only the ninth chief usher since 1885, though she was the first woman hired for the job. The Bidens had communicated to the White House counsel that they intended to bring in their own chief usher, a person familiar with the process told the Times. A Biden White House official told CNN that Harleth “was let go before the Bidens arrived,” though CNN reports it was the Bidens who gave him the ax.

Harleth was already in hot water with Trump’s team, though. He “had found himself in an untenable position” since the election, “trying to begin preparations for a new resident in the White House, even as its occupant refused to concede that he would be leaving the premises,” the Times reports. And Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, was “unhappy” with Harleth “for trying to send briefing books about the residence to the Biden transition team in November.” Harleth “had worked with Jill Biden’s staff for weeks to organize the move of household belongings,” The Washington Post adds. Continue reading.

Trump will skip Biden inauguration

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President Trump tweeted on Friday that he will not be attending President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

Why it matters: It’s a break from tradition that comes as Trump faces massive backlash over the storming of the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters.

The big picture: Trump released a video Thursday night acknowledging that a “new administration will be inaugurated on Jan. 20,” and stating that he will focus on a “seamless transition of power” — one day after his continued and baseless claims of a “rigged” election led to the violent insurrection at the Capitol. Continue reading.

Carl Bernstein Says Latest Trump Tapes Are ‘Far Worse’ Than Watergate

Audio of the president trying to persuade a Georgia official to change election results is “the ultimate smoking gun tape,” the Watergate journalist said.

The leaked tapes of Donald Trump trying to pressure Georgia’s secretary of state to overturn the president’s election defeat are “far worse” than what occurred in the Watergate scandal, journalist Carl Bernstein said Sunday.

Bernstein, whose reporting of the 1972 political scandal led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon, said the bombshell tapes of Trump were evidence of an attempted coup.

“It’s not déjà vu. This was something far worse than occurred in Watergate,” Bernstein told CNN. “We have both a criminal president of the United States in Donald Trump and a subversive president of the United States at the same time in this one person.” Continue reading.

Trump’s pressure on Georgia election officials raises legal questions

In audio from a Saturday phone call, the president is heard urging the officials to reverse his loss.

President Donald Trump’s effort to pressure Georgia officials to “find” enough votes to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory could run afoul of federal and state criminal statutes, according to legal experts and lawmakers, who expressed alarm at Trump’s effort to subvert democracy with less than three weeks left in his term.

“We have won the election in Georgia based on all of this. And there’s nothing wrong with saying that, Brad,” Trump told Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on an hourlong Saturday phone call, according to a recording of the conversation, which also included Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and legal advisers to the president. “And the people of Georgia are angry. The people in the country are angry. And there’s nothing wrong with saying that, you know, um, that you’ve recalculated.”

POLITICO has confirmed the recording, which was first obtained by The Washington Post and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The leaked audio comes as Congress is set to certify the Electoral College votes on Wednesday. At least 12 incoming and current Republican senators, along with well over 100 Republican representatives, have said they are going to challenge the results based on unsupported allegations of voter fraud. Continue reading.

All 10 living former defense secretaries: Involving the military in election disputes would cross into dangerous territory

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Ashton Carter, Dick Cheney, William Cohen, Mark Esper, Robert Gates, Chuck Hagel, James Mattis, Leon Panetta, William Perry and Donald Rumsfeld are the 10 living former U.S. secretaries of defense.

As former secretaries of defense, we hold a common view of the solemn obligations of the U.S. armed forces and the Defense Department. Each of us swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. We did not swear it to an individual or a party.

American elections and the peaceful transfers of power that result are hallmarks of our democracy. With one singular and tragic exception that cost the lives of more Americans than all of our other wars combined, the United States has had an unbroken record of such transitions since 1789, including in times of partisan strife, war, epidemics and economic depression. This year should be no exception.

Our elections have occurred. Recounts and audits have been conducted. Appropriate challenges have been addressed by the courts. Governors have certified the results. And the electoral college has voted. The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived. Continue reading.

Ex-GOP Speaker Ryan denounces effort to challenge Electoral College results

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Former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Sunday blasted Congressional Republicans’ efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

“Efforts to reject the votes of the Electoral College and sow doubt about Joe Biden’s victory strike at the foundation of our republic. It is difficult to conceive of a more anti-democratic and anti-conservative act than a federal intervention to overturn the results of state-certified elections and disenfranchise millions of Americans,” Ryan said in a statement.

“The Trump campaign had ample opportunity to challenge election results, and those efforts failed from lack of evidence,” the statement continues. “The legal process was exhausted, and the results were decisively confirmed. The Department of Justice, too, found no basis for overturning the result. If states wish to reform their processes for future elections, that is their prerogative. But Joe Biden’s victory is entirely legitimate.” Continue reading.

Fox News host rips ‘outrageous’ GOP Electoral College plot: ‘It’s a very dangerous precedent’

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Fox News host Jedidiah Bila on Sunday criticized Republicans who want to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory by officially objecting to the results of the Electoral College.

“I actually find it really outrageous,” Bila explained to Fox News host Howard Kurtz. “And the reason is that if you look at what’s gone on here, I think the media has actually been pretty fair, particularly the news divisions.”

“This has gone through the courts,” she continued. “Sixty cases have been brought to the courts, oftentimes widespread voter fraud has not even been alleged in court because there simply isn’t evidence to support that. If you look at the evidence that has been shown, it does not support that.” Continue reading.

Trump Campaign Files Supreme Court Appeal Warning Of ‘Disruption’ If ‘Unfairness’ Persists

President Trump is urging the Supreme Court to reverse three election challenges already ruled on by the Pennsylvania’s highest court, according to a motion filed by the Trump re-election campaign. 

Trump is challenging Pennsylvania’s own Supreme Court’s ruling on the verification of absentee ballot signatures, as well as two cases pertaining to canvassing, according to the petition for certification, or “cert petition.”

“Here’s a tell about the bonkers Trump cert petition,” tweeted Rick Hasen, a University of California legal scholar who specializes in election law. “…If they were serious they would have filed emergency motion for injunction. They don’t want another loss before Jan. 6 or 20.” He also drew attention to the ominous wording of the Trump lawyers’ appeal, which warns of the “disruption that may well follow if the uncertainty and unfairness shrouding this election are allowed to persist.” Continue reading.

House Republicans meet with Trump to discuss overturning election results

Trump loyalists are planning a last stand Jan. 6.

President Donald Trump huddled with a group of congressional Republicans at the White House on Monday, where they strategized over a last-ditch effort to overturn the election results next month, according to several members who attended the meeting.

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) — who is spearheading the long-shot push to overturn the election results in Congress — organized the trio of White House meetings, which lasted over three hours and included roughly a dozen lawmakers. The group also met with Vice President Mike Pence, who will be presiding over the joint session of Congress when lawmakers officially certify the Electoral College votes on Jan. 6, as well as members of Trump’s legal team.

“It was a back-and-forth concerning the planning and strategy for January the 6th,” Brooks said in a phone interview. Continue reading.