Tag: Trump fake voter fraud crisis

Trump formed a PAC to fight the ‘stolen’ election. An expert says the president is using it to ‘fleece his supporters’

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President Donald Trump is now raising money to fund his baseless legal battle as he claims the presidential election was “stolen” by Democrats. Up until Tuesday, the Trump campaign claimed all of the funds raised were going to be designated for paying off the campaign’s debts.

Trump supporters received emails aggressively urging them to donate to the president’s legal fund so he has the “resources” needed to fight the election results. “THE DEMOCRATS WANT TO STEAL THIS ELECTION!” the Trump campaign said in its email. “We can’t allow the Left-wing MOB to undermine our election.”

On Tuesday morning, a very small disclaimer has been added to those emails and it raises a lot of questions about how those funds will be used going forward. Continue reading.

Why GOP superlawyer Ben Ginsberg is bucking his party and blasting Trump’s baseless election claims

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In “Recount,” the made-for-television film version of the 2000 presidential election standoff that gripped the nation, Republican superlawyer Ben Ginsberg is portrayed as a bare-knuckled brawler with a jaded view of his adversaries.

“I’ve done over 25 recounts, and it never ceases to amaze me the extent that Democrats will lie, cheat and steal to win an election,” Ginsberg’s character says.

While Ginsberg says he doesn’t recall uttering those exact words in real life, he has made plenty of enemies among Democrats for his tactics over the years. In addition to his role in George W. Bush’s 2000 victory, he advised a group that Democrats say falsely accused their 2004 nominee, John F. Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, of lying about his military record and was widely seen as a decisive factor in Bush’s reelection victory.

Today, with tension rising over the results of a presidential election, Ginsberg is once again on the front lines but playing an unfamiliar role: Democratic ally. Continue reading.

White House uncertainty grows over Trump post-election actions

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Officials around the Trump administration are sending mixed signals privately about support for President Trump‘s refusal to concede the election to Joe Biden.

Republicans and some of the president’s family members have publicly entertained the president’s unproven claims that widespread voter fraud is to blame for his deficit in key swing states such as Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania.

But inside the White House, there is more uncertainty about the benefits of Trump’s ongoing fight. Continue reading.

‘At what point is this treason?’ Pompeo’s claim there will be a ‘smooth transition to a 2nd Trump administration’ draws furor

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With President-elect Joe Biden ahead of President Donald Trump by at least 4.2 million in the vote count after flipping Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and other states that Trump won in 2016, Democrats as well as some conservatives are calling for Trump to concede — which he is refusing to do, vowing to fight the election results in court and insisting voter fraud robbed him of a victory. When Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked if he would help out in the transition to a Biden Administration, he responded, “There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump Administration.” And Twitter is going wild with reactions.

Here are some of the reactions to Pompeo’s outrageous statement: Continue reading.

‘It’s not a good look’: Military voters fume as Trump campaign challenges Nevada votes

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The Trump campaign is truly grasping at straws in its attempts to pretend Donald didn’t lose fair and square last week. In Nevada, where President-elect Joe Biden has a margin of more than 30,000 votes, Trump campaign lawyers are making a giant fuss over 3,000 votes they say were cast by people who don’t really live in the state. Problem is—aside from the fact that 3,000 votes won’t change the result—officials say it’s not uncommon for people who are Nevada residents to have their absentee ballots sent to another state. In fact, many of the votes in question may be from members of the military who have been transferred to other states but still consider Nevada home.

“It’s very apparent when you look at the list that there’s a lot of people on there who are affiliated with the military,” one such voter, who voted in Nevada after going to New Mexico with her husband when the Air Force transferred him, told The Wall Street Journal. “It’s not a good look.”

“It’s shocking that the Trump campaign would call these military members criminals for exercising their right to vote,” said another. Since Nevada has two Air Force bases and a naval air station, hundreds of voters on the Trump campaign’s list appear to fall into this category.  Continue reading.

The Times Called Officials in Every State: No Evidence of Voter Fraud

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The president and his allies have baselessly claimed that rampant voter fraud stole victory from him. Officials contacted by The Times said that there were no irregularities that affected the outcome.

PHILADELPHIA — Election officials in dozens of states representing both political parties said that there was no evidence that fraud or other irregularities played a role in the outcome of the presidential race, amounting to a forceful rebuke of President Trump’s portrait of a fraudulent election.

Over the last several days, the president, members of his administration, congressional Republicans and right wing allies have put forth the false claim that the election was stolen from Mr. Trump and have refused to accept results that showed Joseph R. Biden Jr. as the winner.

But top election officials across the country said in interviews and statements that the process had been a remarkable success despite record turnout and the complications of a dangerous pandemic. Continue reading.

Postal worker recanted allegations of ballot tampering, officials say

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A Pennsylvania postal worker whose claims have been cited by top Republicans as potential evidence of widespread voting irregularities admitted to U.S. Postal Service investigators that he fabricated the allegations, according to three officials briefed on the investigation and a statement from a House congressional committee.

Richard Hopkins’s claim that a postmaster in Erie, Pa., instructed postal workers to backdate ballots mailed after Election Day was cited by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) in a letter to the Justice Department calling for a federal investigation. Attorney General William P. Barr subsequently authorized federal prosecutors to open probes into credible allegations of voting irregularities and fraud before results are certified, a reversal of long-standing Justice Department policy.

But on Monday, Hopkins, 32, told investigators from the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General that the allegations were not true, and he signed an affidavit recanting his claims, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing investigation. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee tweeted late Tuesday that the “whistleblower completely RECANTED.” Continue reading.

Man featured at Giuliani press conference is a convicted sex offender

The first person Rudy Giuliani, the attorney for President Donald Trump, called up as a witness to baseless allegations of vote counting shenanigans in Philadelphia during a press conference last week is a sex offender who for years has been a perennial candidate in New Jersey.

“It’s such a shame. This is a democracy,” Daryl Brooks, who said he was a GOP poll watcher, said at the press conference, held at Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Northeast Philadelphia. “They did not allow us to see anything. Was it corrupt or not? But give us an opportunity as poll watchers to view all the documents — all of the ballots.”

Trenton political insiders watched with bemusement as Brooks took the podium. Continue reading.

Leaked call audio shows Trump officials denying election results

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Top Trump loyalists are trying to cling to power by firing critics, rehiring other loyalists, instructing federal government employees that the election isn’t over yet, and threatening appointees that their future work prospects could get crushed if they try to abandon ship now.

Driving the news: In leaked audio of a Monday conference call with USAID staff, obtained by Axios, the agency’s top-ranking official John Barsa told staff to “play until the whistle blows” and that “DC, at the end of the day, is a really small town” — which participants read as a threat to anyone who starts job hunting. 

The big picture: Monday’s leaked call came as Trump and his inner circle continued to publicly deny the reality that rival Joe Biden has won the election. Continue reading.

Barr clears Justice Dept. to investigate alleged voting irregularities as Trump makes unfounded fraud claims

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Attorney General William P. Barr on Monday gave federal prosecutors approval to pursue allegations of “vote tabulation irregularities” in certain cases before results are certified and indicated he had already done so “in specific instances” — a reversal of long-standing Justice Department policy that quickly drew internal and external criticism for fueling unfounded claims of massive election fraud pushed by President Trump and other conservatives.

Richard Pilger, head of the Justice Department’s Election Crimes Branch, stepped down from his position in protest over Barr’s directive — though he remains at the agency, according to people familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a politically volatile situation.

The people said Barr had first broached a similar idea some weeks ago and that political leadership in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, of which the Election Crimes Branch is a part, pushed back. Those officials were blindsided when Barr’s memo was released on Monday, the people said. Continue reading.