Trump and allies launch new efforts to overturn Biden victory in key states

[rooster59]

Trump and allies launch new efforts to overturn Biden victory in key states

By Simon Lewis and Jonathan Landay

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump pauses as he speaks about the "Operation Warp Speed" program, the joint Defense Department and HHS initiative that has struck deals with several drugmakers in an effort to help speed up the search for effective treatments for the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, during an event in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S., November 13, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Battered by setbacks in a desperate bid to overturn the U.S. presidential election, President Donald Trump repeated unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud on Saturday and his allies tried to block official recognition of Democrat Joe Biden's victories in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

 

Two weeks after Biden was declared president-elect, Trump, a Republican, has refused to concede and is seeking to invalidate or change the results through lawsuits and recounts in several battleground states. His campaign has not provided evidence for its claims of widespread and coordinated electoral fraud.

 

On Saturday, a group of Republican politicians and voters filed a lawsuit in state court in Pennsylvania arguing that a 2019 law that cleared the way for expanded absentee voting was unconstitutional. They sought to block authorities from certifying that Biden won 81,000 more votes than Trump in the state, and instead allow the Republican-controlled legislature to decide who won the election.

 

A nonpartisan expert said the lawsuit, like dozens of others filed by the Trump campaign and its allies, would not get far in court.

 

"I don't think this case is designed to win," said Benjamin Geffen, an attorney at the Public Interest Law Center in Philadelphia.

"I'm concerned the case is really more about stoking conspiracy theories and undermining civic trust in our election process."

 

In Michigan, the Republican National Committee and the state Republican Party wrote to the state board of canvassers asking it to adjourn for 14 days to allow for an audit of ballots in Wayne County, which includes the majority-Black city of Detroit. The letter cited allegations of "irregularities" that have not been substantiated. Biden won 154,000 more votes than Trump in Michigan.

 

A spokesperson for the Michigan Department of State noted that Michigan law does not allow for audits before certification - due to take place on Monday - and said: "Judges initially appointed by both Republicans and Democrats have found allegations of widespread fraud to be wholly meritless."

 

Two leading Republican Michigan lawmakers who came to Washington at Trump's behest said after meeting him on Friday that they had no information that would change the outcome of the election in the state.

 

Trump said on Saturday that the media were misreading the statement, in which the pair also said they had faith in a review being conducted by Michigan lawmakers.

 

"Massive voter fraud will be shown!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

 

Trump's efforts, which critics call an unprecedented push by a sitting president to subvert the will of voters, have met with little success in the courtroom or on the ground.

 

A manual recount and audit in Georgia confirmed Biden on Friday as the winner in the southern state, the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Georgia in nearly three decades.

 

The Trump campaign now has two business days to request a recount in Georgia. Trump's legal team has also said it plans a lawsuit in the state, but has not provided specifics.

 

Trump's accusations have continued to inflame his hard-core Republican base.

 

Hundreds of supporters gathered at the statehouse in Atlanta on Saturday, with video posted online showing speakers denouncing the media for calling Biden the election winner, as well as some Republicans including Georgia Governor Brian Kemp for certifying the results. A counterprotest had also formed and police in riot gear were deployed between the two groups.

 

FIGHTING BACK

 

The Trump campaign's latest tactic is to convince Republican-controlled legislatures in battleground states won by Biden to set aside the results and declare Trump the winner, according to three people familiar with the plan.

 

The long-shot effort is focused on Michigan and Pennsylvania for now, although Trump would still need to overturn the vote in another state to vault ahead of Biden in the Electoral College.

 

Such an event would be unprecedented in modern U.S. history.

 

Some groups were countering with their own legal action.

 

On Friday, a group of Black voters in Detroit and a voting rights organization filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing Trump and his campaign of breaching the 1965 Voting Rights Act by falsely claiming voter fraud and trying to overturn the results in Michigan and other states by pressing officials not to count or certify votes or to install pro-Trump electors.

 

"Defendants are openly seeking to disenfranchise Black voters," said the lawsuit. More than 78% of Detroit residents are Black, according to U.S. census data.

 

Biden, who has denounced Trump's attempt to reverse the election results as "totally irresponsible", spent Saturday meeting with transition advisers and attending church.

 

Trump took part in a virtual summit of the 20 biggest world economies and then went to play golf at his club in Sterling, Virginia.

 

Senior Republicans have remained largely silent about Trump's unsubstantiated claims of election fraud or have defended his right to seek redress, but several voiced doubts on Friday.

 

Two Republican sources said a press conference on Thursday at which Trump lawyer Rudolph Giuliani accused Democrats of engaging in a "national conspiracy" to manipulate vote totals, while conceding that he had no evidence, may have been a turning point for some former allies.

 

The General Services Administration, run by a Trump appointee, has not recognized Biden's victory, preventing his team from gaining access to government office space and funding normally provided to an incoming administration ahead of Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.

 

Critics say the delay and Trump's refusal to concede have serious implications for national security and the fight against the coronavirus, which has killed nearly 255,000 Americans.

 

(Reporting by Simon Lewis, Jonathan Landay, Brad Heath, Michael Martina, Nandita Bose, Trevor Hunnicutt and Andrea Shalal-esa; Writing by Sonya Hepinstall and Andy Sullivan; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Daniel Wallis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-11-22

 

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[candide]

Trump is loser, a liar, and a cheat!

[Thailand]

This poor excuse for a man is the ultimate T-U-R-D!

[fangless]

32 minutes ago, Thailand said:

This poor excuse for a man is the ultimate T-U-R-D!

Why are you insulting T-U-R-D's? 

They at least serve a useful function in life!

[Thailand]

13 minutes ago, fangless said:

Why are you insulting T-U-R-D's? 

They at least serve a useful function in life!

My humble apologies to T-U-R-D-S.

[OneMoreFarang]

Trump is what it is.

But why are all those GOP politicians and (I read somewhere) over 60,000,000 voters still supporting his impossible claims?

He has no chance. And that is obvious. What are they waiting for?

The world laughs about America. What a banana republic.

[OneMoreFarang]

2 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

if Trump succeeds, the rest of the world's democracies will need to forget about America as an ally. The man is a cancer on democracy.

The problem is he succeeded already. Roughly 60,000,000 voters seem to think he won or at least he is still in the race. 60 million! Those people won't go away. And it's not likely that they will be any wiser and smarter in 4 or 8 years.

America is a country nobody can and nobody should trust anymore. Maybe Biden will do a good job in the next years. But that does not guarantee that those deluded masses vote again for someone like Trump or even Trump or one of his family members.

The world should learn to live without the USA because they are not reliable anymore and nobody should assume that will change anytime soon.

[Berkshire]

Trump just reeks of desperation.  He's been getting clobbered in the courts which says loud and clear that his claims of voter fraud are fake.  So now he's trying to strong-arm Republican legislators to break the law on his behalf.  Why?  He hates to govern, hates the job...mostly (except for the power part).  And he keeps saying he's super-rich and will be happy to go back to his pampered private life.  Why then??  Ahhh, it's the felonies he's facing.  Being President is about the only thing keeping him out of prison.  And this is the guy the GOP wants to be their President?  Sad! 

[Chomper Higgot]

59 days from now  Trump

leaves office and loses his Presidential privileges, including immunity from prosecution.

 

He know’s what awaits him, hence these desperate moves that, like his presidency, are doomed.

[Lacessit]

3 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

The problem is he succeeded already. Roughly 60,000,000 voters seem to think he won or at least he is still in the race. 60 million! Those people won't go away. And it's not likely that they will be any wiser and smarter in 4 or 8 years.

America is a country nobody can and nobody should trust anymore. Maybe Biden will do a good job in the next years. But that does not guarantee that those deluded masses vote again for someone like Trump or even Trump or one of his family members.

The world should learn to live without the USA because they are not reliable anymore and nobody should assume that will change anytime soon.

IMO Australia will have to be much tougher in dealing with America.

We house Marines in Darwin. Pine Gap and North West Cape ( sovereign US territory ) are major components of the USA's global surveillance system. We are a nuclear target because of that.

The way America is going, we'd probably be better off making pacts with China.

[bendejo]

The Washington Examiner is practically to the right of the right of those guys making all the trouble in Europe in the 1930s.  And even they are reporting stuff like this.  Shazam!

'Without merit': Judge dismisses Trump campaign lawsuit in Pennsylvania

 

I wonder if they'll let him keep his hair in prison?

 

[Thailand]

4 minutes ago, bendejo said:

The Washington Examiner is practically to the right of the right of those guys making all the trouble in Europe in the 1930s.  And even they are reporting stuff like this.  Shazam!

'Without merit': Judge dismisses Trump campaign lawsuit in Pennsylvania

 

I wonder if they'll let him keep his hair in prison?

 

Separate cell.

[Jeffr2]

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/21/politics/federal-judge-dismisses-trump-pennsylvania-lawsuit/index.html

 

"One might expect that when seeking such a startling outcome, a plaintiff would come formidably armed with compelling legal arguments and factual proof of rampant corruption, such that this Court would have no option but to regrettably grant the proposed injunctive relief despite the impact it would have on such a large group of citizens. That has not happened," Brann added. "Instead, this Court has been presented with strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations, unpled in the operative complaint and unsupported by evidence."

[Dagfinnur Traustason]

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

59 days from now  Trump

leaves office and loses his Presidential privileges, including immunity from prosecution.

 

He know’s what awaits him, hence these desperate moves that, like his presidency, are doomed.

Exactly! Now he comes out in the real world, and knows perfectly well how many lawsuits that are waiting. I would guess he is thinking that going for presidency was not such a smart move after all. He would have been better off shutting up and going along with his private life from start.

[bendejo]

14 minutes ago, Dagfinnur Traustason said:

Exactly! Now he comes out in the real world, and knows perfectly well how many lawsuits that are waiting. I would guess he is thinking that going for presidency was not such a smart move after all. He would have been better off shutting up and going along with his private life from start.

Yes there's the fear of being a loser (which he is anyway) but then there's the fear of the orange jumpsuit.

He's not the suicide type, but he could go into exile.  We can take bets on which country.

 

 

[Dagfinnur Traustason]

6 minutes ago, bendejo said:

Yes there's the fear of being a loser (which he is anyway) but then there's the fear of the orange jumpsuit.

He's not the suicide type, but he could go into exile.  We can take bets on which country.

 

 

1. North Korea 1,05

2. Venezuela 1,07

3. Iran 11,58

 

As you can clearly see, there is no money in this. ????

[J Town]

5 minutes ago, Dagfinnur Traustason said:

1. North Korea 1,05

2. Venezuela 1,07

3. Iran 11,58

 

As you can clearly see, there is no money in this. ????

4. Russia?

[klauskunkel]

The purpose of these law suits is not really to win, it is to plant doubt into America's mass mind. The more, the louder you repeat a lie over and over the more people believe you. The more outrageous the lie, the more believable it becomes. It's a social dynamic Trump is exploiting. He is chipping away at Americans' capacity to think for themselves by drowning them in these lies.

I hope that his time runs out before then.

[Pravda]

Trump has been pruned 

[Dagfinnur Traustason]

12 minutes ago, J Town said:

4. Russia?

???????? Ok, thought you understood that I wanted to create a little suspension. Therefore I just couldn´t sign 1,00.

[xylophone]

40 minutes ago, Pravda said:

Trump has been pruned 

Very much so and not surprised; just look at this nonsense and comments by a judge.....

 

Standing alongside Giuliani at Thursday's bizarre press conference were attorneys Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis, who alleged a outlandish scheme that saw philanthropist George Soros, President-elect Joe Biden, the Clinton Foundation and anti-fascist group Antifa work together with the Venezuelan government to rig the election in favour of the Democrats.

AND: US District Judge Matthew Brann in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, turned down the request for an injunction by President Donald Trump's campaign, spoiling the incumbent's hopes of somehow overturning the results of the presidential contest.

Brann compared the legal claims brought up by Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani to 'Frankenstein's Monster' and said some of the campaign's arguments were 'unhinged.'

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/new-yorks-rudy-giuliani-the-fall-of-americas-mayor-leading-donald-trumps-last-stand/5J7YA73GDITNCDFX5RYAMX6XHM/

[Scott]

Troll post with inflammatory remark reported and removed.

 

[Lacessit]

While Trump attempts to salvage his Presidency, the real tragedy for Americans is the polarization and deaths he has caused, to serve his own selfish ends. More to come, until he is ejected.

Edited November 22, 2020 by Lacessit

[soalbundy]

3 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I do not know what the outcome will be. The outside world is hoping this farce will end soon, with Biden installed as president.

I do know one thing. I will regard every American as potentially a corrupt, lying, deluded conspiracy theorist, because there will be a 47.2% chance they are. I also know if Trump succeeds, the rest of the world's democracies will need to forget about America as an ally. The man is a cancer on democracy.

Your last sentence is absolutely true, in the unlikely event that Trump succeeds his presidency would be disastrously compromised, both abroad and at home, all respect for the WH and the senate would be lost, mass demonstrations in democratic cities, no cooperation from the house of rep, complete partisanship, America at a standstill.

I think this is known by the GOP, they can't want this to happen, all I can imagine is that they are keeping quiet until the run off in Georgia, they hope to keep the senate, afterwards Trump is history. He will never make it to 2024, Mcdonalds will make sure of that and his shattered ego may give him the breakdown that the world needs.

[scorecard]

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

The problem is he succeeded already. Roughly 60,000,000 voters seem to think he won or at least he is still in the race. 60 million! Those people won't go away. And it's not likely that they will be any wiser and smarter in 4 or 8 years.

America is a country nobody can and nobody should trust anymore. Maybe Biden will do a good job in the next years. But that does not guarantee that those deluded masses vote again for someone like Trump or even Trump or one of his family members.

The world should learn to live without the USA because they are not reliable anymore and nobody should assume that will change anytime soon.

Also, what games will trump get up at the end of Biden's first term. 

 

Hopefully in the next 4 years all states make improvements to voting systems, put much more security in place re postal votes, more serious accounting of all votes, and in all counting.

[soalbundy]

11 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Also, what games will trump get up at the end of Biden's first term. 

 

Hopefully in the next 4 years all states make improvements to voting systems, put much more security in place re postal votes, more serious accounting of all votes, and in all counting.

At the end of Bidens term Trump ought to still be doing time or gone away with the Mcdonalds angels

[saminoz]

People should know when they are conquered

[newatthis]

1 hour ago, soalbundy said:

Your last sentence is absolutely true, in the unlikely event that Trump succeeds his presidency would be disastrously compromised, both abroad and at home, all respect for the WH and the senate would be lost, mass demonstrations in democratic cities, no cooperation from the house of rep, complete partisanship, America at a standstill.

I think this is known by the GOP, they can't want this to happen, all I can imagine is that they are keeping quiet until the run off in Georgia, they hope to keep the senate, afterwards Trump is history. He will never make it to 2024, Mcdonalds will make sure of that and his shattered ego may give him the breakdown that the world needs.

Whatever happens, all these "conspiracy" theories in the election will damage the USA internationally. Allegations against Huawei, China, Iran, Maduro etc etc. Who can believe any of these accusations now? They could all be conspiracy theories. They may not be but who can trust the USA?

[Jeffr2]

5 minutes ago, newatthis said:

Whatever happens, all these "conspiracy" theories in the election will damage the USA internationally. Allegations against Huawei, China, Iran, Maduro etc etc. Who can believe any of these accusations now? They could all be conspiracy theories. They may not be but who can trust the USA?

Allegations against Huawei, etc? All have been proven and aren't conspiracy theories. You'd know this if you read the right news.

[Jonnapat]

The real villains here are the gutless Republican senators and congressmen who are either willing to go along with this idiocy or are too scared to speak out.

From the outside the US is fast becoming a failed state which does not benefit the world as a whole.