Georgia is creating the pattern to capture the election

Our entire country has been held hostage by Trump’s mental and emotional deficits. He doesn’t “lose.” He is unwell and cannot publicly acknowledge defeat. Democracy was vulnerable before Trump, but its fragility could be fatal because of him.

  The Bulwark

[T]he Georgia State Election Board has drawn well-deserved national attention with its outrageous actions on Tuesday to pass antidemocratic changes to the battleground state’s election rules.

[...]

Trump’s 2020 election interference playbook hasn’t changed, but the MAGA operation has become more sophisticated. Now, there are election deniers holding local elections positions in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania (in addition to Georgia). GOP officials have resisted certifying results in Arizona, Michigan and Nevada.

[...]

[E]arlier this year, the GOP-controlled [Georgia] state Legislature appointed two new members to the five-person panel, transforming it into a Trump-aligned government body. Three of the board’s five members have expressed doubts that President Joe Biden won the state in the 2020 election. The board’s meetings have become a haven for false election conspiracy theories.

[...]

Now the board’s MAGA majority is trying to change Georgia’s election rules just ahead of the contest. Its first attempt came last month, only to be reversed after a lawsuit accused the three members of holding an unlawful meeting to ram through the changes.

[...]

One of the two new rules passed by the board on Tuesday lets local elections officials halt vote-counting and delay or even outright refuse certification if they contend there are any irregularities, essentially making the certification of election results discretionary. (Georgia law states in multiple places that local election board officials shall perform their duties — meaning their duties are mandatory, not discretionary). Other proposed changes would increase workload demands on overburdened election workers, which could overwhelm county elections offices and ultimately slow down or stop certification.

[...]

And all this builds on similar efforts in 2020, when a Coffee County elections official delayed certification of Biden’s Georgia victory and refused to validate the recount results, citing MAGA-backed election conspiracies. The same official allegedly helped Trump campaign operatives breach Coffee County’s voting data days before Jan. 6. According to CNN, Coffee County was specifically cited in draft federal executive orders for seizing voting machines that were presented to Trump in a chaotic Oval Office meeting on Dec. 18, 2020.

[...]

These newly passed rules changes, along with other proposed changes still being considered by the board, follow refusals from Republican county election board members in Georgia to certify election results in the 2023 local elections and the 2024 primary even though there is no legitimate doubts about the results.

[...]

After failing to overturn his 2020 loss, it seems Trump aims to win Georgia by any means, aided by the State Election Board. Trump may be hinting at this strategy, recently claiming he “didn’t need the votes,” an odd statement for a presidential candidate.

[...]

Georgia law gives [Governor Brian] Kemp the authority to investigate members of the election board and remove and replace them if they’ve violated Georgia law, which it certainly seems they did by holding an unlawful meeting.

  MSNBC

Trump has been lambasting Kemp lately. We'll see if that cows him into doing Trump's bidding or steels him to uphold Georgia law.

Voters are the last and ultimately most critical line of defense. The best way to ensure election results are certified in a timely manner is with large turnout and decisive margins. Voters everywhere should also check their voter registration status regularly and get their friends and family registered today.

An investigation by Rolling Stone identified “in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania . . . at least 70 pro-Trump election conspiracists currently working as county election officials who have questioned the validity of elections or delayed or refused to certify results.” Of those 70, 22 of them already have “refused or delayed certification” in recent past elections. Nationwide, Republicans have refused to certify results at least 25 times since 2020, in eight states—the most in Georgia.

[...]

There are more than enough such individuals in these key posts to bring us to a constitutional crisis.

“I think we are going to see mass refusals to certify the election” in November, Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias told Rolling Stone. “Everything we are seeing about this election is that the other side is more organized, more ruthless, and more prepared.”

  The Bulwark

UPDATE 08/17/2024:

Trump attacks Brian Kemp in Georgia

Funny.  He says Kemp should not be seeking retribution, but Trump tells his followers that he is their retribution and has a retribution list ready to go if he gets back in office.  He'll be head of the Retribution Party.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Flurry of activity in the documents case in Georgia

They've been making moves to have her removed from office.

And Trump doesn't want to be on it.  What happened to Mr. Tough Guy?

Lots of motions for severance and/or removal to Federal Court.  It will all wash out at some point.  In the meantime, we wait.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 06:58 pm:

More tidbits from the Georgia special grand jury

Five jurors spoke to the Atlanta Journal Constitution after their foreperson, Emily Kohrs spilled the beans, generally because they thought she made them sound unserious.  (I can't argue with that.)

One [detail] was that they had heard a recording of a phone call Trump placed to late Georgia House Speaker David Ralston in which the president asked the fellow Republican to convene a special session of the legislature to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s narrow victory in Georgia.

  Atlanta Journal Constitution

I suppose Trump will now tell us that was a "perfect call."

The speaker “basically cut the president off. He said, ‘I will do everything in my power that I think is appropriate.’ … He just basically took the wind out of the sails,” the juror said. “‘Well, thank you,’ you know, is all the president could say.”

[...]

Prosecutors generally took the lead on questioning witnesses and recommending who to subpoena, but jurors would step in to ask their own questions. Jurors said prosecutors took pains not to give their opinions, only offering guidance on what was illegal under the law. Several jurors said prosecutors never tipped their hand about who might be charged.

[...]

“I was pretty emotional throughout the whole thing,” a juror said. “I wouldn’t cry in front of any of the witnesses, but when I would get in my car, I was like, I just left that and I have to just go do my job now?…. I just know things that are hard to know.”

[...]

One grand juror recalled U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s testimony about Trump’s state of mind in the months after the 2020 election.

“He said that during that time, if somebody had told Trump that aliens came down and stole Trump ballots, that Trump would’ve believed it,” the juror said.

Cue Trump "Truth" rant about Lindsey Graham.

On some occasions, when a witness invoked the Fifth, a prosecutor would play video of speeches, TV interviews or testimony the witness had given elsewhere.

“I don’t know if it was like cruelty, but they’re like, if you’re going to take the Fifth, we’re going to watch you,” one of the jurors said.

Another juror said the panel was told repeatedly by prosecutors that they should not perceive someone invoking his or her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination as an admission of guilt.

“They were very passionate about saying: ‘I need you to understand that,” she said.

Well, what they needed was to be on record telling them that.

“I think the president just was one where we chose to focus our energies elsewhere, because it would be more productive in the long run,” Kohrs previously told the AJC.

That statement raised questions among some critics about whether Kohrs had improperly disclosed jury deliberations. But the other jurors told the AJC that the group had never discussed summoning Trump during its deliberations, suggesting it was prosecutors’ decision. In response, Kohrs said in a text that she “trust(ed) their recollection. And honestly with so much we talked about, it’s definitely possible I got it mixed up a bit.”

Also, she was so excited about her role and talking about it that I'm guessing she identified herself with the prosecutors - or at least with the people making the decisions, and the "we" didn't mean the jury, but rather her and the prosecutors.

One juror expressed appreciation for the behind-the-scenes look the group received of Georgia politics and the ballot-counting process. Another indicated he had grown more jaded after it became clear that some witnesses were telling the grand jury one thing about the election under oath and then casting doubt on the system when they returned to the campaign trail, sometimes hours later.

The group said they had no idea what Willis planned to do in response to their recommendations. But many described an increased regard for the elections system and the people who run it.

[...]

The grand jurors said they understand why the public release of their full final report needs to wait until Willis makes indictment decisions.

“A lot’s gonna come out sooner or later,” one of the jurors said. “And it’s gonna be massive. It’s gonna be massive.”

[...]

Prosecutors told the jurors that their notes would be destroyed, an announcement that angered one of the jurors, who had been toying with writing something about his experience. And they promised to send jurors a pen and coffee mug as a mark of their appreciation. Jurors said they’ve received neither so far.

Ooops. Well, they will now.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 03/16/2023:

According to the Georgia Constitution, not only can the governor convene a special session, the General Assembly can call itself into a special session, though that requires the signatures of 3/5 of the Georgia House.

[...]

Ralston, who died last year, described his December 2020 call with Trump during an interview the following day.

Trump “would like a special session of the Georgia General Assembly,” Ralston said. “He’s been clear on that before, and he was clear on that in the phone conversation yesterday. You know I shared with him my belief that based on the understanding I have of Georgia law that it was going to be very much an uphill battle.”

[...]

Former US Sen. David Perdue, a staunch Trump ally from Georgia, also requested a special session be convened during a meeting in December 2020 at Truist Park, where the Atlanta Braves play. Gov. Brian Kemp, Perdue and former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, the state’s other US senator at the time, and their aides attended.

  CNN

So maybe they ought to see some consequences?

UPDATE 03/16/2023 06:58 pm:

Closer and closer

Also...

Potential election crimes that may be on the table for Georgia prosecutors include: (1) solicitation to commit election fraud, Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-604(a); (2) intentional interference with performance of election duties, Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-597; (3) interference with primaries and elections, Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-566; and (4) conspiracy to commit election fraud, Ga. Code Ann. § 21-2-603. While the elements of these crimes vary, the gravamen of these offenses is that through conduct such as the call to Raffensperger demanding that he “find 11,780 votes” and the potential orchestration of the false electors scheme, Trump may be shown to have exhorted Georgia officials to change the lawful outcome of the election. Trump’s full course of conduct before and after the election suggests clear and consistent intent to solicit and pressure government officials to reverse the election results.

[...]

In addition, evidence suggests that Trump and his cohort, including the false electors, may have committed other crimes outside of the election title, such as: making false statements, Ga. Code Ann. § 16-10-20; improperly influencing government officials, Ga. Code Ann. § 16-10-93; forgery in the first degree, Ga. Code. Ann. § 16-9-1; and criminal solicitation, Ga. Code Ann. § 16-4-7.

[...]

In December 2020, Trump reportedly began to place calls directly to Georgia officials, including Governor Brian Kemp and Attorney General Chris Carr, to urge them to support efforts aimed at decertifying his loss. Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, appeared before the Georgia legislature and presented false allegations of fraud and misrepresented the law in an attempt to convince state lawmakers to take extraordinary action to reverse Biden’s win. Later, when his own acting attorney general refused to use the Justice Department in support of Trump’s efforts, Trump maneuvered to install a loyalist atop the department who planned to send a draft letter designed to mislead and influence the Georgia legislature into convening to overturn the election results. Additionally, Trump campaign officials reportedly helped coordinate Republican state officials to meet on December 14, 2020 to sign and submit to Congress and the National Archives a false electoral certificate purporting to show Trump’s victory in the state.

Finally, as the January 6 congressional certification of Joe Biden’s victory neared, Trump called Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2. In the call, Trump both threatened and pleaded with Raffensperger to “find” 11,780 votes, thereby tilting the state’s presidential election in his favor.

Based on these facts and a litany of additional public reporting, Trump appears to be at substantial risk of prosecution for both election and non-election crimes in violation of Georgia state law.

[...]

Trump may face charges for possible violations of Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The statute recognizes that if violations of individual criminal statutes by a single person are bad, an enterprise that repeatedly violates the law is worse and should be subject to additional sanction. To be charged, the law requires a “pattern” of misconduct, as shown by violations of two or more specified crimes, including the false statements or improper influence crimes mentioned above. Willis has experience prosecuting RICO cases, and her investigatory team includes a RICO expert.

  Brookings

>> Download and read the full report <<

Georgia election interference case takes another step

The Georgia prosecutor investigating whether former President Donald Trump and his allies broke the law trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state is seeking search warrants in the case, a sign that the wide-ranging probe has entered a new phase.

[...]

[Judge Robert] McBurney wrote that District Attorney Fani Willis’ office is “now seeking to obtain and execute a series of search warrants, the affidavits for which are predicated on sensitive information acquired during the investigation.”

Disclosure of the information could compromise the investigation, McBurney wrote, “by, among other things, causing flight from prosecution, destruction of or tampering with evidence, and intimidation of potential witnesses.” It could also result in risks to the “safety and well-being” of people involved in the investigation, he wrote.

  AP

Wow. That's serious shit.

[DA Fani] Willis, a Democrat, opened the investigation early last year, shortly after the release of a recording of a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call in which Trump suggested that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger could “find” the votes needed to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

In addition to the Trump-Raffensperger call, Willis confirmed early on that she was investigating a call that Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina made to Raffensperger, the sudden departure of the U.S. attorney in Atlanta in early January 2021 and statements made during legislative committee meetings by people pushing debunked claims casting doubt on the legitimacy of the state’s election.

[...]

Graham’s attempt to fight his subpoena is currently pending before a federal appeals court.

[...]

Graham has denied any wrongdoing and said his status as a senator shields him from having to testify.

Not if there's a crime involved, it doesn't.

Court filings in recent months have also shown that Willis is interested in a slate of fake electors who signed a certificate in December 2020 falsely stating that Trump had won the state and that they were the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors.

[...]

Attorneys for Rudy Giuliani, a former New York mayor and Trump lawyer, say their client has also been notified that he’s a target of Willis’ investigation. He appeared at state legislative committee hearings in December 2020 and made claims of election fraud in Georgia. Giuliani was also involved in coordinating the fake elector plan, Willis wrote in a court filing. He testified before the special grand jury in August.

[...]

Documents, emails, security video and deposition testimony produced in response to subpoenas in a long-running lawsuit have shown that lawyer Sidney Powell and other Trump allies hired a computer forensics team to go to Coffee County to make complete copies of data and software on elections equipment there. Willis is seeking testimony from Powell and has also requested documents from the company that employs the computer forensics team.

[...]

As the investigation has progressed, a number of people who have been summoned to testify have tried to avoid testifying. Most have been unsuccessful.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican who’s facing a reelection challenge from Democrat Stacey Abrams, managed to delay his testimony until after next month’s election.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Speaking of Graham's legal woes...

We await the court's ruling.

full pleading

UPDATE:  Could be a clue...

Because of course

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Trump nemesis Kemp is running over Trump-endorsed Perdue

News reports regularly say Republicans are running on Trump’s “big lie.” But that suggests they are merely re-litigating his loss out of twisted loyalty to him. It’s worse: Some candidates are running on an implicit vow to do what it takes to subvert future losses.

[David] Perdue is a prime example. He has said that as governor he wouldn’t have certified Trump’s 2020 loss. That’s an implicit promise to use his power as governor in a way Kemp would not, to prevent a legitimate GOP loss from becoming official.

[...]

Analysts are already describing this as evidence of Trump’s waning influence among GOP voters. But something bigger is at stake: A decisive Kemp win would show that Republican officials can abide by the integrity of election losses and live to tell the tale — that is, without immediately seeing their careers implode in the next GOP primary.

Perdue has built his entire primary challenge to Kemp around the idea that in some vague sense, Kemp betrayed Republican voters by rebuffing Trump’s pressure to help steal the 2020 election. Trump endorsed Perdue for the explicit purpose of ousting Kemp as payback for that heresy.

[...]

Perdue recently telegraphed this again. At a GOP primary debate this week, Perdue flatly declared that Kemp had “caved and allowed radical Democrats to steal our election,” and told GOP voters that if they’re upset and angry about Democratic control, Kemp is to blame for it.

[...]

Perdue is wagering that GOP voters’ angst over losing in 2020 will make them ripe marks.

  WaPo

Looks like that may be a spectacularly bad bet.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

MAGA ... revive Jim Crow

The election of Warnock and Ossof has made the old white men desperate.

The same sentiment as an old Richard Prior joke about abusing an ex-wife and her trying to get out of the house:  "You can leave.  All you have to do is find some other way out of here besides that door."

Georgia state troopers arrested state Rep. Park Cannon on Thursday as she knocked on Gov. Brian Kemp’s door, interrupting his livestreamed announcement that he had signed an elections bill into law.

The officers forcibly removed Cannon, a Democrat from Atlanta, dragging her through the Capitol and pushing her into a police car. She was charged with obstruction of law enforcement and disrupting General Assembly sessions, according to the Georgia State Patrol and released on bond late Thursday.

  Atlanta Journal Constitution

Jesus Christ. Adding to the lawsuits Georgia Republicans are going to find themselves in after all this.

Cannon was with several other protesters when she knocked on Kemp’s office door, saying the public should be allowed to witness the announcement of the bill signing.

Outrageous.  Is there actually a law in Georgia against knocking on the governor's door during a bill signing?  I hope there's not a fire in the building when he's signing bills some day.  I think somebody's about to go to court.

Georgia state Representative Park Cannon spoke out against her arrest after she was released from police custody early Friday morning.

[...]

‘I am not the first Georgian to be arrested for fighting voter suppression. I’d love to say I’m the last, but we know that isn’t true,’ Rep. Cannon said.

  Yahoo

Safe bet there.

She continued, “We will not live in fear and we will not be controlled. We have a right to our future and a right to our freedom. We will come together and continue fighting white supremacy in all its forms.”

In an additional post, she thanked her pastor Rep. Raphael Warnock for his support.

[...]

According to CNN, Cannon faces two felony charges — felony obstruction and preventing or disrupting general assembly session.

Backed by the GOP’s Washington establishment, Republicans have been pushing extreme anti-voting legislation in almost every state, all under the guise of what they call “election integrity.” But the ugliness of Cannon’s arrest underscored the nefariousness of these bills: The Georgia law “suppresses voters, criminalizes compassion & seizes election authority from local + state officials,” Stacey Abrams tweeted Thursday. “It’s Jim Crow in a suit + tie.” California Rep. Ro Khanna called the laws “anti-American, racist, and a betrayal of our Constitution” and accused Kemp of committing “not simply an unjust act but a deeply unpatriotic one.”

[...]

[Democratic attorney Marc] Elias and the New Georgia Project, Rise, and Black Voters Matter are already challenging the law, which was met with protests outside the Georgia State Capitol. And in Washington, the disenfranchisement bill triggered outrage among Democrats, who have already been rallying to expand voting rights at the federal level. “The goal of voter suppression is to so demoralize the electorate that people don’t even bother to try, but that will not happen,” Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, Cannon’s pastor, said in remarks after her arrest Thursday evening. Added Warnock, whose January run-off victory with Jon Ossoff gave Democrats control of Capitol Hill: “We are going to take this fight to give the people their voices back...from the red clay hills of Georgia all the way back, all the way to the United States Senate.”

Elias and the New Georgia Project, Rise, and Black Voters Matter are already challenging the law, which was met with protests outside the Georgia State Capitol. And in Washington, the disenfranchisement bill triggered outrage among Democrats, who have already been rallying to expand voting rights at the federal level. “The goal of voter suppression is to so demoralize the electorate that people don’t even bother to try, but that will not happen,” Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, Cannon’s pastor, said in remarks after her arrest Thursday evening. Added Warnock, whose January run-off victory with Jon Ossoff gave Democrats control of Capitol Hill: “We are going to take this fight to give the people their voices back...from the red clay hills of Georgia all the way back, all the way to the United States Senate.”

  Vanity Fair

Can I get an "Amen"?

UPDATE:

Gabriel Sterling is the elections official who appeared prominently in the Georgia vote count bruhaha.

The law also strips Georgia’s secretary of state of his role as chief elections officer.

“I wouldn’t have written the bill this way,” said Sterling, the chief operating officer for the Secretary of State’s Office. “I definitely wouldn’t have written a bill that took my boss, Secretary Brad Raffensperger, who did a great job ... out of the role as chief elections officer of the state elections board.”

[...]

Raffensperger — and Sterling — staunchly defended the integrity of the state’s presidential election. Raffensperger’s office also released a tape of a shocking phone call to him from Trump calling on Raffensperger to “find” just enough votes to give him a victory over Biden after the election had been called. That conversation is now the subject of an investigation into possible illegal election tampering.

Sterling also accused Trump and his team of deliberately misleading the American public about the vote when he knew there was no fraud. Sterling has called the election the most secure and transparent election in Georgia history.

Nevertheless, Sterling supports the new voting law, insisting it’s not going to “suppress” voting rights. He said it will provide more assurance to voters that elections will be secure — even though any sense of insecurity was likely created by Trump’s “Big Lie” that the vote wasn’t legitimate.

“I get it, it doesn’t look great,” Sterling admitted.

  HuffPo

Understating the situation by an amazing distance.

UPDATE 4/7:

I should hope not!

False arrest charges?

Pathetic - Part 2

On Friday, the president and his allies suffered legal defeats in six states, including decisive rejections in Arizona and Nevada of their claims of fraud and other irregularities.

Trump was unable to stop the certification of the vote in all the states in which he has sought to contest the results, even after making personal outreach to Republican officials in Michigan.

[...]

Hours before he was scheduled to hold a rally in Georgia on behalf of the state’s two GOP senators, Trump pressed [Governor Brian] Kemp to call a special session of the state legislature for lawmakers to override the results and appoint electors who would back the president at the electoral college.

[...]

Trump also asked the governor to demand an audit of signatures on mail ballots, something Kemp has previously noted he has no power to do. Kemp declined the president’s entreaty.

[...]

Kemp’s spokesman, Cody Hall, confirmed that the two men spoke. Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh declined to comment.

  WaPo

I would love to hear that call. And then Trump tried to smear Kemp about it.

Kemp pushed back.

Hours later, the president tweeted back: “But you never got the signature verification! Your people are refusing to do what you ask. What are they hiding? At least immediately ask for a Special Session of the Legislature. That you can easily, and immediately, do. #Transparency.”

[...]

Kemp has requested that Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger conduct an audit, but the governor’s office also has made clear that Kemp personally has no power to order such a move.

[...]

Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University, said that if Trump invoked his federal authority in his conversation Saturday with Kemp, or made the call from the Oval Office, he could have violated criminal provisions of the Hatch Act, which prohibits government officials from political activity in their official capacity.

Oh hell. The Trump administration has repeatedly violated the Hatch Act since the beginning of his administration. This is the administration that's above the law.

While the civil penalties of the Hatch Act do not apply to the president, the criminal provisions do, she noted.

And who's going to charge him?

Trump is to headline a campaign rally for Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in the state Saturday night — his first major political event since before the Nov. 3 election.

Everybody pray for Daniel Dale and Aaron Rupar.

GOP officials are working frantically behind the scenes to try to keep the president on script at the rally, worried that he will use the forum to attack Kemp and other state GOP officials who have resisted his pressure.

Of course he will. And they haven't been abe to keep him on script in the past four years. Why are they still trying?

The Georgia governor has become a punching bag for the president, who called him “hapless” on Twitter and told aides in recent days that Kemp was a “moron,” according to the person. He also complained to aides that Kemp should not have appointed Loeffler to succeed retiring Sen. Johnny Isakson in late 2019, saying he does not think she is a good candidate.

There's an ad for Dem candidate Reverand Warnock.

When asked to comment on Trump’s remarks, Loeffler campaign spokeswoman Caitlin O’Dea said, “Tune in tonight and stop reporting fake news.”

[...]

Trump and his allies have claimed with no evidence that county election officials in Georgia accepted ballots where the voter signatures on envelopes did not match the voter signatures on file.

And they know it can't be disproved because the envelopes are separated from ballots after the signatures are matched.

[Georgia Secretary of State]Raffensperger, a Republican, has strongly defended the integrity of Georgia’s election, despite pressure from other GOP leaders, including the state’s senators, who demanded his resignation. Earlier this week, a top official in Raffensperger’s office called on Trump to stop spreading false claims about fraud, saying the rhetoric was leading to threats of violence against election workers.

Biden secured his victory in Georgia by roughly 12,000 votes. A second recount of ballots requested by the Trump campaign is expected to be finalized this week and confirm his lead.

[...]

Democratic state Sen. Elena Parent pushed back at the idea that the legislature could choose to override the popular vote and appoint electors sympathetic to Trump.

“According to the law of the state of Georgia, we do not have the power to submit alternate electors. The provision in the old law is quite clear,” said Parent, who has since been the target of death threats on far-right online sites.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

Lin Wood, ladies and gentlemen, is Trump's election lawyer, who, by the way, just lost another one.  They're approaching 50 losses.  46 now, I think.

Do not feel sorry for Bill Barr

Barr would simply be getting what he deserved if Trump fired him. 

Also...

Why aren't HIS lawyers and HIS judges fixing things for him? !

And Kemp!  WTF?  He was bought, doesn't he know that?

Trump doesn't recognize laws or constitutions.  He thinks if you're the head of something you just do what you want.

They created a monster who is now out of their control

Trump’s deep base of conservative support virtually ensures that he’ll remain a force once he leaves office. And the fact that many of his backers are convinced the election was stolen from him could intensify their loyalty.

But party strategists worry that could spell trouble in upcoming elections.

[...]

Trump’s attacks on Govs. Brian Kemp of Georgia and Mike DeWine Ohio — both of whom are up for reelection in 2022 — has led to broader concerns within the party that he will use his post-presidency to exact revenge on perceived enemies and insert himself into races in ways that are not helpful.

While the 2022 midterm elections are a ways off, the president’s broadsides are giving fuel to would-be primary challengers in both states — raising the prospect that Republicans will be forced into ugly and expensive nomination fights that could jeopardize their hold on the two governors’ mansions.

[...]

Never mind that Trump will no longer be in power: Cross him, and you will pay.

[...]

“In the short term, President Trump’s attacks on these governors serves his interest in casting doubt on the election results. But if it invites serious primary challengers, it could hurt Republicans in the long run and drain valuable resources that would be used for a general election,” said Jon Thompson, a former top RGA official.

It isn’t the only way Trump could handcuff the GOP. The president’s flirtation with a 2024 comeback bid threatens to freeze out other would-be GOP candidates who’ve begun laying the groundwork for a national campaign.

All of which has heightened GOP fears that Trump’s post-White House political activities will make it impossible for the party to turn the page.

  Politico

I'm not feeling any sympathy.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Sad!

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Ooops

To be fair, Rubio's staff may have posted the tweet.

But here's somebody who DOES post his own tweets...

Also, to be fair, I myself wouldn't have noticed the error.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.



UPDATE:

Who needs democracy anyway?

Because they can't win if they don't cheat.

Un.fucking.believable

Surgeon General Jerome Adams is calling on the handful of governors who have yet to issue stay-at-home orders to at least enforce restrictions for one week in order to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

“Ninety percent of Americans are doing their part, even in the states where they haven’t had a shelter-in-place. But If you can’t give us 30 days, governors, give us a week, give us what you can so that we don’t overwhelm our health care systems over this next week, and then let’s reassess,” Adams said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

  The Hill

Some Georgia beaches will reopen this weekend following an executive order issued by Gov. Brian Kemp (R) that overrode local shelter-in-place mandates from a number of cities.

A spokesperson for Kemp told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the order would allow popular beaches in Georgia, such as Tybee Island, to reopen after they had closed because of local measures aimed at limiting the community spread of COVID-19.

"The Governor's Executive Order suspends the enforcement of any local ordinance or order adopted or issued since March 1, 2020, that relates to COVID-19," said Josh Hildebrandt, director of public and governmental affairs for the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

[...]

The order went into effect Friday night at 6 p.m. It allows for people to exercise outside as long as they maintain at least 6 feet of distance from other individuals.

[...]

State Rep. Jesse Petrea (R) wrote on Facebook that he had notified the mayor of the changes earlier Friday and said the beach would not be "expressly closed" under the governor's new order but emphasized that "NO congregating" would be enforced by DNR rangers.

  The Hill

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

The CDC is headquartered in Georgia

Right now I'm guessing even Republicans in Georgia wish they'd voted for Stacey Abrams.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Georgia Gov Brian Kemp did not back down to Trump's demand

[T]he governor is set to announce Kelly Loeffler, a wealthy finance executive who will be just the second woman to serve the state in the Senate, as [outgoing Sen. Johnny] Isakson’s replacement Wednesday. She faces the challenging task of proving herself as a sufficiently conservative ally of President Donald Trump — a distraction for a candidate Republicans hope can win back some of the suburban voters who have fled the GOP in the Trump era.

[...]

Loeffler and Kemp are confronting vocal criticism from anti-abortion leaders, conservative media figures and other Trump allies who wanted an attack dog for the president in the seat — particularly with a possible impeachment trial looming in the new senator's first days.

[...]

Senate Republicans have rallied behind Loeffler, with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell calling her a “terrific appointment,” and the National Republican Senatorial Committee promising her the full backing of incumbency as she runs in a special election in November alongside first-term Sen. David Perdue.

[...]

But that support came after a sustained attack from conservatives, who preferred Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) for the nomination. Anti-abortion groups questioned Loeffler’s credentials, and conservative media, including Sean Hannity of Fox News, attacked Kemp and promoted Collins on TV and radio.

[...]

Others say Kemp erred by taking the selection process public. By accepting applications through online portal open for nearly two months, Kemp had hoped to create transparency. But his preference for Loeffler — a Republican mega-donor who only applied hours before the portal closed — has only raised more questions.

[...]

Trump is among those who’ve raised concerns. During a tense White House meeting last month, Trump pointed out to Kemp that Georgia is full of well-known Republicans who’d demonstrated an ability to survive politically.

[...]

Loeffler's appointment amounts to an 11-month audition for the seat. In the special election next November, all candidates will run on the ballot together, regardless of party. If no candidate wins a majority, the top two finishers will meet in a runoff in January 2021.

[...]

Democrats have yet to rally behind a candidate for the seat after several high profile Democrats passed. Matt Lieberman, the son of former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), is the only one running, but several Democrats are considering their options and have been waiting to see whom Kemp would appoint. It’s unlikely other Democrats will announce bids until early next year to maximize attention and fundraising.

  Politico

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 1/9/20:  She's back in the news.  And not in a good way.

Trump now wants to dictate state representation

Tensions rose between President Trump and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) during a meeting at the White House on Sunday over who should be appointed to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.).

[...]

The reported disagreement centered around Trump advocating for Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), the top Republican on the powerful House Judiciary Committee and one of his most vocal defenders in the lower chamber, while Kemp is said to be leaning toward business executive Kelly Loeffler to fill the position.

The meeting ended swiftly, with Trump alleging it could be risky to appoint Loeffler as she has less political experience than Collins, according to the Journal.

  The Hill

Risky to whom?  Sounds like another Trump threat to me.

A woman who might not lick his boots versus a man he already knows will.

Since when does the president of the US get to choose a state's representatives to Congress? Things have gone way off the rails in this country, folks.

“President Trump had a very nice meeting at the White House on Sunday with Gov. Kemp of Georgia,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham told the Journal in a statement. “They discussed many things including his potential appointment of a senator and the timing of the appointment. Various names were discussed. It was a very friendly meeting.”

Either she didn't write that, or she's started talking exactly like Trump.

Trump has intensified his lobbying for Collins to be appointed to the position in recent weeks. Collins, who is expected to play a leading role in pushing back against Democrats’ impeachment efforts, could be a key ally in voting against impeachment if it moves to the upper chamber if he’s appointed to replace Isakson.

I can't keep saying "unbelievable", but unbelievable.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 12/4:  Kemp did not back down.

UPDATE 1/9/20:  She's back in the news.  And not in a good way.