Category: Uncategorized

Axios: “President Trump and his allies are piling extreme pressure on Attorney General Bill Barr to release a report that Trump believes could hurt perceived Obama-era enemies – and view Barr’s designation of John Durham as special counsel as a stall tactic. Speculation over Barr’s fate grew on Tuesday, with just 49 days remaining in Trump’s presidency, after Barr gave an interview to the Associated Press in which he said the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of widespread fraud that could change the election’s outcome.”

“In the interview, Barr also revealed he’d appointed Durham, a veteran prosecutor, as special counsel on Oct. 19 to continue investigating the origins of the FBI’s 2016 probe into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia no matter who won the presidential election. Within Trump’s orbit, sources told Axios, Tuesday’s revelation was seen as a smokescreen to forestall the release of the so-called Durham report, which senior administration officials believe is already complete – and which Barr had ruled out issuing before the election. Trump has been ranting about the delay behind the scenes and mused privately about replacing Barr with somebody who will expedite the process. But it’s unclear whether he will follow through with that, per sources familiar with the conversations.”

“Today, an emergency appeal was filed in the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the election results in Pennsylvania. This appeal raises serious legal issues, and I believe the Court should hear the case on an expedited basis. The Pennsylvania Constitution requires in-person voting, except in narrow and defined circumstances. Late last year, the Pennsylvania Legislature passed a law that purported to allow universal mail-in voting, notwithstanding the Pennsylvania Constitution’s express prohibition. This appeal argues that Pennsylvania cannot change the rules in the middle of the game. If Pennsylvania wants to change how voting occurs, the state must follow the law to do so.”

“The illegality was compounded by a partisan Democrat Supreme Court in Pennsylvania, which has issued multiple decisions that reflect their political and ideological biases. Just over a month ago, Justice Alito, along with Justice Thomas and Justice Gorsuch, wrote – correctly, I believe – concerning the Pennsylvania court’s previous decision to count ballots received after Election Day, that ‘there is a strong likelihood that the State Supreme Court decision violates the Federal Constitution'” – Statement posted to Ted Cruz’s Senate.gov website.

CNN: “The Justice Department is investigating a potential crime related to funneling money to the White House or related political committee in exchange for a presidential pardon, according to court records unsealed Tuesday in federal court. The case is the latest legal twist in the waning days of President Donald Trump’s administration after several of his top advisers have been convicted of federal criminal charges and as the possibility rises of Trump giving pardons to those who’ve been loyal to him. The disclosure is in 20 pages of partially redacted documents made public by the DC District Court on Tuesday afternoon.”

“The records show Chief Judge Beryl Howell’s review in August of a request from prosecutors to access documents obtained in a search as part of a bribery-for-pardon investigation. The filings don’t reveal a timeline of the alleged scheme, or any names of people potentially involved, except that communications between people including at least one lawyer were seized from an office that was raided sometime before the end of this summer.” View the documents here.

Daily Beast: “Over the weekend, former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn suggested falsely that China manipulated voting tabulation remotely to prevent the re-election of his former boss, President Trump, who had just pardoned Flynn for lying to the FBI. ‘Communist China,’ said Flynn, intent on accelerating its timetable for becoming the ‘sole global superpower,’ decided after Trump’s 2016 victory that ‘they were not going to allow 2020 to happen, and so now what we have is theft with mail-in ballots, theft with this, uh, this software, smartmatic software and Dominion systems.’ Flynn offered no evidence for his theory, and none exists.”

An independent advisory committee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recommended that frontline health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities be the first to receive available doses of an approved coronavirus vaccine, NBC News reports.

The first round of vaccines, which will be designated Phase 1A, may be distributed as early as the end of December.  The 15-member panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, was set up in 1964 to give the CDC director independent input on ethics, logistics and scientific matters.  The committee’s findings, which passed with a 13-1 vote, are not binding, and the decisions about distribution will ultimately fall to state health officials.

Gabriel Sterling has had enough.

The Voting Implementation Manager for Georgia, Sterling opened a press briefing today with a two-minute entreaty to outgoing president Donald Trump and Republican Senators to tone down their rhetoric and condemn the violence and threats being made toward election workers, Politico reports.

“Mr. President, you have not condemned these actions or this language,” he said. “Senators, you have not condemned this language or these actions. This has to stop. We need you to step up. And if you’re going to take a position of leadership, show some.”

“Trump may announce for 2024 on inauguration day. Either way, he won’t attend the inauguration and does not plan to invite Biden to the White House or even call him” – Ken Dilanian of NBC News.

When the only thing you have to run on is, “Hey, you remember all those charges and investigations into my insider trading because I made $1 million after receiving a phone call from the CEO of a company on whose board I used to serve? Well… I was never actually convicted of anything! So vote for me (so I can make more money off my position)!”

New York Magazine: “Back in the spring and summer of this year, when Trump began attacking voting by mail as inherently corrupt, it began to occur to many of us that in convincing Republicans to vote on Election Day he might be trying to engineer a scenario in which he would gain a temporary lead from in-person results, then attempt to disallow the mail ballots that would swing the election to Biden days or even weeks after November 3. Critics of ‘red mirage’ talk often dismissed such fears as overestimating Trump’s seriousness, not to mention his ability to convince others to go along with any effort to stop the counting of mail ballots on or after Election Day.”

“Perhaps these critics were right: Trump’s ‘plan’ to steal the election failed because there was never really a plan beyond throwing mud at the election process and hoping something stuck. That interpretation would explain the Trump campaign’s erratic postelection legal strategy, and its too little, too late efforts to mobilize the president’s supporters to put pressure on election officials and state legislators to skew the vote or set it aside in favor of arbitrarily appointed Trump electors. In other words, if there was a plan, it was incompetently executed.”

CNBC: “A Pennsylvania Republican congressman on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to issue an emergency order that would block his state from taking further action to certify its election results showing a win for President-elect Joe Biden over President Donald Trump. Rep. Mike Kelly’s request comes after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf certified that the Democratic former vice president Biden won the state and its 20 Electoral College votes.”

“Given that, Kelly asked that the Supreme Court ‘to nullify Wolf’s certification and all other actions that would legally confirm Biden’s victory. His filing Tuesday also asked Supreme Court to hear an appeal of his challenge to a change in mail-in ballot rules in the state. The request is related to an earlier case filed in state courts, where Kelly claimed that the Pennsylvania legislature violated the state’s constitution when it allowed no-excuse absentee voting in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected that claim earlier this week.”

“With all due respect to the Attorney General, there hasn’t been any semblance of a Department of Justice investigation. We have gathered ample evidence of illegal voting in at least six states, which they have not examined. We have many witnesses swearing under oath they saw crimes being committed in connection with voter fraud. As far as we know, not a single one has been interviewed by the DOJ. The Justice Department also hasn’t audited any voting machines or used their subpoena powers to determine the truth.”

“Nonetheless, we will continue our pursuit of the truth through the judicial system and state legislatures, and continue toward the Constitution’s mandate and ensuring that every legal vote is counted and every illegal vote is not. Again, with the greatest respect to the Attorney General, his opinion appears to be without any knowledge or investigation of the substantial irregularities and evidence of systemic fraud” – Statement on Trump campaign website attributed to Rudy Giuliani and “Senior Legal Adviser and Attorney” Jenna Ellis.

Attorney General Bill Barr made John Durham, the US Attorney tasked with investigating the oranges origins of the Russia collusion investigation, a Special Counsel, giving Durham protections to complete his probe even after Trump leaves office, the Associated Press reports.

Barr said he made Durham a Special Counsel in October, although he made no public announcement of the appointment at the time.  As a Special Counsel, Durham will have specific authority to call witnesses as approved by the Attorney General and given specific parameters of the investigation.  The status also makes it harder for a President to fire Durham without cause.

According to the AP, in the October 19th appointment, Durham has been tasked “to investigate whether any federal official, employee or any person or entity violated the law in connection with the intelligence, counter-intelligence or law enforcement activities” relating to the initiation of the investigation of Trump campaign involvement with Russian government interference in the 2016 election.

#StopTheCoup! pic.twitter.com/3Sf8gf5UJ1

— Ali 🟧 #StopTheSteal (@ali) December 1, 2020

“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that there will be a new administration in January, going further than he previously has in acknowledging Trump’s election loss” reports the Washington Post.

“‘I think we all know that after the first of the year there’s likely to be a discussion about additional – some additional package of some size next year, depending upon what the new administration wants to pursue,’ McConnell told reporters during remarks on coronavirus relief negotiations. McConnell did not elaborate on his ‘new administration’ comment. He suggested that ‘the future will take care of itself’ and pointed to the next steps leading up to the inauguration.”

NBC News: “Georgia voters on Tuesday are choosing the short-term replacement for civil rights legend John Lewis. Former Atlanta City Council member Kwanza Hall and former Morehouse College President Robert Franklin are contesting a runoff election. The men finished first and second, but no one won a majority in a first round of voting in September among seven candidates.”

“The winner of the two Democrats will only fill the seat until Jan. 3, though. State senator and state Democratic Party chair Nikema Williams easily defeated Republican Angela Stanton King in November for a full two-year-term starting in January. Williams and King didn’t run in the special election. The 5th Congressional District includes most of the city of Atlanta, as well as some suburban areas of Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton counties. Turnout could be light, after fewer than 31,000 people voted in September.”

In an exclusive interview with the Associated Press, Attorney General Bill Barr undermined the ongoing claims of lame duck president Donald Trump, saying that the US Justice Department has not found any evidence of widespread voter fraud.

“To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election,” Barr said.

The Trump campaign continues, however, to push baseless lawsuits claiming that widespread fraud, particularly involving mail-in ballots, illegally pushed key states to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden.

Politico EU: “A senior MEP from Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party admitted Tuesday that he took part in a ‘lockdown party’ – described by local media as ‘an orgy’ – that was broken up by Brussels police. József Szájer said in a statement that he was ‘present’ at the ‘private party’ – at which, according to the Belgian press, police found 25 naked men, including an MEP and a number of diplomats.”

“According to a press release from the public prosecutor’s office, ‘A passer-by reported to the police that he had seen a man fleeing along the gutter; he was able to identify the man. The man’s hands were bloody. It is possible that he may have been injured while fleeing. Narcotics were found in his backpack. The man was unable to produce any identity documents. He was escorted to his place of residence, where he identified himself as S. J. (1961) by means of a diplomatic passport.’ Szájer said police gave him ‘an official verbal warning’ and took him home. He said he had not taken drugs and added that he was ‘sorry’ and that he ‘deeply’ regretted breaking COVID restrictions: ‘It was irresponsible on my part. I am ready to stand for the fine that occurs.’ The Hungarian, a long-serving member of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s party, resigned as an MEP on Sunday. He said in his statement Tuesday that his ‘misstep’ was ‘strictly personal’ and added, ‘I ask everyone not to extend it to my homeland, or to my political community.'”

“‘It was obvious that my remarks were sarcastic and made in jest. I, of course, wish Mr. Krebs no harm. This was hyperbole in a political discourse,’ Joe diGenova says after he said Chris Krebs should be ‘taken out at dawn and shot'” reports CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins.