Tag: Trump election fraud lie

Georgia officials open inquiry into Trump efforts to overturn election results

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The Georgia secretary of state’s office is investigating former President Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results in the Peach State, which included a phone call he placed to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) in early January.

Walter Jones, a spokesman for the office, confirmed the probe in a Monday statement and described it as “fact-finding and administrative.”

“The Secretary of State’s office investigates complaints it receives. The investigations are fact-finding and administrative in nature,” Jones said. “Any further legal efforts will be left to the Attorney General.” Continue reading.

On cusp of impeachment trial, court documents point to how Trump’s rhetoric fueled rioters who attacked Capitol

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Storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was no spur-of-the-
moment decision for Jessica Marie Watkins, an Ohio bartender and founder of a small, self-styled militia, federal prosecutors allege.

In documents charging her with conspiracy and other crimes for her role in the insurrection, they say she began planning such an operation shortly after President Donald Trump lost the November election, ultimately helping recruit and allegedly helping lead dozens of people who took violent action to try to stop congressional certification of the electoral college vote last month. 

In text messages cited in court documents, Watkins was clear about why she was heading to Washington. “Trump wants all able bodied patriots to come,” she wrote to one of her alleged co-conspirators on Dec. 29, eight days before prosecutors say they invaded the building. Continue reading.

Arizona Republicans threaten to arrest fellow GOPers if they don’t turn over ballots for another recount: report

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According to a report from USA Today, the Republican majority in the State Senate is threatening to arrest members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors if they don’t turn over copies of mail-in ballots and voting machines so they can conduct another vote count of the 2020 presidential election results that led to Doinald Trump losing.

The report notes that the Maricopa board is also predominately Republican but that hasn’t stopped state senators from going after them.

“The Arizona Senate, controlled by Republicans, has threatened to hold the supervisors, nearly all Republicans, in contempt for not responding to subpoenas asking for copies of all the county’s mail-in ballots and access to voting machines. The Senate wants to perform its own audit,” the report states. “Some senators have even threatened to arrest the supervisors over the matter, and the body could vote on the contempt resolution as early as Monday.” Continue reading.

Trump’s lie that the election was stolen has cost $519 million (and counting) as taxpayers fund enhanced security, legal fees, property repairs and more

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President Donald Trump’s onslaught of falsehoods about the November election misled millions of Americans, undermined faith in the electoral system, sparked a deadly riot — and has now left taxpayers with a large, and growing, bill.

The total so far: $519 million.

The costs have mounted daily as government agencies at all levels have been forced to devote public funds to respond to actions taken by Trump and his supporters, according to a Washington Post review of local, state and federal spending records, as well as interviews with government officials. The expenditures include legal fees prompted by dozens of fruitless lawsuits, enhanced security in response to death threats against poll workers, and costly repairs needed after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. That attack triggered the expensive massing of thousands of National Guard troops on the streets of Washington amid fears of additional extremist violence. Continue reading.

Trump supporters are still going after Arizona’s election results — here’s what we can learn from the fight

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Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo had heard enough. More than a half-hour into the board’s January 27consideration of a “forensic” audit where two outside firms would assess if its voting system used in Arizona’s 2020 presidential election had been infiltrated and the results altered, the former state senator said that his vote in favor of the audit “was a tough pill to swallow.”

“We had our presidential preference election, not one complaint,” Gallardo said. “We had our primary election in August. Not one complaint. Everyone was happy. We had our general election. No complaint, until a day or two after the general election, when some folks in our community and across this country started looking at the results.”

“They were not happy with the result,” he continued. “That’s quite normal in the world of elections. Folks that are not happy with the results generally do complain. This year, they took it a step further. They continue to spread lies and conspiracies about how our elections are conducted, and now our machines are the target.” Continue reading.

Fox News cancels Lou Dobbs’ show; pro-Trump host not expected to be back on air

Fox News Media has canceled “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” the program hosted by television’s staunchest supporter of Donald Trump and of his assertions of voter fraud in the 2020 election, The Times has learned.

Dobbs’ program, which airs twice nightly at 5 and 7 p.m. Eastern on the Fox Business Network, will have its final airing Friday, according to a Fox News representative who confirmed the cancellation. Starting next week, the program will be called “Fox Business Tonight,” with rotating substitute hosts Jackie DeAngelis and David Asman, who filled in for Dobbs on Friday.

Dobbs, 75, remains under contract at Fox News but he will in all likelihood not appear on the company’s networks again. In addition to his Fox Business Network program, he occasionally turned up on the Fox News Channel as a commentator. Continue reading.

Smartmatic files $2.7 billion defamation suit against Fox News over election fraud claims

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Fox News Media hosts Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro were named, along with lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell.

An election technology company has filed a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News and several of the network’s most prominent commentators, alleging that they “decimated” the company’s business by accusing it of helping to steal the Nov. 3. election from former president Donald Trump.

Smartmatic filed the nearly 300-page lawsuit against the network and its parent company, Fox Corporation, in New York State Supreme Court on Thursday, after weeks of legal threats against the network.

“Fox is responsible for this disinformation campaign, which has damaged democracy worldwide and irreparably harmed Smartmatic and other stakeholders who contribute to modern elections,” Smartmatic chief executive Antonio Mugica said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. Continue reading.

Trump Raised $76 Million — Then Spent Nothing On Vote Challenges Or Georgia

Trump’s bait-and-switch ads cited the need to contest his election loss and for the GOP to hold the Senate as he sought funds for his “leadership” PAC.

WASHINGTON ― Then-President Donald Trump raised $76 million for a political slush fund by citing the need to challenge his Nov. 3 reelection loss and for Republicans to win two Senate runoffs in Georgia, but through the end of 2020 he did not spend a dime of it on either.

“He put nothing back. He didn’t care,” said one top Republican familiar with the fundraising operation who spoke on condition of anonymity, adding that Trump intends to use the money to pay his personal, non-election-related, legal bills. “He put all this money in the bank for his own legal fights. He never cared about Georgia’s races.”

Trump faces a series of legal problems, both civil and criminal, for issues ranging from sexual misconduct allegations to potential tax fraud inquiries. And his second Senate impeachment trial starts next week; this time he is charged with inciting the violent mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Continue reading.

Ginni Thomas apologizes to Supreme Court clerks over her support for Trump’s election challenges: report

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Conservative activist Ginni Thomas apologized to her husband’s former Supreme Court clerks for a disagreement among them over her endorsement of a Jan. 6 rally that ended in a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife celebrated fellow supporters of Donald Trump who gathered in Washington, D.C., as Congress certified Joe Biden’s election win, and Ginni Thomas told the justice’s former clerks she was sorry her actions and statements had sparked a dispute among the closely knit group, reported the Washington Post.

“I owe you all an apology,” Ginni Thomas wrote to the private Thomas Clerk World email list. “I have likely imposed on you my lifetime passions. My passions and beliefs are likely shared with the bulk of you, but certainly not all. And sometimes the smallest matters can divide loved ones for too long. Let’s pledge to not let politics divide THIS family, and learn to speak more gently and knowingly across the divide.” Continue reading.

‘A world of denial’: Conservative writer blasts GOP voters for being ‘delusional’

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Conservative Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin has made no secret of the fact that on January 20, she was delighted to see President Joe Biden sworn into office and former President Donald Trump exit the White House. Rubin was hoping — not expecting, but hoping — that the GOP would abandon Trumpism after Trump was voted out of office. Instead, Rubin laments in a column published this week, Republicans are doubling down on it. And she argues that a party that has been overtaken by dangerous extremists and insurrectionists must be kept away “from the levers of power.”

Trump is facing a second impeachment trial following the violent insurrection on January 6, when a violent mob of pro-Trump insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol Building in the hope of preventing Congress from certifying Biden’s Electoral College victory in the 2020 presidential election. Yet many Republicans, Rubin notes, are still unwavering Trump supporters.

“The vast majority of Republicans prefer to live in a world of denial, even at the price of refusing to hold the instigator of a domestic terrorist attack responsible,” Rubin laments. “The party’s base, at this point, is as delusional as Republican ‘leaders’ who refuse to convict Trump for instigating the assault and who treat conspiracy-monger Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) as a member in good standing.” Continue reading.