1. The Minneapolis police union is seeking retired officers to be “eyes and ears” at polling sites in “problem” areas on Election Day, after an attorney for the Trump campaign asked for assistance. mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
2. William Willingham, a senior legal adviser and director of Election Day operations for the Trump campaign, asked for help from Minneapolis Police Federation President Lt. Bob Kroll on Wednesday. mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
3. “Willingham asked the union president about recruiting 20 to 30 former officers to serve as ‘poll challengers’ to work either a four- or eight-hour shift in a ‘problem area.’” (StarTribune) mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
4. Willingham’s email read: “Poll Challengers do not ‘stop’ people, per se, but act as our eyes and ears in the field and call our hotline to document fraud.” mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
5. The email continued: “We don’t necessarily want our Poll Challengers to look intimidating, they cannot carry a weapon in the polls due to state law. … We just want people who won’t be afraid in rough neighborhoods or intimidating situations.” mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
6. Minnesota AG Keith Ellison said earlier this week: “Minnesotans can also expect that they will be able to vote without intimidation or interference. Minnesota and federal law are clear: it is strictly illegal to intimidate or interfere with voters.” mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
7. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon responded: “Targeting anyone for a challenge based on being in a so-called ‘problem area’ is unlawful and will not be permitted in Minnesota’s polling places.” mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
8. Minneapolis City Council Member Jeremiah Ellison called the email’s language “incredibly inappropriate” and said the intention appeared to be to discourage voters in certain neighborhoods. mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
9. Councilman Ellison said: “There’s the clear dog whistle of ‘rough area,’ and we need people who aren’t ‘easily intimidated,’ and people who aren’t scared.” mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
10. The Trump campaign previously said it sought an army of 50,000 volunteer observers to monitor voting in battleground states, though it remains unclear precisely how many have signed up to help. mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
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1. The Independent’s Washington Bureau Chief John T. Bennett imagined on Friday a scenario in which President Trump is met with immediate legal trouble as he returns to civilian life upon Joe Biden’s inauguration. mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
2. Bennett wondered: “Does such a scenario seem too dramatic, too much the stuff of political thriller novels or B-rate films? Possibly. But this is the Trump era. And that means nothing is too outlandish or even off-limits.” mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
3. “There are at least 12 federal and state investigations into Trump, his 2016 campaign and his business dealings, according to a list compiled by the New York Times,” Bennett wrote. mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
1. U.S. border authorities have been expelling unaccompanied children from other countries into Mexico, violating a diplomatic agreement with Mexico and also in violation of U.S. policy. mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
2. “The expulsions…have taken place under an aggressive border closure policy the Trump administration has said is necessary to prevent the coronavirus from spreading into the United States.” (New York Times) mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
3. However, Mexico agreed that Mexican children and others who had adult supervision could be sent back into Mexico after trying to cross the border — not unaccompanied children from other countries. mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
1. In 2018, eight Republican senators spent the Fourth of July in Moscow, despite Russia’s denials of interfering in the 2016 presidential election. mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
2. The Senators included Richard Shelby (AL), Steve Daines (MT), John Hoeven (ND), Ron Johnson (WI), John Kennedy (LA), Jerry Moran (KS), John Thune (SD), and Kay Granger (TX). mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
3. They claimed that Russian meddling was atop their list of talking points as they met with their counterparts in the Duma. mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
1. Documents obtained by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee reveal that the Trump administration’s $250 million ad campaign for rebranding the coronavirus pandemic was meant in part to help President Trump’s reelection campaign. mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
2. Michael Caputo, the former Department of Health and Human Services’ top spokesperson, reportedly “sought to frame the taxpayer-funded ad campaign as a way to boost the president’s chances of reelection,” CNN’s Jake Tapper reported. mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
3. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) said the Trump administration “tried to use $250 million of taxpayer money that was otherwise dedicated at the CDC for education related purposes to deal with the COVID pandemic” to help Trump’s campaign. mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
1. For the first time, Department of Homeland Security agents, including those from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, are poised for deployment in Washington in the event of Election Day unrest. mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
2. NBC News reports that DHS “is regularly tasked with providing additional security around the nation’s capital on inauguration days, but has never stepped in to quell unrest on Election Day.” mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
3. ICE, CPB and the Federal Protective Service are part of the “Protecting American Communities Task Force” that President Trump created in June in response to “anarchists and left-wing extremists” he said were seeking to damage federal property. mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
1. A federal appeals panel ruled Thursday that Minnesota must set aside ballots received after Election Day in case those ballots are invalidated, upending the state’s plans to keep counting ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 for another week. mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
2. “The decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit said a Republican lawmaker and GOP activist could challenge the state’s plans to keep counting ballots after the election.” (The Washington Post) mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…
3. The judges also predicted a strong likelihood that Republicans would succeed in having ballots received after Election Day invalidated. mavenroundtable.io/theintellectua…