As many are learning today, the head of the GSA, a Trump appointee, plays an important legal role in green-lighting the next stage of the transition process by declaring a winner. Its time.
New by @ThePlumLineGS: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
As I note in this piece, it is going to be hard for @GSAEmily to not declare Biden the winner as the legal challenges fail and it becomes clear that Trump is not going to flip multiple states where he is trailing by tens of thousands of votes.
Emily Murphy, the head of GSA, is in a tough spot. Trump is threatening to fire appointees for any perceived acts of disloyalty. OTOH she knows that delaying the transition has very real costs to the functioning of the new administration.
Transitioning from one administration to another is a big undertaking in good times, but esp. during a public health and economic crisis where the administration has used very broad executive powers. The greater the delay, the worse the outcome. washingtonpost.com/politics/trump…
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
There is a big difference between exhausting legal remedies in a truly close election (as Gore tried to do) and an incumbent falsely claiming that he won, that mass fraud occurred, and that legislatures or courts overturn the results. We really are in an unprecedented place.
Will Trump's actions work? Probably not, if by "work" we mean reverse the results of the election. That does not mean they will not have an effect on the legitimacy of the new President, faith in democracy, and behavior in future, closer elections.
It is disturbing that many GOP officials are happy to make outlandish suggestions like redoing the election, or barring vote-by-mail. Or that they don't feel they can push back against a base they have raised on conpsiracy theories.
On news that Bill Barr is telling the DOJ to probe allegations of voter fraud please note a) he refused to say if voting twice was fraud when Trump encouraged it and b) made false claims about voter fraud cases in the past. abcnews.go.com/Politics/barr-…
The point is that Barr's interpretation of what constitutes voter fraud seems to depend very much if it aligns with partisan outcomes. Little reason to trust that DOJ investigation of voter fraud cases will be any different. texastribune.org/2020/09/04/tex…
We have seen this movie before and know the outcome.
The votes that elected his Senate caucus are fine, the votes that help the GOP to pick up seats in the House are great; its those other votes that delivered a Democratic presidential victory that are inherently suspicious.
Vast difference between opposing a candidate, and even impeaching him if he breaks the law (which Trump did) and not accepting the results of the election.
Biden's victory will be greater than Trump's over Clinton. Clinton conceded the day after.
The best case scenario here, best case: no real path to victory when the legal challenges fizzle out, but Republicans salt the earth of a Biden Presidency before it begins.
"Biden voter fraud" becomes the new "Obama was born in Kenya."
What is the point of doing this except to punish imagined disloyalty?
Esper pushed back against Trump’s desire to use military to police protests and encouraged removal of confederate names from military bases. google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.…
Trump used the post-impeachment period to settle scores. He may do the same with the post-election period. Especially worried he will try to fire career employees like Fauci before he goes (thread)
Real MAGAbrain stuff here:
FBI Directors get 10 year appointments. Sure, Biden could fire Wray - a Trump's appointee who is a lifelong Republican - but it is a lot easier for Trump to do it for him.
Also, the idea that Trump is a graceful loser is nonsense. He claimed fraud *when he won the 2016 election.* He insisted that fraud was the only explanation for how he lost the popular vote by millions. usatoday.com/story/news/pol…
Trump formed a special panel to validate his claims of voter fraud - again, after an election that he won - which was disbanded after they found nothing.