Thread by @PeterMcCormack

1/ Some things to keep an eye on with the Trump administration.

I think it is widely agreed that Trump should proceed with his lawsuits so Biden can legitimately be confirmed as the winner.

2/ If you want to see a breakdown of the lawsuits you can do so here. Though note this is a moving beast and some may now be out of date.

https://twitter.com/PeterMcCormack/status/1325474223708639233

3/ Trump has fired Defence Secretary Mark Esper.

bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-…

4/ FoxNews cut short @PressSec. Outside of the debate around censorship (which I don't agree with), Kayleigh has claimed without evidence that the other side is welcoming fraud.

https://twitter.com/drdenagrayson/status/1325960593686323200?s=27

5/ Under pressure from White House, former GOP political operative Michael Ellis named as NSA's top lawyer. Ellis, who was the chief counsel to Rep. Devin Nunes, was involved in various controversial incidents...

6/ ...including getting Nunes access to classified material to support discredited claims of Obama's spying and trying to move a memo of Trump's call with Ukraine to a highly classified server.

washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

7/ AG Bill Barr authorises DOJ To Look into Voting Irregularities. DOJ's election crimes chief resigns.

nbcnews.com/politics/2020-…

8/ DOJ's top election crimes prosecutor stated:
"an important new policy abrogating the forty-year-old Non-Interference Policy for ballot fraud investigations in the period prior to elections becoming certified and uncontested."

9/ I think the new policy being referred to is the one Bill Barr published in October that gave cover for DOJ to investigate fraud that involved postal workers or military employees.

lawandcrime.com/2020-election/…

10/ LEAKED AUDIO from USAID - Top Trump loyalists are instructing federal government employees that the election isn't over yet, and threatening appointees that their future work prospects could get crushed if they try to abandon ship now.
axios.com/trump-election…

11/ Republican senators' call for the resignation of Georgia's Republican Secretary of State, citing failures but without evidence.

Specifically, Kelly Loeffler who was accused of insider trading on Coronavirus information, though cleared.

politico.com/news/2020/11/0…

12/ Survey of voters undertaken 6th-9th Nov show 7 out of 10 Republicans say the election was not free or fair.

"48 percent of Republicans say it “definitely” was not free and fair, and another 22 percent say it “probably” was not."

morningconsult.com/form/tracking-…

13/ Team of international observers invited by the Trump administration issued a preliminary report giving high marks to the conduct of last week’s elections-and it criticizes Trump for baseless allegations that the outcome resulted from systematic fraud."
wsj.com/livecoverage/t…

14/ Important context. In 2018 State Governer election, Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams alleged voting irregularities in the reelection of Republican Brian Kemp. He oversaw the election and was alleged to have overseen voter suppression affecting 100,000's of black voters.

15/ Kemp won by 50,000 votes. Abrams ended her campaign but did not concede. Summary of Republican responses:

https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/1325951831667699712

16/ Linsey Graham's implication that PA's Republican legislature should consider invalidating the popular vote and appoint its own slate of electors to award the state’s electoral votes to Trump.

huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/graham-d…

17/ Conclusion - lots of political manoeuvring. It will be in the best interests of all that this is resolved in the courts:
- Give legitimacy to the election
- Reduce tension

That said, it is worth watching the continuing chaos within the Trump administration, sowing doubt.