I don't know how good I'll be at that, but here goes.

This is an oral argument on the defendant's motion to dismiss. law.cornell.edu/wex/motion_to_…

Giuliani is trying to keep the complain from being thrown out.

He is now arguing that mail-in ballots are nationwide problem. . .

1/
. . . and that what is happening in Pennsylvania is a "small part of the problem."

He just called "mail in voting" a "new form of voting," and is rambling about how it's "widely known" to be riddled with fraud.

And all the problems are in big cities controlled by Democrats.

2/
Giuliani is rambling. The judge is letting him talk.

"This is not an isolated case" Giuliani says.

From my own (limited) experience (I've only done appeals) a silent judge is not a good sign 😉

3/
Giuliani is arguing that some voters were given the opportunity to fix errors but other voters were not.

He hasn't explained the reason for the difference.

He just implied that this is happening in Democratic cities because Democrats run "machines."

But . . !

4/
He's arguing:

1) Democratic cities allowed people to cure ballots (these ballots are legal) and
(2) Democrats engage in widespread fraud.

So letting people fix errors is "fraud."

Really the question is why other counties didn't offer the chance to fix errors

5/
Now he's arguing that Republicans weren't allowed to watch.

Giuliani hasn't offered any evidence.

He just called Philadelphia a dishonest place that has been cheating for decades.

(I'm not from Philly but that offends ME. I did go to college there, so I claim injury😂)

6/
Basically, he's arguing Philadelphia allowed voters to fix errors in their ballots and didn't let Republicans watch.

AN OUTRAGE I TELL YOU.

The judge still hasn't said a word. That would worry me if I were Rudy.

(This live tweeting is kinda fun)

7/
He says 1.5 million ballots were illegal.

I can't figure if he's arguing that that many people were allowed to fix ballots, or if he's arguing that all mail-in ballots be tossed.

Giuliani's evidence is 300 affidavits or declarations or their own statements.

8/
Sounds like the affidavits are about how the Republican observers couldn't see when they tried to watch.



Because this an argument on Defendant's motion to dismiss, "winning" for Giuliani means not getting the case thrown out of court.

9/
Well, dang. My sound went dead.

I hear something like a swishing sound, but no more voices.

I'll be watching to see how the court rules.

Usually it's pretty easy to survive a motion to dismiss . . .

10/
You just need a reason to go to trial (or a hearing). I heard nothing in Giuliani's rambling that would rise to that level, but I suppose a court would need to see what is in the affidavits.

I mean, there COULD be something there 🙄

11/
If, say, the judge says, "Even if everything in these affidavits is true, there'd be no grounds to stop the state from certifying the election," he'd toss out the case because what would be the point?

Giuliani really wants to put mail-in balloting on trial.

12/
Okay, so what would be the remedy, even if these errors were made?

Trump wants to stop PA from certifying their results.

Giuliani is arguing that the entire election was tainted.

PA can't hold a new election. The date is set by Congress.

13/
Oh, I see. It's the elector argument. This doesn't work because the Electoral Count act controls: If the executive (governor) and legislature send different slates of electors, the executive branch counts.

Plus . . .

14/
The legislature would have to abide by the laws in place before the election. They can't substitute their own judgement. I wrote about that in my Washington Post piece:
washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/0…

Also PA isn't enough electoral votes.

The whole thing is Strong Man Fantasy.

15/
I went off topic with the talk about electors.

The problem here was remedy. Team Trump argues that the election was tainted because some counties took steps to allow voters to cure their ballots, but others didn't.

They remedy they ask for . . .


16/
. . . is to throw out all the mail-in ballots. Why? because they found two voters in counties who were not contacted and offered a chance to cure their ballots, so they say the law wasn't equally applied.

The remedy is to try to get the un-cured ballots cured.

17
Instead, they wanted to throw out millions of legal ballots.

I'd like to say it's the stupidest legal argument I've heard, but I spent dozens of hours listening to the House Managers argue the impeachment case, and their arguments were dumber.

This gets second place.🏆🏆

18/

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More from @Teri_Kanefield

19 Nov
The thing to notice from Tweets like these (@marcorubio and @LindseyGrahamSC) is that it's now a badge of honor for members of the Trump-Fox-GOP to be criticized by the media and the left.

Similarly, convictions are a badge of honor: Flynn and others are given a hero's welcome. ImageImage
Not at all. It looks to me like the ultimate defiance. They actually rejoice in their defiance.

They consider themselves heroes for bucking rules and norms and laws.

Convictions and criticism (for them) enhance their status as victims.
They're breaking laws they don't believe should exist.

Their hatred of the "deep state" is hatred of the regulatory agencies that hamper the personal liberty of white men.

They see convictions (and criticism) as a "corrupt" society out to get the true champions of America.
Read 7 tweets
19 Nov
Hungarian scholar Balint Magyar offers a theory that explains why the US is holding out against the same tactics that caused other countries to collapse into autocracy.

His theory also explains why comparisons across nations doesn't always work.
@juliaioffe
1/
While writing about post-communists mafia states, he talked about the “big bang” theory:

He says that the “conditions preceding the democratic big bang have a decisive role in the formation of the system.”

2/ Image
Here's how I understand the theory (to use Russia as an example)

At the time of the Russian Big Bang (early 1990s, when a Democracy struggled to be born) the Communist Party had a monopoly on power and resources.

3/
Read 7 tweets
18 Nov
Another Republican attempt to prevent ballots from being counted loses in court.

(The ballots were received on time, but the voter failed to write the date. No allegations of fraud. Just a simple mistake. GOP wanted the votes not to count)

Nope. Count them.
In Sept. Trump announced his strategy for keeping power: Get rid of the ballots.

He's been trying hard.

It isn't so easy.

He's not just losing because of an incompetent legal team. He's losing because he has no legal argument.

washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/…
I actually meant no cause of action, but there is also no evidence.
The common thread behind all Trump's legal challenges is: There is fraud, therefore, throw out all the ballots.

Even if there was fraud, this is not the remedy.

Also, there is no fraud.
Read 6 tweets
18 Nov
As it turns out, I just finished reading the complaint. It's here: cdn.donaldjtrump.com/public-files/p…

I assume that's the one you mean.

It's about as incoherent as Rudy's performance in court today. The basic argument seems to be: There was lots of fraud so Trump won.
As it turns out, I have some experience in Nevada. I spent two elections as a volunteer lawyer for the NV Dems, so I have some familiarity with NV voting.)

The first problem is that there is nothing to back up the claims of fraud . . .
The second problem is that the proposed remedy is to either declare Trump the winner (which makes no sense) or completely disenfranchise every voter in Nevada in the presidential election. Image
Read 4 tweets
17 Nov
This morning I'm working on my graphic novel about the Second Amendment (no kidding—to be published by Macmillan)

One of my characters just had a similar rant⤵️

I wonder how that happened? 🤔

Thanks again, @IAmPoliticsGirl. You did me better than I do me.
You see, the NRA wants to take us back to that that (mythic) time in American history when white men could do whatever they pleased.

In fact, there were laws to stop them. But they grabbed what they wanted anyway. (Sound like anyone you know in government now)

No worries. I close my eyes when movies get too graphic.

What's funny about this is I always refused to watch movies with guns and violence. Except The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. I'll watch that one.

But I still close my eyes when the shooting starts.
Read 4 tweets
17 Nov
Stunning.

Raffensperger deserves credit for refusing to bow to pressure, and for coming forward with this. According to other reporting he and his wife have received death threats since his refusal to lie for Trump.
What we've seen for 4 years its that a number of Republicans refuse to go along. Think of all those people who marched in to testify in the impeachment hearings.

Had Raffensperger gone along, the outcome wouldn't change because a case needs evidence. . .
Had Raffensperger bowed to pressure, we'd have a Pennsylvania situation where the GOP bring cases claiming fraud, but without evidence, eventually the cases dissolve.

It's stunning that people like Graham don't even PRETEND anymore to care about free and fair elections.
Read 4 tweets

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