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Greg Sargent Profile picture
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24 Sep, 4 tweets, 3 min read
Yes, the Arizona "audit" imploded on Trump. But people are missing a big part of the story: Its "findings" continue to push the lie that the 2020 outcome was dubious, and Republicans are gearing up to use this to fake-justify voter suppression. My latest:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
For months, we were told the "audit" was about restoring voter "confidence."

But even though it couldn't find the fraud it looked for, its "findings" still say we should lack confidence in our elections, and that more voting restrictions are needed!

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Many headlines are saying the Arizona audit "confirmed" Biden's win.

Don't do this! It implies that the audit was about empirical verification of the outcome, normalizing this practice. It was actually about undercutting the legitimacy of a Dem victory:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
The real news in the conclusion of the Arizona "audit" is that it blows up the lie that Republicans are undertaking such efforts for the sole purpose of restoring "confidence" in "election integrity."

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…

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More from @ThePlumLineGS

Greg Sargent Profile picture
23 Sep
A key tell from @RepJayapal: On NPR just now, she asked centrists to detail their demands for reconciliation and said she thinks it'll be done in 2-3 weeks. Still a brutal slog, but I think that cracks open the door for a way forward. It looks like this:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
@RepJayapal It looks like @SpeakerPelosi has a strategy: She's hoping to get all sides to agree on general outlines for the reconciliation bill.

This may create a way forward. It clears space for centrists to be specific on what they want to see in reconciliation:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
@RepJayapal @SpeakerPelosi On NPR this morning, @RepJayapal made some telling comments that open the door a crack to a way forward.

I concede this path is very difficult. But here's how it could work:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
22 Sep
Let's stop asking whether Trump and his cronies "believe" 2020 was stolen. The truth is worse: The *deliberate* manufacture of lies is the essential pretext to subverting our democratic order. Right wing media continues to play a key role here. My latest:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
The news that the Trump team knew they were lying about Dominion has larger significance:

It illustrates the role of *knowingly* manufactured propaganda in subverting election outcomes.

When we ask if they 'believe" the lies, it's the wrong question:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
The coin of the realm is *uncertainty.*

Trump Coup Memo called for saying outcomes in key states were *unknowable.*

That's meant to enable the main event: Technical legal arguments exploiting holes in our system to do the work of subverting elections:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
20 Sep
Stop screaming about "hypocrisy." Mitch McConnell understands only one language: Power. The only response to his latest BS is for Dems to use their power to defang the debt limit entirely. There's a way to do this via reconciliation. @paulwaldman1 and me:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
@paulwaldman1 Georgetown law professor David Super offers a fascinating idea here:

He says Dems can use a separate, stand-alone reconciliation vote to effectively defang the debt limit once and for all.

Check it out:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
@paulwaldman1 According to Georgetown's David Super, Dems could use reconciliation to, say, pass a bill essentially tying the debt limit to whatever is necessary to cover the national debt.

@LPDonovan floated something like this today. This would defang it entirely.

Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
20 Sep
Let's be clear: Keeping the filibuster makes a stolen 2024 election more likely. Awful new details about Trump's coup attempt, and a terrifying new paper calling for reform of the Electoral Count Act, make this unavoidable. Dems simply must act. My latest:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
In an urgent and important new paper, @rickhasen recommends reforming the Electoral Count Act as a key safeguard against a future stolen election.

The gaping holes in the ECA are what made Trump's coup attempt plausible.

Here's a brief explainer:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
@rickhasen Awful revelation from the Woodward and Costa book: The White House sent at least one GOP senator a detailed memo "explaining" how VP Pence could subvert the electoral count in Congress.

This would not have been possible, but for the big holes in the ECA:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 5 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
17 Sep
Dan Patrick's "great replacement" rant is becoming GOP dogma. But this is more than just vile racism. It also embodies a theory about democracy and self rule that we should adamantly reject. It merits a real rebuttal. In this rant, I tried to offer one:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Elise Stefanik is also playing the "great replacement" game. She said a path to citizenship would “overthrow our current electorate.”

This is a member of the House GOP leadership!

Meanwhile, Tucker says legal immigration itself threatens self rule.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Let's explain this to Dan Patrick.

Biden has authority to grant temporary protected status because *our elected representatives created that authority.*

Migrants have the right to seek asylum because *our elected representatives created that right.*

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
14 Sep
The Dems' new democracy package is very good. It secures the casting *and* the counting of votes:

*Bars extreme gerrymanders
*Protects against election subversion
*Thwarts voter suppression

But NONE of this will pass with the filibuster as is. My latest:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Let's be clear on what the filibuster will prevent:

* Securing voting rights/thwarting election subversion

* Passing reforms making Trumpian corruption of exec branch and law enforcement much harder

* Electoral Count Act reform to prevent stolen 2024

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Here are some of the key provisions in Senate Democrats' new package of democracy protections.

They would secure *both* the casting *and* the counting of votes:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 4 tweets

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