Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Anna Bower Profile picture
Anna Bower
@AnnaBower
Senior Editor @lawfare. Detailed reporting and legal analysis of the 2024 election and beyond. Email: anna.bower@lawfaremedia.org Signal username: annabower.24
65 subscribers
Nov 18 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
NEW: The Georgia Court of Appeals has canceled the Dec. 5 oral argument it previously scheduled to hear Trump’s appeal seeking to disqualify Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis.

Argument is canceled “until further order of this court.” Image The court previously granted a request for oral argument—and as recently as last month extended the time allotted to the parties for argument.

Unclear what precipitated the hearing’s cancellation. But the court *can* issue a ruling based on the briefs without oral argument.
Nov 5 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
NEW: A Trump-appointed judge has rejected the RNC’s claim that some GA counties violated the law by accepting in-person delivery of absentee ballots over the weekend. The claim "does not withstand even the most basic level of statutory review and reading comprehension," he said. The ruling followed an hours-long hearing before Judge Stan Baker, a federal court judge appointed by Trump.

The RNC & GA GOP already lost a similar suit filed in state court last week.

Oct 31 • 16 tweets • 7 min read
NEW: At a church in rural Georgia, attendees were informed that they are battling a “spiritual war” against election fraud.

Then they were told how to fight back: show up en masse to pressure local officials to withhold certification of the election.

lawfaremedia.org/article/david-… To demonstrate how it would work, a former law professor simulated a local elections meeting.

Attendees role-played large-scale civil disobedience, crowding around a volunteer to physically block law enforcement from removing her from the faux meeting. lawfaremedia.org/article/david-…
Oct 6 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Folks, Georgia law does not allow rogue local officials to exclude entire polling precincts from being counted. There’s longstanding case law on that issue. If officials refuse to count a precinct, a mandamus action will surely follow and they will be compelled to certify. As I’ve written for @lawfare, the Georgia Supreme Court confronted this issue more than a century ago after local officials tried to exclude an entire precinct in an effort to help their candidate win. The court forced them to count *all* precincts.

lawfaremedia.org/article/will-g…Image
Image
Oct 1 • 42 tweets • 8 min read
Coming up at 9 am ET: Judge Robert McBurney is set to hold a hearing on the legality of several controversial rules adopted by Georgia’s State Election Board.

I previewed some of the legal issues at play last week. Catch up and follow along at 9👇⬇️ 🧵

lawfaremedia.org/article/will-g… The bench trial will be live-streamed, but there's no live-stream feed yet. I'll post when it's up. 2/
Sep 24 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
On Friday, Georgia's State Election Board passed a rule that would require poll workers to count ballots by hand.

Could the rule change upend the November election by delaying the reporting of results by weeks or months?

Almost certainly not. 🧵👇

lawfaremedia.org/article/will-g… As I explain for @lawfare, the confusion seems to stem from a misunderstanding of the distinction between counting *ballots* and counting *votes.*

The rule does not require a hand count of *votes,* which would indeed cause significant delays. 2/

lawfaremedia.org/article/will-g…
Image
Sep 23 • 28 tweets • 11 min read
NEW: The new election rules in Georgia will almost certainly *not* hamstring the certification of the state’s electoral votes. And even if certification is delayed, such delays do not open up a legal loophole for Trump to steal the presidency. I explain ⬇️
lawfaremedia.org/article/will-g… A new Trump-friendly majority of Georgia’s State Election Board sparked controversy when it approved rule changes that commentators say could delay or outright obstruct certification of Georgia’s election results.

2/
lawfaremedia.org/article/will-g…
Image
Sep 6 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
NEW: Attorney General Chris Carr says that Georgians who filed ethics complaints do not have authority to trigger a hearing process that could lead to the removal of State Election Board members.

law.georgia.gov/document/docum… Gov. Kemp asked for an opinion on the matter last month, after Democratic state officials and voting rights activists filed ethics complaints against three Trump-friendly members of the Georgia State Election Board. The complainants called on Kemp to remove members of the SEB.
Aug 30 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
A crowdfunding campaign that purports to be raising money for the Georgia State Election Board has received more than $6,000 in donations. The page claims that private donations are needed because Gov. Brian Kemp "defunded" the Board.

I asked the Board's chair for comment👇1/ Image The State Election Board's chairman, John Fervier, told me via email that the Board has no association with any outside group raising funds on its behalf.

"The State Election Board will not be accepting any funds that are raised by outside organizations or groups," he said. 2/ Image
Aug 29 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
On Monday, an account that purported to be associated with the Georgia State Election Board appeared on X.

I reached out to the chairman of the board, John Fervier, to clarify whether the account reflects official communications from the State Election Board. 1/ Fervier said the account was set up by another board member, Janice Johnston, without authorization.

“No authorization came from this Board to set up this account…I am currently researching the situation before any further action is taken,” Fervier told me. 2/ Image
Aug 27 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
BREAKING: A superseding indictment has been returned in Trump's federal election interference case in Washington, DC. Image Trump is charged with the same criminal offenses as he was in the original indictment. But the new indictment, according to prosecutors, reflects "the Government's efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court's remand instructions" in the presidential immunity decision. Image
Aug 22 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
I’m just a lowly legal reporter but as a longtime Swiftie I can say that Taylor Alison Swift is almost certainly not showing up at the DNC tonight sorry One of Swift’s recent concerts was the target of a an attempted terrorist attack and she’s touring again in October. In an Instagram post yesterday, she said she won’t speak publicly about something if she thinks it could endanger fans who come to her shows. Image
Jul 23 • 13 tweets • 4 min read
SCOTUS handed Trump a victory by declaring that former presidents enjoy a great deal of immunity from prosecution for official acts.

But could a footnote buried in the court's opinion open up a loophole for the prosecution?

On the elusive footnote 3 🧵: lawfaremedia.org/article/what-s… The footnote arises in one of the more controversial parts of the court’s opinion. The majority, having decided that a president is presumptively immune from being held criminally liable for all official acts, goes one step further in Section III-C.

2/
Jul 15 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
BREAKING: Judge Aileen Cannon dismisses Trump’s classified documents case based on “violations” of the constitution’s Appointments Clause and Appropriations Clause Image Read Judge Cannon’s 93-page order dismissing Trump’s charges for u lawful retention of classified documents in Florida: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
Jun 27 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
NEW: Judge Cannon denies Trump's request for a Franks hearing on alleged false statements or omissions in the affidavit supporting Mar-a-Lago search warrant.

But she GRANTS his request for an evidentiary hearing on particularity of the warrant and attorney-client privilege. Image In other words: Judge Cannon thinks there needs to be further factual development before she can rule on Trump's motion to dismiss his charges based on insufficient particularity of the warrant and AC privilege.

Read Judge Cannon's full order here: documentcloud.org/documents/2478…
Jun 25 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
NEW: Judge Cannon appears poised to reject one of Trump’s challenges to the validity of the warrant that authorized FBI search of Mar-a-Lago in 2022.

During a hearing today in Ft. Pierce, Cannon expressed skepticism about Trump’s claims that the search was “unconstitutional.” Judge Cannon did not rule from the bench. But at the end of the hearing, she grew frustrated with Trump’s attorney, Emil Bove.

She reminded Bove that the relevant legal question at issue is whether the warrant is sufficiently particularized. “It seems like it is,” she said.
Jun 24 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Hello from the federal courthouse in Ft. Pierce, where we’re on lunch break ahead of a hearing in Trump’s classified docs case.

Coming up: A hearing on the special counsel’s motion to bar Trump from making statements that pose a significant danger to law enforcement agents. Image UPDATE: Court has adjourned for the day.

During the afternoon session, Judge Cannon appeared disinclined to grant the special counsel’s request to restrict Trump from making statements that pose a significant and imminent danger to law enforcement in the case.
Jun 21 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Good morning from the federal courthouse in Ft. Pierce, FL ☀️🌴

Later today, Judge Aileen Cannon is set to hold a hearing on one of Trump’s motions to dismiss his criminal charges in the classified documents case.

I’m here for @lawfare. Follow along for updates ⬇️ 🧵 Image Today marks the start of not just one but three days of hearings scheduled by the presiding judge, Aileen Cannon.

The focus this morning? Trump’s argument that his charges in the classified docs case should be dismissed bc special counsel Jack Smith was “unlawfully” appointed.
Jun 11 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
With the YSL trial in the news, maybe it’s a good time for me to tell y’all about that time Judge Glanville held one of the defense attorneys in contempt and ordered him to buy lunch for the other lawyers.

The attorney complied by getting them chicken wings from a strip club. There was also that time one of the defense attorneys got arrested for bringing his prescription medication into court.
Jun 7 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Justice Merchan notifies the prosecution and defense in Trump’s New York case about a comment left by a user on the court’s Facebook page on or around May 29–the day before the jury returned a Trump’s guilty verdict: “My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted..” Image According to Justice Merchan’s letter, the comment was left in response to a May 29 posting on the court system’s Facebook page. It’s labeled by Facebook as one week old — meaning it’s unclear exactly when the comment was posted.
Jun 5 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
NEW: Georgia Court of Appeals pauses trial court proceedings in election Fulton County interference case against Trump, others. Image The stay of trial court proceedings remains in effect pending the outcome of appellate issues currently before the court—including Trump’s appeal of Judge McAfee’s order that declined to disqualify district attorney Fani Willis.

Oral argument is currently set for October.