2020 Election: Predictions, Results and Reactions

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Back to the Proud Boys, attorney drama. Judge Kelly ultimately decided it was not too much of a conflict for Pattis to represent both Biggs and Rehl at sentencing.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[N.E. Brigand]

Although the "independent state legislature" theory lost at the Supreme Court today, two justices, Clarence Thomas joined by Neil Gorsuch, dissented from the majority opinion which demolished that theory. (Samuel Alito joined Thomas and Gorsuch only so far as to agree with them that the case should have been mooted; we don't know how he would have voted on the merits.) Does that dissent make the theory reasonable enough to lend credence to arguments from those people who tried to overturn the 2020 election that (unless they engaged in some otherwise illegal activity) they were acting within normal limits?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

No.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Kudos to Allison Gill for posting this almost a year ago

[N.E. Brigand]

Here's another important admission in a text from Tucker Carlson that's only come to light because of the Dominion lawsuit. In response to someone complaining that Democrats have competent lawyers while Republicans only have Syndey Powell and Lin Wood, Carlson wrote this (my emphhasis) about Trump's presidency: "That's the last four years. We're all pretending we've got a lot to show for it, because admitting what a disaster it's been is too tough to digest. But come on. There isn't really an upside to Trump." Carlson also said that it was "destructive" for Trump not to attend Joe Biden's inauguration. And Carlson said about Trump's various businesses: "All of them fail. What he's good at is destroying things."

A former Fox News lawyer producer named Abby Grossberg who was deposed as part of Dominion's defamation lawsuit against Fox (for having pushed the narrative the Dominion changed voters' ballots) now says that Fox lawyers pressured her to give vague answers to some questions and has filed a request to correct her testimony: "I did not understand at the time, as I had not been made aware by Fox, that the statement 'I don’t recall' is potentially perjurious."

EDITED to correct Ms. Grossberg's job: she was a Fox News producer, not a lawyer. My apologies for the error.

All that said, as shown by various emails cited here, Abby Grossberg is hardly blameless in Fox's mistreatment of Dominion.

Fox News has settled with former producer Abby Grossberg and will pay her $12 million. Grossberg had sued the network for creating a hostile work environment.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I haven't posted about this because I wasn't sure where to put it and I didn't think it deserved a new thread. But I agree with Roger Parloff that it hasn't gotten enough attention.

He writes:

I can't get over the collective shrug this story is getting. The presumptive
@GOP
presidential candidate doxxes the Obamas on truth social, posting alleged address. A J6 def retruths it & then drives to address. Secret Service arrest J6er in his van with 2 guns & 100s of rounds

[Voronwë the Faithful]

NBC News confirms: Special counsel Jack Smith has subpoenaed the Arizona Secretary of State's office as part of his election subversion investigation.

Smith sought info linked to a pair of phony lawsuits — one filed by Trump's campaign and the other by ex-Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward.

[RoseMorninStar]

I haven't posted about this because I wasn't sure where to put it and I didn't think it deserved a new thread. But I agree with Roger Parloff that it hasn't gotten enough attention.

He writes:

I can't get over the collective shrug this story is getting. The presumptive
@GOP
presidential candidate doxxes the Obamas on truth social, posting alleged address. A J6 def retruths it & then drives to address. Secret Service arrest J6er in his van with 2 guns & 100s of rounds

Beau agrees.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

@ZoeTillman
New: A DC Bar hearing committee has recommended Rudy Giuliani be disbarred for pressing "frivolous" 2020 election challenge in Pennsylvania -- an expected development and not the final say, but another setback for Giuliani. More to come.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Ryan Reilly reports that the grand jury investigating the efforts to interfere with the 2020 election by Trump et al. met today. Thomas Windom, one of the lead investigators on Jack Smith's team for that investigation, was spotted coming and going, but that no prominent witnesses were spotted coming or going. That might not mean anything, but it might mean that they are moving towards a decision on indictment(s).

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The Georgia election workers Rudy Freeman and Shay Moss who are suing Giuliani for defamation have filed a motion asking the court to grant sanctions against him up to and including issuing a default judgment as to liability. I read the motion and my reaction was exactly the same as Roger Parloff's.

@rparloff
every line of this leaves me slack-jawed. don't see how rudy could ever be a valuable govt witness. just no remaining credibility whatsoever.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Fischer says that at least three more Oath Keepers have been charged and await trial. I believe I've been within a few hundred feet of one of them: James Beeks aka "James T. Justis" is a professional actor who played Judas in a nationally touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar -- and that production had one performance right next door to where I work in March 2020, before being shut down due to the pandemic.

Kyle Cheney reports that Beeks has been acquitted by Judge Mehta.

@kyledcheney
JUST IN: Source in the room says Oath Keeper James BEEKS has been acquitted by Judge Mehta on all counts. Mehta ruled he wasn’t in earshot during incriminating conversations and had an otherwise minimal role.

Edited to add: However, his co-defendant, Donovan Crowl, was convicted on all charges.

[N.E. Brigand]

Thanks V, a fascinating turn of events! I wonder why the government dropped the lesser charges. There's no doubt that he illegally entered the Capitol.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I was interested to note that Crowl, who was convicted, was represented by Carmen Hernandez, the attorney who so vigorously defended Proud Boy Zachary Rehl, only to be replaced after the trial. Meeks, on the other hand, represented himself, though he allowed his standby counsel to present his closing argument.

[N.E. Brigand]

I was interested to note that Crowl, who was convicted, was represented by Carmen Hernandez, the attorney who so vigorously defended Proud Boy Zachary Rehl, only to be replaced after the trial. Meeks, on the other hand, represented himself, though he allowed his standby counsel to present his closing argument.

I just told a former colleague, who now works next door at the company that hosted the tour of Jesus Christ Superstar featuring Meeks as Judas that closed after only one performance here in March 2020 because of the pandemic. Maybe he'll come back some day!

[N.E. Brigand]

NPR: "Fox News hit with another defamation lawsuit — this one over Jan. 6 allegations."

Fox News has been hit with yet another defamation lawsuit, this time by Ray Epps, a former U.S. Marine turned Arizona wedding venue operator who was in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.

The suit centers on the statements of Fox's former primetime star, Tucker Carlson, who repeatedly placed Epps, a supporter of then-President Donald Trump who says he sought to stave off any bloodshed, at the center of the violent siege on the U.S. Capitol.

Carlson's guests and his own remarks conveyed with seeming certitude that Epps helped instigate the violence unleashed that day and also that he must have been collaborating with a federal agency to do so. Yet Carlson never presented viewers with any concrete evidence of the claims.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Very surprised to see that the DoJ is appealing the sentences of all of the Oathkeepers, including Stewart Rhodes 18 year sentence, since they are all below the sentencing guidelines.