2020 Election: Predictions, Results and Reactions

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Without even referring the application to the full court!

[N.E. Brigand]

Michigan: "Judge issues bench warrant for pro-Trump lawyer who worked to reverse 2020 election."

"Stefanie Lambert ... has 24 hours to turn herself in. ... She didn't appear for a court hearing in Oakland County over her failures to get fingerprinted."

264 hours later: "Pro-Trump Lawyer Stefanie Lambert Arrested on Bench Warrant in Washington, D.C.."

[N.E. Brigand]

Belatedly catching up to this August story:

"Jan. 6 rioter who Tucker Carlson guest said was a fed is arrested by the FBI. Rally Runner, an amateur mascot who runs around St. Louis Cardinals stadium, was charged in connection with the Capitol attack." Mr. Runner had a hearing today, apparently of no consequence, but it's what brought the story to my attention.

Back in 2021, Joseph McBride, a lawyer who was then representing several Jan. 6 defendants, said on Carlson's show that Runner was "clearly a law enforcement officer" and an "agent provocateur" who had only dressed up as a Trump fan as part of a scheme to make Trump fans look bad. In fact, Runner was a real Trump fan, as well as a St. Louis Cardinals fanatic who ran around the stadium during home games, thus his name change [from Daniel Donnelly Jr., his birth name].

Runner had been a huge fan of Carlson's show. "For years I believed Tucker was a responsible reporter focused on stopping 'Fake News' just to be hit with this story."

Rally Runner has entered a guilty plea.

[N.E. Brigand]

Axios has some interesting reporting on how the acquittal happen.

Scoop: How GOP pressured Texas senators over Paxton's impeachment trial

Two of the Texas state senators who voted to acquit Ken Paxton now want the impeachment trial reopened because last week, in a filing in a whistleblower lawsuit related to the same matters for which Paxton was impeached, Paxton wrote that he "elects not to contest any issue of fact in this case," and these state senators say that despite Paxton's argument to the contrary, this is an admission of guilt.

More importantly, it looks like Paxton might finally be going on trial for securities fraud in the coming months, after being indicted almost 9 years ago.

[Kyle Griffin on Twitter: "A judge has rejected attempts to toss indictments against Texas AG Ken Paxton. That means Paxton's securities fraud trial will begin April 15. He has been under indictment for nearly nine years."]

Or not. Austin American-Statesman: "Texas AG Ken Paxton could see criminal charges dropped in deal with prosecutors."

Apparently it's going to be a deferral agreement: if Paxton pays $300,000+ in restitution, does some community service, and doesn't commit any crimes, these state charges will be dropped. But it seems he won't have to admit to these crimes. (Paxton does remain under federal investigation.)

[N.E. Brigand]

Matt. Schlapp. One day after CPAC's vice chair Charlie Gerow resigned amidst new calls for the organization to investigate its leader Schlapp, the Washington Post reports that besides the lawsuit filed against Schlapp by a Herschel Walker campaign staffer who alleges that Schlapp groped him, "some CPAC board members and staffers have been told about other incidents involving Schlapp, 55, and two younger men, multiple people with direct knowledge of the situation said ... In one incident, a staffer said Schlapp attempted to kiss him while drinking late after a work function in 2017. The staffer also provided documentation from that night ... showing physical contact that the staffer said was unsolicited."

Per new reporting in the Daily Beast, Matt Schlapp tried to settle the suite against him by a Herschel Walker campaign staffer, but his offer was rejected.

Matt Schlapp and his wife Mercedes have claimed over the past couple days that The Daily Beast is run by Satan.

Sclapp, Matt? Settling this lawsuit, maybe.

[N.E. Brigand]

Matt. Schlapp. One day after CPAC's vice chair Charlie Gerow resigned amidst new calls for the organization to investigate its leader Schlapp, the Washington Post reports that besides the lawsuit filed against Schlapp by a Herschel Walker campaign staffer who alleges that Schlapp groped him, "some CPAC board members and staffers have been told about other incidents involving Schlapp, 55, and two younger men, multiple people with direct knowledge of the situation said ... In one incident, a staffer said Schlapp attempted to kiss him while drinking late after a work function in 2017. The staffer also provided documentation from that night ... showing physical contact that the staffer said was unsolicited."

Per new reporting in the Daily Beast, Matt Schlapp tried to settle the suit against him by a Herschel Walker campaign staffer, but his offer was rejected.

Matt Schlapp and his wife Mercedes have claimed over the past couple days that The Daily Beast is run by Satan.

Sclapp, Matt? Settling this lawsuit, maybe.

Possibly for the last time: Matt Schlapp.

Carlton Huffmann, the 2022 Herschel Walker campaign staffer who sued Schlapp (and others) for Schlapp allegedly groping him, has dropped his lawsuits:

In a statement on Tuesday, Huffman said he was discontinuing his lawsuits and issued an apology for bringing them.

“The claims made in my lawsuits were the result of a complete misunderstanding, and I regret that the lawsuit caused pain to the Schlapp family,” Huffman said, according to a statement shared by a spokesperson for Schlapp.

“The Schlapps have advised that the statements made about me were the result of a misunderstanding, which was regrettable,” he added, referring to comments the couple had made about Huffman after he filed his suit. “Neither the Schlapps nor the ACU paid me anything to dismiss my claims against them.”

Asked about the statement, Huffman said in a text message to POLITICO: “We have resolved our differences” and confirmed the accuracy of the statement.

That Politico article notes that Huffman himself has been accused of sexual impropriety.

What should we make of all this? How did the question of whether Schlapp groped Huffman get turned into a "misunderstanding"? Why doesn't Huffman specify who didn't pay him to drop his claim rather than saying no one paid him to drop his claim? If Huffman made up the whole story, then how can he and the Schlapps have "resolved our differences" without him having paid them for defamation? We may never know the answers to any of these questions.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Definitely the wrong answer for a DoJ attorney.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Meanwhile, an attorney discipline judge in California has recommended that John Eastman be disbarred (contrary to what several commentators have reported on Twitter, Eastman has not yet been disbarred).

[N.E. Brigand]

Possibly for the last time: Matt Schlapp.

Carlton Huffmann, the 2022 Herschel Walker campaign staffer who sued Schlapp (and others) for Schlapp allegedly groping him, has dropped his lawsuits:

In a statement on Tuesday, Huffman said he was discontinuing his lawsuits and issued an apology for bringing them. “The claims made in my lawsuits were the result of a complete misunderstanding, and I regret that the lawsuit caused pain to the Schlapp family,” Huffman said, according to a statement shared by a spokesperson for Schlapp. “The Schlapps have advised that the statements made about me were the result of a misunderstanding, which was regrettable,” he added, referring to comments the couple had made about Huffman after he filed his suit. “Neither the Schlapps nor the ACU paid me anything to dismiss my claims against them.” Asked about the statement, Huffman said in a text message to POLITICO: “We have resolved our differences” and confirmed the accuracy of the statement.

That Politico article notes that Huffman himself has been accused of sexual impropriety. What should we make of all this? How did the question of whether Schlapp groped Huffman get turned into a "misunderstanding"? Why doesn't Huffman specify who didn't pay him to drop his claim rather than saying no one paid him to drop his claim? If Huffman made up the whole story, then how can he and the Schlapps have "resolved our differences" without him having paid them for defamation? We may never know the answers to any of these questions.

Oh my. Not so fast, Matt Schlapp!

The Daily Beast reports that Huffman was paid $480,000 by CPAC's insurance company to drop his lawsuit.

Edited to note that CNN also has this story.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I wonder how the amount got out? I would think that would be confidential.

[N.E. Brigand]

I wonder how the amount got out? I would think that would be confidential.

Reporters probably guessed that the insurance company was involved and found someone there who was willing to spill the beans.

[N.E. Brigand]

Attorney Lin Wood is being investigated in Georgia because he may voted illegally there. There's a woman serving five years in Texas for voting illegally in 2016. Here's hoping.

Sadly, the real charge that led to Crystal Mason being given a five year sentence was "VWB" (Voting While Black).

(Another woman, Rachel Rodriguez, was recently charged with voter fraud in Texas for what they are calling illegal vote harvesting videod by the awful people from Project Veritas. She faces up to 20 years in prison.)

An appeals court yesterday overturned Crystal Mason's 2018 conviction for trying to vote in 2016 while on supervised release (i.e., probation) for a tax felony charge, finding (at last) that Mason was not aware that she was ineligible to vote at the time.

Ken White's take resonates with V's comment above in light of some other news: "Ms. Mason faced five years in a Texas prison. To put that in perspective, it’s the equivalent of a white man getting a $5,000 fine or almost 100 hours of community service." White is referring to Brian Pritchard, the Georgia Republican who (as noted today in the forum's 2024 election thread) received that sentence yesterday for voting while on probation. But Pritchard did so nine times while Mason tried to do so just once, so a more accurate comparison would be that a black woman was sentenced to five years in prison for an act that resulted in a white man being sentenced to a $456 fine and 11 hours' community service.

[N.E. Brigand]

Meanwhile, an attorney discipline judge in California has recommended that John Eastman be disbarred (contrary to what several commentators have reported on Twitter, Eastman has not yet been disbarred).

Earlier today, Quinta Jurecic of Lawfare noted that "John Eastman's children just published an article comparing him to Jesus."

[N.E. Brigand]

New charges continue to be brought against January 6th insurrectionists, including Proud Boys. Today charges were filed against Steve Saxiones, a member of the Proud Boys' "Ministry of Self Defense," which was set up specifically for January 6th activities. Saxiones had actually been arrested at the Capitol that day at about 2 p.m. Not sure why it took three years to charge him (for obstruction, trespassing, and making threats).

[N.E. Brigand]

Politico: "Arizona investigators issue grand jury subpoenas as state’s 2020 Trump election probe accelerates."

It's not clear whether this probe is limited to the actions of Arizona's would-be electors or also those associates of Donald Trump who may have coordinated them.

To U.S. Congressmen from Arizona, Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs, have been subpoenaed in this investigation.

[N.E. Brigand]

Definitely the wrong answer for a DoJ attorney.

[Marcy Wheeler on Twitter: "In a bar hearing, Jeffery 'No Pants' Clark said that his client when invoking Attorney-Client privilege, was Donny Trump. That ... seems to pose a problem, for both of them."]

Politico: "Jeffrey Clark’s bid to aid Trump election scheme violated attorney rules, DC Bar panel finds."

A disciplinary panel in Washington has found that Jeffrey Clark, a former high-ranking Justice Department official, violated ethics rules for lawyers in his attempt to aid Donald Trump’s bid to subvert the 2020 election.

The three-member disciplinary committee determined Thursday that Clark’s campaign to pressure Justice Department leaders to help upend the transfer of power to Joe Biden violated his duties as an attorney.

The preliminary ruling jumpstarts a process that could lead to the suspension or even permanent revocation of Clark’s license to practice law, even as he’s considered a candidate for a senior position in a second Trump administration.Disciplinary investigators who brought the charges against Clark say they intend to advocate for his disbarment.

[N.E. Brigand]

CNN: "Judge schedules Newsmax case over 2020 election lies for September trial."

Newsmax and the voting technology company Smartmatic could still reach an out-of-court settlement, and further delays are possible. But if the September 24 trial date holds, the fallout from former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election will be on full display as he tries to return to the White House.

The trial would also be the first of more than a dozen high-profile defamation cases to face a jury, all stemming from the false claims that Smartmatic and another voting company, Dominion Voting Systems, rigged the 2020 election by flipping millions of votes from Trump to Joe Biden. Those lies — championed by Trump and his allies in Congress and the right-wing press — fueled the deadly insurrection on January 6, 2021.

Judge Eric Davis, who will preside in Delaware Superior Court, is the same judge who oversaw Dominion's lawsuit against Fox News that was settled at the last minute in 2023 when Fox agreed to pay Dominion $787.5 million.

[N.E. Brigand]

Republicans are still mad that Fox News called Arizona for Joe Biden on Election Day, so mad that they're insisting it happened even earlier than it did.

[N.E. Brigand]

Almost two years later in Cleveland: Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman pleaded guilty to the fifth-degree felony of telecommunications fraud [for a robo-call campaign that engaged in voter suppression]. That state crime carries a maximum possible penalty of one year's imprisonment. It's not clear what they will actually be sentenced to, but they did agree to pay the maximum fine of $2,500 as part a deal in which prosecutors dropped 14 counts of telecommunications and bribery.

NBC: "The Federal Communications Commission says it will serve a $5.1 million fine against conservative activists Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl and J.M. Burkman & Associates over their role in making 1,141 unlawful robocalls ahead of the 2020 election."

Jacob Wohl, a conservative activist best known for his illegal election interference activities, today pled guilty in California to two state felony counts of securities fraud. The criminal act occurred in July 2016. Wohl was charged for it in August 2019.

In March 2023, a New York judge found Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman liable for a robo-call fraud scheme that targeted Black voters in 2020. Today, New York's attorney general, Letitia James, announced that her office had reached a settlement agreement with the miscreants, who will be required to cough up $1.25 million.

[N.E. Brigand]

NBC reports on the arrest of former FBI agent, Jared Wise, who worked for that agency from 2004 to 2017.

The FBI this week arrested a former bureau supervisor in connection with the Jan. 6 riot who they said called for killing officers protecting the Capitol that day. ... Wise was charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building; disorderly conduct in a restricted building; disorderly conduct with an intent to impede an orderly session of Congress; and unlawfully parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

Jared Wise was in the FBI's counterterrorism office in New York, leaving in 2017 to join the conservative pseudo-media outlet Project Veritas where he worked with Trump ally Erik Prince to train personnel in counter-intelligence techniques for the company's sting operations. Project Veritas's secret operations included "female undercover operatives arrang[ing] dates with the F.B.I. employees with the aim of secretly recording them making disparaging comments about Mr. Trump."

Because this is the most recent reference to parading and picketing I can find, this is where I'll note that the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld the statute that makes it a misdemeanor crime to picket or parade in the Capitol.