Wednesday, December 16, 2020

SCUMBAG REPUBLICANS SLOWLY GIVE UP

 



Senate Republicans finally capitulate

 

 

Opinion by 

Jennifer Rubin

Columnist

Dec. 16, 2020 at 6:45 a.m. CST

 

A “mere” six weeks after Joe Biden’s decisive win in both the electoral college and the popular vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and a few other Republican holdouts finally recognized him as president-elect. Snarky commentators observed that McConnell recognized Biden’s win after Russian President Vladimir Putin did so publicly.

 

The delay was unconscionable. It was apparently not enough for the networks to call the race. Or for multiple recounts to confirm the results. Or for states to certify the results. Or for dozens of courts to throw out President Trump’s ludicrous claims. It took until the electors cast their ballots Monday for McConnell to finally decide it was time to capitulate to reality, to get off the Trump train wreck and to recognize nothing more was to be gained by supporting the increasingly deranged president.

 

It is not clear why McConnell finally took an off-ramp. Did the threats to the lives of state workers finally wear him down? Did big donors, including business interests, finally tell him to knock it off? We do not know, but we should not applaud a six-week delay that facilitated an entirely unprecedented attack on our democracy.

 

Some Republicans were trying to make excuses at the bitter end. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), often considered a “reasonable” Republican in some quarters despite never having stood up to Trump in any meaningful fashion, acknowledged Biden’s win in a written statement, but not without insisting that “although there were instances of fraud and irregularities, it has not been shown to be widespread enough to change the result of the election.” I asked his office, “What fraud or irregularities?” I got no response. That’s because there is none; indeed, Trump’s own lawyers repeatedly insisted they were not bringing fraud cases when pressed.

 

It is precisely this immediate falsification of history that Democrats and patriotic Republicans should call out. They can take several steps to prevent future presidential candidates from undermining our elections and Republican officials from abetting their assault on democracy.

 

First, the incoming attorney general should review all post-election conduct, including the lawsuits filed, the lack of evidence of fraud, the actions of local officials, the attacks on local officials and the public statements from Trump and congressional Republicans. We must memorialize who did what.

 

Second, it is not clear if any state or federal laws were broken by, for example, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) when he phoned Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger allegedly to suggest that valid ballots be thrown out. It certainly is illegal to threaten public officials with bodily harm; any Trump supporters who engaged in such monstrous conduct must be identified and prosecuted. The need to close the Michigan Capitol and for one elector to wear a bulletproof vest to cast the legally required electoral college ballot was an utter disgrace. This is the sort of thing one sees in illiberal regimes. Did Trump cross any legal lines in attempting to sway Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), a Wayne County, Mich., canvassing board member or Michigan state legislators into overturning the results?

 

Third, the incoming attorney general needs to make legal recommendations to button up the electoral system so that the threat of competing slates of delegates and the refusal of low-level election officials to perform ministerial functions do not upend our elections. If not already covered by statute, we need to clarify federal law to prevent interference with election officials’ tabulation and certification of election results. The attorney general should make recommendations to state bar associations to sanction attorneys who willfully bring frivolous lawsuits in seeking to overthrow an election.

 

And finally, each house should make rules to eject a member who seeks to overthrow an election, who joins frivolous lawsuits to change the results or who pressures local officials. Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution reads: “Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Member. … Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.” While several election law experts confirm that Congress cannot add to the requirements spelled out in the Constitution, it certainly is within the power of both houses to expel members for this kind of conduct. Former House impeachment counsel Norman Eisen tells me, “It would be appropriate for this democratic body to regulate members who attack democracy, whether by filing blatantly abusive lawsuits to frustrate electoral processes or intimidating hard-working election officials who are just trying to do their jobs.” Rarely will a two-thirds majority be obtained, but having such a rule would nevertheless act as a deterrent — and a reminder of the appalling conduct of 2020.

 

Republican House and Senate members’ anti-democratic conduct in the post-election period should not be forgotten. The names of those who sought to delegitimize democracy should be engraved in roll of dishonor. State and federal laws must be adjusted to prevent a reoccurrence of their despicable conduct.

 

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