U.S. DOJ v. Arizona State Senate 6/21

 

It seems Today’s Dept. of Justice is now engaged in contradicting its own   Directive*with regard to Arizona Senate/’Cyber Ninjas’ so-called Election “Audit”:

*May 5, 2021 VIA EMAIL The Honorable Karen Fann President, Arizona State Senate 1700 West Washington Street, Room 205 Phoenix, AZ 85007

Pamela S. Karlan Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Civil Rights Division pamela.karlan@usdoj.gov :

In the letter, DOJ describes its responsibility for “Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses, Eighth Edition 2017 at 75 (noting that “[t]he detection, investigation, and proof of election crimes – and in many instances Voting Rights Act violations – often depend[s] on documentation generated during the voter registration, voting, tabulation, and election certification processes”)*2 https://www.justice.gov/criminal/file/1029066/download

Despite this Directive/ Warning, the Arizona “Audit” proceeded undeterred by Any DOJ Action. The Arizona “Audit” continued without any adherence to Policy required by Law, and notification to Arizona Authorities.

DOJ further directed Arizona Authorities to obey Election Law with regard to ‘Cyber Ninjas’ intention “to conduct an audit of voting history” *3”, and that voters may be contacted through a “combination of phone calls and physical canvassing” to “collect information of whether the individual voted in the election” in November 2020. Statement of Work at ¶ 5.1 https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/cyber-ninjas-statement-of-work/2013a82d-a2cf-48be-8e9f-a26bfd5143e5/

Such “physical canvassing” and “phone calls”, were in fact, then conducted, by ‘Cyber Ninjas’ (?), Republican Officials (?), Random Maga-lytes (?).

DOJ even goes so far as to specifically note the inherent violation of the Voting Rights Act:  “The Department enforces a number of federal statutes that prohibit intimidation of persons for voting or attempting to vote. For example, Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act”

 Further; such action could “potentially can implicate the anti-intimidation prohibitions of the Voting Rights Act. Such investigative efforts can have a significant intimidating effect on qualified voters that can deter them from seeking to vote in the future.”

Bold words, followed up with apparently, No Action.

“Democracy itself is in peril – here at home and around the world,” U.S. President Joe Biden

 

GOP      6/2021       Jos. R. Walsh   

“Democracy itself is in peril – here at home and around the world,” U.S. President Joe Biden warned Monday 5/31 in remarks to commemorate the Memorial Day holiday.  https://im-media.voltron.voanews.com/Drupal/01live-166/styles/sourced/s3/2021-05/afp_biden_mem.jpg?itok=Y09W7VFy

I’m not saying Today’s Republicans are Nazis, (Close, but not quite…). Many of them are indeed neo-Nazis. And, Today’s GOP is very much behaving in Nazi ways: Racist Voter Suppression, Societal Division, Political Violence (see Washington, D.C.  1/6).

The D.C. Capitol Assault is eerily reminiscent of the 1933 Nazi burning of the Reichstag, and the November 8 / November 9, 1923 Munich Beer Hall Putsch. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-reichstag-fire-and-nazis-rise-power-180962240/

In the 1933 Burning of the German Parliament, (the Reichstag), Hitler and the Nazis blamed the Left for the destruction, (sound familiar?). Before certain Q-Anon followers in Congress get to comparing COVID Vaccination to Nazi persecution of Jews, they’d do well to read up on some History. Not only did the Nazis use the Reichstag Fire as an excuse to seize power, Hitler and his gang used it a reason to enact Martial Law, and call-up Nazi Militias to enforce order.

Of course the ultimate blame for the 1933 Reichstag Fire remains a matter of controversy. In 2018 however, the German Federal Prosecutor overturned the conviction of the Dutch Communist activist prosecuted and beheaded by the Nazis, citing lack of any credibility in anything the Nazis ever charged against anyone for anything.  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jan/12/secondworldwar.germany

Speaking of Militias; Oath Keepers: here we have Reporting of Self-avowed ‘Oath Keeper’, typical of Oath Keeper News -  “Newburgh tattoo artist Roberto Minuta made a remote court appearance on Tuesday” Chris McKenna The Times Herald-Record, Middletown, N.Y. (TNS)

June 3, 2021Updated: June 3, 2021 8:49 a.m ‘it quotes Minuta allegedly demanding police be ejected from the besieged Capitol as he made a video with his phone after going inside.’ “This is what's bound to happen, just get out!" Minuta yelled in the recording. "Get out! Get these cops out! It's our f---ing building! Get 'em out, get out!"

And; his wife stated - her husband went to Washington’ to provide security for Trump ally Roger Stone* and to prevent Black Lives Matter and Antifa activists from "attacking patriot crowds as they dispersed."

*A federal judge sentenced Stone, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, to 40 months in prison after a jury convicted Stone of making false statements, witness tampering, and obstruction in November. President Donald Trump officially commuted the prison sentence of Roger Stone on Friday, July 10 2020.

Trump MAGA-lytes frequently refer to political opponents as ‘Enemies’, and the free Press as “Enemies of The People”.

As Hitler and the Nazis gained popularity in Germany, ‘the Nazis denounced the Weimar Republic and the “November criminals,” politicians who signed the Treaty of Versailles.’

Proud Boys -  Easily recognizable, thanks to their  red Make America Great Again baseball caps, members are regulars at far-right demonstrations and Trump rallies. After several years of forging alliances with members of the Republican political establishment, the Proud Boys have carved out a niche for themselves as both a right-wing fight club and a volunteer security force for the GOP. https://www.adl.org/proudboys

Proud Boys Events/Fights/Riots are reminiscent of, and akin to the 1923 Munich Beer Hall Putsch.  https://www.history.com/topics/germany/beer-hall-putsch#section_2

Another tactic used by Hitler and the Nazis, as well as most authoritarian Regimes, is the ‘Deputizing’ of line Party Officials, with authority to selectively enforce Election Laws, Process, and Outcomes.          https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-enabling-act

 In Texas, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan as well as many other States, so-called ‘Election Reform’ Laws are being enacted to weaken State’s Secretary of State Authority, as well as County Election Officials, and give that authority to State Legislators in Republican-held Legislatures. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-march-2021

 Demonizing all those who are not with them, persecuting those who oppose them, disenfranchising those who would vote to replace them, are hallmarks of all Oppressive Regimes. And it appears, the current Republican Party as well. Stung by the prospect that This GOP cannot endure Free and Fair Elections, This GOP is doing all it can to destroy Democracy in our Great Constitutional  Republic. 

And The South Shall Rise Again II (Arizona ?) Note * New Blog Title*

 

How is this even Legal?

Arizona has somehow commenced to undertake a so-called ‘Audit’ of the repeatedly certified and verified 2020 Election. It is reported by the Washington Post, the NY Times, MSNBC and various other reliable News sources, that a Court has Ruled that the parties engaged in this ‘Recount’ (?),‘Cyber Ninjas’, Maricopa County, et al, provide documentation that appropriate Ballot Security measures are ensured during the ‘Audit’ process as a condition for proceeding. That provision has not been enforced.

Prior to Recusing himself at the request of ‘Cyber Ninjas’, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Coury offered to pause the Recount pending compliance by ‘Cyber Ninjas’, et al, IF Democrats posted a $1 million bond to cover added expenses.

The rampant partisanship in this matter is appalling. First Judge Coury imposes an unreasonable condition upon the plaintiffs seeking entirely reasonable conditions for the process to proceed. Then, after setting this outlandish imposition, Judge Coury then recuses himself at the request of ‘Cyber Ninjas’. After Judge Coury required this $1Million bond, ‘Cyber Ninjas’ adds an attorney to their team, who formerly worked as Coury’s intern, and subsequently asks Coury to Recuse. Coury complies, a new judge is assigned, a new hearing is set for Tuesday, (4/27?), and meanwhile, the bogus ‘Count’ continues.

There is too much for one mind to unravel here, but, I’ll Try:

First, I understand that Individual States, and Individual Counties within each State, have considerable autonomy over their own elections, but that said, aren’t there Constitutional protections that ensure the validity of U.S. Presidential Elections?

And, is the Arizona Senate empowered to exclusively select an Out-of-State, obviously politically partisan private Contractor to conduct a secret ‘audit’ of a Presidential Election? For instance aren’t taxpayer-funded projects subject to competitive bid, as well as public disclosure/oversight procedures? 

(Does the Arizona GOP see itself some sort of contemporary Confederacy, exempt from Federal Election Law and long accepted norms?) There is also the issue of unidentified 3^rd parties contributing funds to offset the cost and expenses of this operation.

Is it permissible, or ethical, for a Respondent to add an Attorney to their own team, who might possibly present an apparent conflict, After proceedings have begun and Rulings have already been decided? Also, is it permissible/ethical for a judge to then Recuse, after Ruling in proceedings that have commenced? Is the Ruling valid after the Judge Recused for apparent Conflict?  

Is it Legal for a privately owned company to possess and control Election Ballot Information without Neutral 3rd-party observation? What Right, does any state Political Party have to conceal ‘Audit’ proceedings from an opposing Party or the General Public? This sham need be stopped, exposed, or both.

‘Failure of Imagination’ - 9/11 Commission 1/6: Missed It!

 

After the Terrorist Attacks of 9/11/01, a National Commission was convened by United States President George W. Bush and Congress. In its ‘Final Report’ the Commission cited a ‘Failure of Imagination’ on the part of U.S. Security/Counter-Terrorism officials as contributing to the disaster. Security/C-T authorities were persuaded to ‘Re-imagine’ Terror Tactics.

Following the 1/6/21 Domestic Terror insurgency at the U.S. Capitol, there were once again calls to ‘Re-imagine’ Terror Threats. In each case, ‘Imagination’, or the lack thereof, was not the issue. Nor was lack of ‘intelligence’. Lack of Common Sense prevailed in both episodes.

We were mis-informed; I thereby- came to a mistaken conclusion: we were told that accurate Intel. was not passed along to Command Officers on 1/6 (See Previous Post https://joeywalsez.blogspot.com/2021/02/1621-hauntingly-familiar.html)  -

“Today, the ex-Chief of the Capitol Police gave sworn testimony that on January 4^th, the FBI had information that a large armed and dangerous gang of extremists was gathering for the January 6 ‘Protest’. He got that information yesterday, Feb, 22.”

Well, it turns out that accurate information was in fact passed to Upper-level Command; they recklessly decided not to act responsibly on that information. Not only did the FBI and other Homeland Security agencies have the vital information, so too did, of all outfits – the Anti-Defamation League.

https://www.adl.org/blog/extremists-and-mainstream-trump-supporters-plan-to-protest-congressional-certification-of

PBS Frontline did a remarkable Documentary detailing the violent insurgency:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/

(Which is why I Support them both, and you should too.)

Also, Luke Broadwater and Nicholas Fandos at the NY Times have extensive reporting on the known threats at the time.  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/us/politics/capitol-police-riot-report.html

The misinformation and misdirection by D.C. Security Officials led me to mistaken conclusions, (Gawd; I Hate When That Happens!).  At the time I wrote about procedures that require e-confirmation of transmission/possession of crucial Intel. While I may have been misled to that particular solution; it’s still a valid method for confirmation of Who has What Information, and Where and When they had it. That itself, would prevent (hopefully), someone waltzing into a Congressional Hearing, (or any other Investigation), and Lying about who knew what, and when.

As multiple sources cite; the MAGA-Lyte, White Supremacists D.C. insurgents had been threatening violence against the U.S. Congress, as well as any and all other opponents in Washington, D.C. on 1/6, as early as December 2020 right up to 1/6/21. Never Forget.

To claim an absence of actionable Intel. is simply arrogant Disinformation.  

3/25/21 And The South Shall Rise Again(?)

 

And it is as Deplorable, Despicable and Dastardly as ever.

The Ole South rises again. And it begins, not too surprisingly, in Georgia. We see now, the old Racist Confederacy reasserted. We see once again, the perversion of the concept of ‘States Rights’. This is the same Cover Dixie used during the Civil War, (which, Lest We Forget, They Lost), to defend Slavery. More on that in a bit…

 In 1980 and on, The U.S. Supreme Court granted absurd leeway to States to design and enforce their own election laws. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/446/55/    https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/446/55/case.html#68

 The leeway granted was absurd in that it clearly ran contrary to the intent of U.S. Constitution to vigorously defend U.S. Citizens of the Right to Vote, regardless in which Colony they lived.

Implied in the SCOTUS decision was the notion that if State Residents did not choose to live under a States’ Law they could either change the Law, or change their State of Residence. Neither choice necessary or easy. Not necessary, because we understood The U.S. Constitution to defend the Voting Rights of U.S. Citizens. Not easy or convenient for all the obvious reasons.

Speaking of obvious reasons – The Civil War. One of The Confederacy’s fundamental failures was lack of Economic Power. This brings us of course to Coca-Cola https://www.coca-colacompany.com/home  Delta Airlines https://www.delta.com/  The Atlanta Hawks https://www.nba.com/hawks/# 

The Atlanta Braves https://www.mlb.com/braves  Tyler Perry Studios https://www.facebook.com/tylerperrystudios/  

AT&T https://about.att.com/pages/racial_equality WellsFargohttps://www.wellsfargo.com/about/  Georgia Chamber of Commerce https://www.gachamber.com/

 If these companies continue to support racist Georgia’s Economy, Then, in good conscience, the rest of us can only hold these corporations in well-deserved contempt. This of course will be labeled ‘Cancel Culture’. O.K., Whatever. The rest of us call it Social Consciousness.

If Good Ole Dixie can be once again be defeated by Economic Might; so be it.

1/6/21 – Hauntingly Familiar

 

The most substantial domestic response to the disastrous debacle that was 9/11 seems to have been the creation of the Dept. Of Homeland Security – DHS.

I think I may have actually physically groaned upon hearing that the response to this dreadful security failure out of D.C. was to create a new, larger bureaucracy. In typically absurd reasoning the Washington, D.C. solution to too much bureaucracy was more bureaucracy.

 Key findings emerging from post-event 9/11 analysis was not that the U.S. Government Administration did not have enough information about the impending attacks; apparently there was plenty of disturbing information around Government Agencies about looming disaster, but that that information was not usefully distributed to the appropriate security services. Thus; DHS.

As we enter into an autopsy of the disaster that was the 1/6/21 Capitol Insurrection, the immediate emerging theme is once again that there was plenty of disturbing information around, but that that information, despite the mammoth information super-store that is the obviously ineffective DHS, that information was not appropriately distributed to, and managed amongst, the frontline security services. So much for the dramatic creation for yet another massive, bumbling D.C. behemoth.  It was stated today that we need to ‘Re-imagine’ the handling of timely, sensitive Security Intel. Hmmm…. Where have we heard that one before?  It’s time now, 20 Years later, to ’Re-imagine’ the same thing over, again.

Early testimony in Senate hearings into the pro-Trump Capitol Insurrection, determined to disrupt the peaceful transfer of Presidential Power, including quite possibly lynching Vice-President Pence, and the assassination of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, seems to indicate that despite the discovery and possession of information about the looming insurrection, the ‘Right Customers’ did not get the ‘Right Information’ in a manner sufficient to adequately address and manage the threat.  

Today, the ex-Chief of the Capitol Police gave sworn testimony that on January 4^th, the FBI had information that a large armed and dangerous gang of extremists was gathering for the January 6 ‘Protest’. He got that information yesterday, Feb,22.

An FBI Warning was sent to a Sergeant at the Intelligence Unit of the Capitol Police Department, and went no further. According to then- Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, no Command Chief Officer of the Capitol Police Dept., or the D.C. Metropolitan Police were notified of the report. Nor were the Sergeant-At-Arms of either the U.S. House of Representatives or the Senate. Homeland Security anyone?

Within the elaborate structure of the massive DHS; someone, somewhere, somehow, should have created a protocol where information shared among Security Agencies is then distributed  to appropriate Command-Level Officers; some sort of Digital Return Receipt. If someone sends me time-sensitive, important information it arrives by Certified Mail, requiring signature receipt. Shouldn’t the same sort of e-verification be required for timely ‘Homeland Security’ information?

In an unfolding Domestic Security Disaster every second counts. Despite Pre-planning Conferences and exercises, which require Commanding Officers remain present at an Agency’s Designated Command Post, Command Chiefs were instead On-scene, On-the-ground amidst the calamitous Riot at The Capitol. Predictably, there is confusion about exactly when Chiefs of each Police Department met to discuss requesting National Guard assistance. D.C Metropolitan Police Department Chief Peter Newsham testified that the conversation occurred at 1:10 PM.  Capitol Police Chief Sund said it was 2:19 PM, an Hour and Twenty Minute Difference.

If each Commander had been at their proper respective Command Post, instead in the middle of a Riot, there would undoubtedly be an accurate record of the conversation.20 Years after 9/11, after Hundreds of Millions of Dollars, Thousands of Employees at DHS, 2 Police Chiefs cannot agree about what time a vitally important conversation about managing a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol took place. Wonderful.

Lindsey Graham – No Mistake. 2/13/21

 

No Mistake about it; Senator Lindsey Olin Graham (R-SC), is an absolute zero.

A popular adage goes that ‘there is less there than meets the eye.’ Senator Graham’s case is even more severe – there is absolutely Nothing there. Former Trump Chief of Staff Gen. John F. Kelley once observed of a prominent Democratic Politician that ‘an empty drum makes the most noise’. The same would be better said for Lindsey Graham; minus ‘The Drum’, just noise.

 I suppose one could expect as much from a Pickens County SC Republican.

He has no moral compass, no principals, no compassion. Nothing. All hauntingly similar to Today’s GOP. Nothing there either.

 He is a weather vane, whichever way the wind blows is his present direction. When the wind blows against Trump, he’s against Trump – "All I can say is count me out. Enough is enough… We’ve got to end it.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2021/01/12/lindsey-graham-travels-with-trump-to-texas-a-week-after-renouncing-him/?sh=641313d82d9d

When the wind blows for Trump, he’s among the most loyal Trump supporters ever – The senator said he thinks “most Republicans found the presentation by the House Managers offensive and absurd.” https://www.wmbfnews.com/2021/02/11/graham-calls-evidence-presented-against-trump-impeachment-trial-offensive-absurd/

Wow, all in just a couple of weeks! Graham’s as solid as mercury. He once claimed that choosing between favoring Sen. Cruiz (R-TX), and Donald Trump akin ‘to being shot or taking poison’. True That.

 Sen. Graham’s Self-serving blind obedience to MAGA Terrorists is surpassed only by his cowardice to stand by his Oath to Serve, Protect and Defend.

P.S. What a Poor Sucker Trump Loyalist Mike Pence turned out to be, eh?