Trump Et Al. Court Losses Update

11/23 update as of 5:00pm CST (they're coming so fast, gotta use a timestamp now):  The count is now 1 win, 35 losses.  And some of the 35 have gone up in spectacular flames, so much so that I would not be surprised to see some sanctions levied and/or attorney disbarment.

Yakety Sax

"As with everything Trump has done to subvert democracy, his scheme to overturn the election results would be catastrophic if it succeeded and yet it is nevertheless being executed in a way that could be set to the Benny Hill theme."

Adam Serwer, The Atlantic

Apt

"What began five years ago with the made-for-TV announcement of Donald Trump's presidential ambitions from the escalator of his ritzy Manhattan high-rise, ended Saturday with his aging lawyer shouting conspiracy theories and vowing lawsuits in a Northeast Philadelphia parking lot, near a sex shop and a crematorium."

The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 8, 2020

C-Span screenshot

Photo by John Minchillo, Associated Press

Photo by Todd Heisler, NYTimes

Photo by Chris McGrath, Getty Images

Et Cetera, or, Trump’s A Loser And He Has The Court Cases To Prove it

"...the lawsuits are so groundless that the lawyers are more likely to be sanctioned for pursuing them than to succeed in court.”

You know what, I was going to do a whole big write-up with screenshots, copies of his twitter posts, articles, analysis, etc., on Trump's and his sycophants in congress, Fox, OAN, Newsmax, etc., insane insistence that he really won the election, that he is winning the election, that hundreds of thousands if not millions of votes were stolen from him, etc., but I've decided it's not worth my time.  Below is a link to an article on the status of outcomes on election lawsuits so far. 

'Purely outlandish stuff': Trump's legal machine grinds to a halt by Marc Caputo

I'll just leave it at this for those who think that there's any basis to what he's claiming - out of 15 cases (so far) brought by team Trump, as of yesterday afternoon 14 have been dismissed or withdrawn.  (This article mentions a dozen - 2 more were decided after it was written).  At least one other case hasn't gone to court yet because the lawyers for Trump have quit.  These cases have fallen apart in court for lack of evidence, "hearsay within hearsay", no credible witnesses (one witness presented was the Trump lawyer's business partner, which wasn't disclosed prior to his testimony), withdrawn by attorneys as "moot", lack of any actual fraud, crime, or disenfranchisement taking place, improperly filed in the wrong court, fishing expeditions with no evidence, etc.

Update:  As of 11/16 it's now 24 out of 25 cases that have been dismissed or withdrawn.  

11/17 update:  It’s now 0 and 25 as the PA Supreme Court has overturned the lower court 

The More You Know...

Just in case you’re confused, Trump et al’s baseless, evidence-free claim of mass voter fraud and election impropriety is just that: baseless and evidence-free.  So far every claim has been meritless and refuted (not to mention clownish, amateurish, embarrassing, ridiculous, dangerous and intentionally dishonest.  Oops, guess I did just mention them.

Trump’s Election Lawsuits Have Mostly Failed.  Here’s What They Tried. by Miles Parks.

Hail To The Chief (Liar)

Again, the election isn’t over until it’s official, but this is patently false and intentionally misleading.  

Aside from that, remember that Trump has also claimed repeatedly since 2016 that in the election that he won there were millions of illegal votes, which is why he supposedly didn’t win the popular vote - another bogus claim for which he has never produced any proof.  Remember Kris Kobach and the laughable “Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity” that found no widespread voter fraud?  

“I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!”

While it’s not official yet, this declaration (and the others prior to today) was clearly, ridiculously, false and premature.

Foxaganda

Just a periodic reminder that Fox is not your friend. (Nor is Facebook).

As Trump’s Chances Fade, Murdoch’s Fox News Faces Wrath And Tough Choices by NPR’s David Folkenflik.

“Fox News's journalists are, by and large, attempting to navigate a gentle landing for their audiences so that, should Biden defeat Trump, they will recognize the result. But the network's stars are larding their shows with Trump advocates who make baseless but incendiary accusations to ensure that viewers never accept Biden as legitimate.”  

Note the distinction between “journalist”, like Chris Wallace, and “star”, like Tucker Carlson.  (Remember, you literally can’t believe the “facts” Tucker Carlson tells you.  Or Sean Hannity.  Or Laura Ingraham.  Or Jeanine Pirro.)

“The president considers many Fox News figures among his closest advisers, including Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs, Jeanine Pirro and others. He has drawn from the ranks of Fox contributors to fill senior White House appointments and even considered stars for Cabinet positions. And they, in turn, have been ferocious in relaying the president's baseless claims, winning his frequent appearances on their programs and stratospheric ratings in response.”

“As one small sign of the ways in which Fox and Trump Republicans can orchestrate programming, on Friday evening NPR reviewed an internal GOP memo sent to top party officials to prepare Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel for her appearance on Hannity's show that night. It set out in great specificity the entire intended flow of the show's lengthy opening segment - including its guests, articles and subjects, and the primary point Hannity would make. The two jointly focused on stoking suspicions of voter fraud. (The RNC confirmed the memo's authenticity but declined to comment on the collaboration.)”

And Now This

As the US has seen coronavirus hospitalizations and deaths spike, and new cases rise to over 120,000 in a single day, we learn tonight that White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and at least 4 other White House aides have now tested positive.  According to Jennifer Jacobs from Bloomberg News who broke the story tonight: “Pains were taken to keep Meadows’ illness a secret, I’m told. And people around him who knew were told to keep quiet.”

Note that this week Meadows has been at crowded functions at campaign headquarters, the White House residences, met with the President, his family and guests, met with the VP and his staff, and was at the White House election night event, all without wearing a mask.  

Don’t forget according to Trump that we’re rounding the corner “beautifully”, and that on November 4th after the election nobody would be talking about “COVID, COVID, COVID.”  I guess Meadows and 120,000+ people didn’t get the memo.

11/7 update:  it’s now 7 confirmed cases - Meadow, 5 WH staff, 1 campaign aide.  Other White House/campaign staff are understandably upset this morning, as they learned from the breaking news story that they’ve been exposed - allegedly neither Meadows nor the WH/campaign notified those who have been in proximity.

“They Know What They’re Doing And They Don’t Care”

The election is not over yet, but as some people seem to have forgotten, neither is our democracy.

The Election That Broke the Republican Party by Tim Alberta

“This is something out of the Pinochet regime. These Republicans who are indulging the president, they all know better...They know exactly what they’re doing, and they don’t care.” Josh Venable