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I'm watching Trumpworld's election resistance with growing alarm. It's not the lack of a concession that concerns me; we've learned to be unsurprised about that kind of norm-breaking. It's the calculated language of non-compliance from functionaries and GOP leaders. 1/
Per @mashagessen's rules: believe the autocrat—and, in this case, his stooges. Pompeo: "There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration." 2/ https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/525330-pompeo-on-election-results-there-will-be-a-smooth-transition-to-a
Barr to fed prosecutors: "I authorize you to pursue substantial allegations of voting and vote tabulation irregularities prior to the certification of elections in your jurisdictions"—overturning DOJ policy of non-interference until after certification 3/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-voting-fraud-william-barr-justice-department/2020/11/09/d57dbe98-22e6-11eb-8672-c281c7a2c96e_story.html
McConnell: “Let’s not have any lectures about how the president should immediately, cheerfully accept preliminary election results from the same characters who just spent four years refusing to accept the validity of the last election.” 4/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/us/politics/republicans-trump-concede-2020-election.html
Meanwhile Emily Murphy, head of the General Services Administration, is refusing the issue the "letter of ascertainment" that would unlock funding Biden's transition and authorize his daily intelligence briefings. 5/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/us/politics/emily-murphy-trump-biden.html
Following Murphy's lead, John Barsa, acting deputy administrator of USAID: "The only official announcement about an election result that matters is from the head of GSA." 6/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-transition-agencies-biden/2020/11/09/ad9f2ba2-22b7-11eb-952e-0c475972cfc0_story.html
McConnell again: "The projections and commentary of the press do not get veto power over the legal rights of any citizen, including the president of the United States." As if Trump has a right to be reelected? 6/ https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/transcript-mitch-mcconnell-says-president-trump-is-100-within-his-rights-to-investigate-voting-irregularities
Let's be clear-eyed about all this. To pass 270 in the Electoral College, Team Trump would need to catch up in at least three states where Biden leads by tens of thousands of votes. Impossible. That's not the play. More likely, they're running out the clock to December 8th. 7/
That's when states must determine their slates of electors. Their aim may be to give GOP-controlled legislatures in at least three states where Biden won a pretext for seating Trump electors instead. @voxdotcom explains: https://www.vox.com/2020/11/10/21557852/bill-barr-election-memo-mitch-mcconnell-speech-fraud 8/
Maybe it's all designed to supply Trump with a grievance he can milk for political or $$ gain after leaving office. But maybe it's not. My advice to groups like @ProtectResults that organized to ensure a smooth vote count: don't demobilize just yet. Believe the autocrat. 9/fin
