Stolen Election? Or Stolen Election Fraud?

November 12, 2020 9:22pm

It is indisputable that some fraud was committed during the presidential election. And it is indisputable that there was also some process malfeasance by election officials. But if it can't be proven to have been enough to change the outcome of the election, the courts will not do much about it.

I wish the courts would get moving on these lawsuits, so we have some idea as to whether or not the claims are substantive. Because if they are, we need to get on to the remedy sooner rather than later. And if they're not, then Donald Trump needs to begin the peaceful transition process sooner rather than later.

There are also many unsubstantiated rumors about how the election was stolen from President Trump. And those need to be addressed with objective analysis of known facts and not with wishful thinking by those who want Trump to have a second term.

I must address the two biggest conspiracy theories making the rounds on social media that are almost certainly complete nonsense. One is the claim that ballots were watermarked by Trump's allies, so they could later prove which ballots were frauds. First of all, each county prints their own ballots. There's no single print shop that prints all the ballots in America. So it's not even possible. And yeah, I know the claim is that it's not those ballots that were watermarked. But it is still nonsense. There is no way that happened. And there is no way President Trump is going to prove in one fell swoop that Democrats engaged in widespread vote fraud by revealing some blockchain invisible watermark. That ain't gonna happen.

The other rumor is that traitorous deep state actors in the American intelligence community weaponized two computer programs - one called "Hammer," that breaks into voting computers and another called "Scorecard," that changes vote counts within those systems. As the theory goes, the CIA developed those programs to manipulate election results in other countries, but deep state never-Trumpers in America used it domestically. That is such an absurd theory that I don't even know how to debunk it other than to say "without evidence to back it up, it belongs in the rubbish bin."

I'm sure some of you are thinking, "Yeah, Mike. But the CIA is really good at doing illegal stuff and covering their tracks. And they hate Trump." Well, that's true. But without evidence, it's the stuff of spy novels not the real world.

If I am shown convincing evidence, I'll change my mind. But I base my opinions on facts. And so far there are no facts to support that theory. Oh, there's plenty of people claiming it. Even people I respect like retired General Thomas McInerney are pushing this conspiracy theory. But it seems like nonsense to me. Don't misunderstand. It would be great if it could be so easily proven that the election was stolen from Trump. But c'mon, it has to be based in reality. And the Hammer & Scorecard theory ain't.

But even if you don't want to accept my analysis that both those theories are without merit, ask yourself this question: If either theory was true, wouldn't Donald Trump be tweeting and screaming about it? Frankly, that's enough evidence right there to indicate they're not true.

Do I think it's too soon for Joe Biden and his supporters to declare victory? Yes, I do. Election results aren't certified any ANY state yet.

And do I think it's too soon for Donald Trump and his supporters to declare victory? Yes, I do. We're still awaiting recounts, and there's no telling what the courts will do with his legal challenges.

But even if the courts acknowledge that the fraud and process malfeasance Trump alleges did actually occur, what will their remedy be? There 100% won't be a redo election. So will they invalidate some votes but not others? Can that even be done? It's not like there was one bin marked "fraudulent ballots" and other bin marked "ballots that were illegally counted." If the ballots were commingled, and certainly most were, there's no way to separate them now.

So would the Supreme Court just invalidate the entire election and leave it to the state legislatures to pick their slate of electors to the Electoral College? If they do - and if those legislators vote along party lines - Donald Trump would have a chance. The House and Senates of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, and Arizona all have Republican majorities. Nevada's legislature has a Democrat majority. Governors would play no role in it.

Would any of those legislatures choose their electors? Florida's Republican majority in 2000 was going to do just that if the courts didn't settle the Bush v. Gore issue before the Electoral College deadline. But the court did settle it, so the legislature didn't. But had they, it would have been 100% constitutional.

And then there's the question of whether or not Congress would accept electors chosen that way. They wouldn't be required to. Both Congressional bodies would have to agree to reject them, so it would be extremely unlikely. But if they did, it's possible nobody would have the 270 Electoral College votes necessary to win. And that would mean the House gets to choose the President, and the Senate gets to choose the Vice President. If they voted along party lines, Donald Trump and Mike Pence would be reelected.

Republicans will have a 50-48 majority in the U.S. Senate on January 6th - the date those votes would happen. And although the Democrats will have a majority in the House of Representatives, that's irrelevant if they have to choose the President because not every congressman gets a vote. There wouldn't be 435 votes. There would be 46 votes. Each state delegation gets one vote. And in the new Congress that gets sworn in January 3rd, Republicans have majorities in 26 delegations; Democrats have majorities in 20; and four states are evenly split, so they wouldn't get a vote.

Can you imagine what would happen if four states don't have any say whatsoever in who our next president will be? And if 2020 can't get any more interesting, do you know who those four tied states are? Minnesota, Iowa, and... wait for it.... Michigan... and Pennsylvania!

But all these scenarios may just be an academic refresher course on our Constitution. Because unless Donald Trump is pulling a Muhammad Ali-style rope-a-dope, and he's about to unleash a flurry of punches that deliver a knockout blow that drops the vote count to the canvas, it's only a matter of time before the referee raises Joe Biden's hand in the middle of the ring, and Joe Biden puts on the title belt.