Fear less and less about Trump’s legal blitz

Rudy Giuliani is no longer the only one to don the “bad guy” costume. Since Saturday, another ultra-conservative lawyer has come to strengthen the former mayor of New York, as commander-in-chief of the legal “blitz” with which Donald Trump continues to threaten the electoral authorities of several American states.

David Bossie is a lawyer as committed as he is feared. Its collective “Citizens United” has, for four years, multiplied the legal actions to fight certain laws in force (on the carrying and the sale of weapons in particular) and to fight against those who would like to limit the surge of private money in the countries. American election campaigns. Bossie has enlisted, in Pennsylvania, another lawyer who became the pet peeve of the judges of the Supreme Court of Harrisburg, the capital of the state: Thomas Breth. Problem: The thunderclap the trio wanted to unleash over the ballot boxes on Saturday noon at a press conference in Philadelphia was completely ousted by the announcement, almost at the same time, of Joe’s victory Biden after winning at least 279 voters. A summary of the almost impossible mission that awaits them.

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Donald Trump, however, once again urged his troops to fight. “The simple fact is that this election is far from over, trumpets his statement released Saturday, about an hour after the consecration of his opponent by the media. Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any state, let alone one of the hotly contested states moving towards a mandatory recount, or states where our campaign is the subject of valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the final winner. In Pennsylvania, for example, our legal observers were not allowed meaningful access to observe the counting process. It is the legal votes that decide who is president, not the news media. From Monday, our campaign will take this to court to ensure that election laws have been fully respected. ”

“Blitz against fraud”

In fact: the legal fronts remain multiple for what the outgoing president likes to call his “blitz against fraud”. In Nevada, where the Democratic candidate won by 20,000 votes in advance, the Trump team says 3,062 unregistered voters were able to vote. In Arizona, several complaints from Republican voters denounce the machines used to vote, which would not have recognized their votes. In Georgia, a witness claims that 53 ballots were added in Chatham County. A recount of votes in these states is therefore not excluded. “Blitz”? Most commentators, including lawyers specializing in electoral law, however, doubt the impact of these attacks: “There was no rampant and massive fraud. No honest judge can deny this evidence, ”replied Saturday in the New York Times Professor John Mark Hansen of the University of Chicago.

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Is Donald Trump aware of this wall against which his legal shells risk crashing without destroying anything other than his reputation? At this stage, the answer seems to be no, as his vocabulary has become belligerent towards the state which, according to him, is at the origin of this electoral “theft”: Pennsylvania, with 20 voters who were essential for him to be re-elected. In Philadelphia on Saturday, Rudy Giuliani appeared before reporters with several Republican Party observers who say they were kept out of the count. It is also here, in this state, that Trump has made the distinction since the closure of the “physical” polling stations on Tuesday, November 3 at 8 p.m., between the “legal” ballots – those deposited in the ballot box that day. – and “illegal” bulletins, sent by mail as state law allows.

2,5 millions de «mail-in votes»

On paper, the stakes are high: 2.5 million voters have chosen to send their ballots by post (mail-in votes), or to deposit them in the places provided for this purpose (generally county courts), out of 6.7 million votes cast. Except that, here too, nothing has emerged for the time of the “blitz”. At the Philadelphia Convention Center, where these ballots were collected, the 60 observers from each party were finally allowed to come within 6 feet (1.8 meters) of the tellers responsible for opening the envelopes received until Friday evening. , legal deadline. The election commission also agreed to review 1076 ballots among a stock of 40,000 delivered by mail Thursday, and stored in a sorting center in Pennsylvania. Without hindering, until the last few hours, the finalization of the count …

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There remains the hope of the perfect “blitz”: an intervention by the Federal Supreme Court which, ruling unconstitutional an electoral measure of one of the states prosecuted by the outgoing president’s team (in addition to Arizona and Michigan) would decide to suspend their count and therefore their results. Donald Trump continues to brandish this threat. Without anything concrete to support it so far. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito – appointed by George W. Bush in 2005 – on Friday simply asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to ensure that mail-in ballots received after voting day were kept separate from the rest, in case of disputes. A measure that the state electoral commission had already taken. Convinced, precisely, that she would suffer a legal assault from the Trump camp.

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