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Tuesday marked a key milestone in cementing Joe Biden’s victory—one we normally wouldn’t have had to take note of, but normally lame duck presidents don’t try to steal elections that they lost. It won’t stop Trump trolls from making a scene or urging supporters to die for the cause, but it does allow the rest of us to slap on some noise-canceling headphones.
- We’ve arrived at the “safe harbor” deadline, the date by which all state-level election challenges, like audits and recounts, must be resolved. Congress is obligated to treat state results certified by December 8 as final, and after today, state courts will probably need to throw out new lawsuits challenging the election. Every state but Wisconsin seems to have met the deadline. Federal lawsuits could theoretically still be fair game, but there are now only three remaining (two in Wisconsin, one in Arizona), and they’re not long for this world.
- Regrettably, this particular harbor is teeming with eels. At a Tuesday inaugural committee meeting, top GOP leaders voted down a basic resolution effectively recognizing Joe Biden as president-elect. We can expect those kinds of insane-but-toothless theatrics to continue through at least December 14, when the Electoral College is scheduled to vote. One little stinker, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), has pledged to challenge the Electoral College votes when Congress certifies Biden’s victory on January 6, based on a confusing law from the 1880s. Someone in the Senate would need to join him to force a debate, and thus far, nobody has. Even if a second little stinker came forward, the whole maneuver would be doomed in the House.
- While the reality is sinking in for Trump’s advisors that it’s time to put on a convincing human costume and find a new job, the big guy isn’t done going through his coup Rolodex. Trump called the speaker of the Pennsylvania House twice in the last week, asking for help overturning the state’s election results. That makes Pennsylvania the third state in which Trump has personally intervened, after reaching out to Michigan lawmakers and bullying Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) to replace Georgia’s electors. (Hot tip: Phone banking is typically most effective before an election.) Anyway, Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler told Trump there was nothing he could do, and today the Supreme Court rejected Rep. Mike Kelly’s (R-PA) request to block Pennsylvania’s certification with, count ‘em, zero dissents.
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Trump and his allies are 1-51 in court as the window for frivolous legal challenges creaks shut, but they’re also getting sued now, if that counts for anything?
- Former DHS cybersecurity chief Chris Krebs, whom Trump fired for debunking his election conspiracy theories, has sued the Trump campaign and its lawyer Joe diGenova for defamation. DiGenova, memorably, went on Newsmax and called for Krebs to be “taken out at dawn and shot.” The lawsuit alleges that Trump, his legal team, and Newsmax conspired to falsely claim that the election was stolen, to defame Republicans who spoke out against those claims, and to fraudulently raise over $200 million from duped supporters.
- If anything, the violent rhetoric from Trump allies has only grown more unhinged since the Krebs episode. The official Arizona Republican Party twitter, a dank swamp of conspiracy theories, has begun urging supporters to fight to the death in support of Trump’s attempts to cling to power. We’ve all become desensitized to a lot of things over the past year, but let’s be clear: This is fucking berserk.
The Electoral College vote is less than a week away with no outcome-threatening shenanigans on the horizon, but the fact that these dates hold so much significance when the election results have been clear for a month is a testament to the level of strain Trump and Republicans have put on the process. It can’t become the new normal.
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In a new Campaign Experts React, Dan Pfeiffer and Jon Favreau react to ads run by the Biden Campaign and break down how they contributed to his victory over Trump. Watch & smash that subscribe button → youtube.com/crookedmedia
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Four of the 10 largest Georgia counties have cut back early voting sites ahead of the January Senate runoffs. Cobb County, which has more than 760,000 residents and used 11 early voting sites ahead of the general election, will have just five sites available for the runoffs. In the great tradition of Georgia voter suppression, the closures will particularly affect access for Black and Latino voters. Counties have attributed those cuts to budget shortfalls, which could very well be a driving force. Anyhow, remember when Georgia’s counties had to pay for two full recounts in the presidential election, one ordered by Georgia’s GOP Secretary of State and the other requested by Donald Trump, and neither affected the outcome, and now there’s no money left? Here's how to help make sure voters can get to the polls.
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- Joe Biden has nominated retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin for Secretary of Defense, making some Democrats uneasy—his appointment would require Congress to issue a waiver from a law that prohibits retired service members from serving in top civilian posts for at least seven years (Austin has been retired for a little over four years). Biden has published an essay in the Atlantic making a case for the waiver.
- Senate Republicans’ insistence on including a corporate liability shield in the next coronavirus stimulus package has become a major roadblock in negotiations, with Mitch McConnell unhelpfully offering to drop both liability protections and aid for state and local governments to move things along. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) have come out swinging for another round of stimulus checks, and the White House has agreed to support $600 checks, which should help everyone with their many thousands of dollars in rent debt.
- Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) assembled a colorful cast of medical conspiracy theorists for his vaccine hearing today, and they dutifully accused “organized medicine” of ignoring their alternative coronavirus treatments, like hydroxychloroquine.
- Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis has tested positive for coronavirus after attending a White House Christmas party on Friday. For those keeping score at home, the Trump elite strikeforce team has now racked up more coronavirus cases than wins in court.
- Judge Emmet Sullivan has dismissed Michael Flynn’s case, while expressing deep skepticism of the Justice Department’s reasons for abandoning it, and stressing that Trump’s pardon doesn’t mean Flynn is innocent.
- The House has passed the defense authorization bill with a veto-proof majority, in spite of Trump’s exhortations to Republicans to vote against it because it doesn’t include (checks notes) revenge on Twitter.
- The Arctic is transforming faster than any researchers predicted, by every possible metric. Also, 2020 is still on track to be the hottest year on record. Just a couple of nice additions to the ol’ 3:00 a.m. Thoughts file.
- Fourteen officers and soldiers at Fort Hood have been fired or suspended over a widespread pattern of violence at the base, and the Army has ordered policy changes to address chronic leadership failures.
- Rep. Louie Gohmert’s (R-TX) tooth fell out of his mouth during a press conference, in a video that will completely redefine the ol’ 4:00 a.m. Nightmares file.
- Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier, has died at age 97. Live fast, die old.
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The Trump administration is rushing to carry out federal executions before Biden takes office, and spreading coronavirus in the process. Eight executions have taken place since July and five more are scheduled, including that of Brandon Bernard, who’s in a desperate fight for clemency. (Five of the jurors who sentenced him 20 years ago have come forward to plead for a commutation.) Those executions have drawn hundreds of people into the viral hotspot of a federal prison in Terre Haute, IN, with the results you would imagine: According to a new ACLU lawsuit, a prison official admitted that after a November execution, eight of the 40 staffers involved tested positive for coronavirus. Lawyers and spiritual advisors have been infected during other executions. Biden has pledged to end the federal death penalty, but that won’t stop Trump from milking all the cruelty he can out of these last few weeks.
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Lyft has joined forces with 11 leading organizations, including NAACP, The National Urban League and Black Women’s Roundtable, to help eliminate transportation as a barrier to upward mobility for under-resourced Black communities.
There is an urgent need to support the individuals and communities who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Through the LyftUp Access Alliance, Lyft will provide access to 1.5 million donated/discounted rides over the next 5 years to help communities of color reach a powerful network of essential resources and services.
As part of our commitment, all LyftUp Community Grants will go toward local organizations directly supporting communities of color. These rides will help address the challenges faced in this moment of crisis, and ensure that we all emerge stronger and more empowered on the other side.
This is a LyftUp initiative, the company’s comprehensive effort to expand transportation access to those who need it most. Through LyftUp, Lyft partners with leading nonprofits to help provide access to free and discounted rides to individuals and families who lack affordable, reliable transportation.
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Joe Biden announced a plan for a coronavirus vaccine program to inoculate 50 million Americans in his first 100 days in office.
FDA regulators have confirmed that the Pfizer vaccine offers strong protection, another step towards authorization.
The U.K. has kicked off the first Western vaccine program with shots for 90-year-old Margaret Keenan and 81-year-old William Shakespeare, who some scholars think is actually several people.
On his first day in office, Los Angeles DA George Gascon announced an end to cash bail, the death penalty, and the practice of charging children as adults.
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