AG knocks down Trump’s coup hopes for the second time

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Our holiday celebrations this year are more poignant, but no less spirited, as this momentous year draws to a close. And that is as it should be. In this season of hope, it's important that we celebrate the blessings of the past year, even amid our losses, and look ahead to better times. In 2020, we worked together in our communities to fight both COVID-19 and social injustice. We gained a heightened awareness of inequities in our society, and developed a newfound appreciation for essential workers. We adapted to radical change while also voting in record numbers to save our democracy. In short, the majority of Americans displayed resilience and solidarity through profound tragedy, as we have so many times in our history. I’m grateful for that, and it's why I'm hopeful for a brighter 2021. —Evan McMullin

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** Stop the Flynnsanity
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At the White House on Friday, President Trump held what may have been his most deranged meeting yet. In it, the president reportedly raged at loyalists for betraying him, and discussed taking extralegal measures to overturn the presidential election he recently lost (and lost and lost...). The meeting included lawyer and conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell, former National Security Advisor (and convicted felon) Michael Flynn, and Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani. In a sign of just how crazy it was, Giuliani served as the de facto voice of reason. ([link removed])
* — Next moves? With their options for overturning the election narrowing, Trump reportedly brought up a proposal Flynn has floated on cable news—to impose martial law and direct the military to hold a new election. The group also discussed a plan in which Trump would appoint Powell as a "special counsel" overseeing allegations of voter fraud. Powell has been widely criticized for her fantastical voter fraud claims. —New York Magazine ([link removed])
*
* — Sorry, Sidney. Outgoing Attorney General Bill Barr says he will not appoint a special counsel on potential election fraud. At his final press conference today as AG, Barr also said there is no reason to appoint a special counsel to investigate President-elect Joe Biden's son Hunter's financial dealings, as the case is already "being handled responsibly and professionally." —Associated Press ([link removed])
*
* — Still not done with SCOTUS. Despite a distinct lack of success in the courts to overturn the results of the election, the Trump campaign announced yesterday that it has filed a new petition with the U.S. Supreme Court. The petition seeks to reverse a trio of Pennsylvania Supreme Court cases related to mail-in ballots and asks the court to reject voters' will and allow the Pennsylvania General Assembly to pick its own slate of electors. —Politico ([link removed])

MORE: Trump's impeachment foretold everything that's happened since —CNN ([link removed])


** Levine: What's next for voting rights?
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"If Democrats do take full control [of Congress], they are likely to move sweeping voting reforms, including requiring automatic voter registration across the country and restoring the full protections of the Voting Rights Act. But if Democrats fail to retake the Senate, Biden will be more limited in what he can do to fix voting rights. The U.S. Constitution gives the president almost no power over elections, instead entrusting that authority to state legislatures and Congress. Nonetheless, there are a few key areas where Biden could act unilaterally." —Sam Levine in ([link removed]) The Guardian ([link removed])

Sam Levine is a voting rights reporter at
The Guardian US.

MORE: Voting in the U.S. got easier in 2020. Will changes remain in next election? —The Wall Street Journal ([link removed])


** Finally some relief from Congress
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Congressional leaders yesterday finally reached a hard-fought agreement on a $900 billion stimulus package that will send immediate aid to Americans and businesses to help them cope with the economic devastation of the pandemic and fund the distribution of vaccines. The deal delivers the first significant infusion of federal dollars into the economy since April, as negotiators broke through months of partisan gridlock that had scuttled earlier talks, leaving millions of Americans and businesses without federal help as the pandemic raged. While the plan is roughly half the size of the $2.2 trillion stimulus law enacted in March, it remains one of the largest relief packages in modern history. It's about time. —The New York Times ([link removed])
* — Shhhhh! A new investigation reveals that White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows worked to hide when members of the White House staff had positive coronavirus tests. He attempted to hide his own diagnosis and told at least one other member of the White House team to keep quiet about being Covid-positive. Meadows also threatened to fire doctors from the White House Medical Unit if they reported information about growing numbers of coronavirus cases. —The Daily Beast ([link removed])
*
* — New strain hits UK. A new, more transmissible variant of the coronavirus has prompted tighter restrictions in the UK, just ahead of the Christmas holiday. It's not clear whether the strain has made its way to the U.S. yet. However, even if it does become more widespread, Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser for the government's vaccine acceleration program, says the vaccines that are now rolling out will provide protection against it. —Bloomberg ([link removed])
*
* — Meanwhile in China... Wuhan, the original epicenter of the coronavirus, may have largely returned to normal life, but a tranche of secret Chinese government documents reveals what it was really like there in the early days of the pandemic. It may never be clear whether a freer flow of information from China would have prevented the global health calamity that ensued, but Chinese officials tried to steer the narrative not only to prevent panic and debunk falsehoods, but also to make the virus look less severe—and authorities more capable. —ProPublica ([link removed])


** Newland: DOJ lawyers like me were complicit
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"If, early on, the Justice Department lawyers charged with selling the administration's lies had emptied the ranks—withholding our talents and reputations and demanding the same of our professional peers—the work of defending President Trump's policies would have been left to the types of attorneys now representing his campaign. Lawyers like Mr. Giuliani would have had to defend the Muslim ban in court. Had that happened, judges would have likely dismantled the Trump facade from the beginning, stopping the momentum of his ugliest and most destructive efforts and bringing much-needed accountability early in his presidency." —Erica Newland in The New York Times ([link removed])

Erica Newland, counsel at Protect Democracy, worked in the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department from 2016-18.
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** Gokhale: China gnaws at democracy's roots
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"While democracies dither, China is silently undermining the roots of democracy throughout the world like a river systematically erodes the bank—until even the mightiest tree must fall. The Chinese authorities are fond of saying that they do not play zero-sum games, but Xi Jinping's self-declared historical mission for China to become the world's leading power by 2049 will remain incomplete unless its model supplants democracy as the leading idea in this century. Democracies can no longer afford to rest on their laurels." —Vijay Gokhale in ([link removed]) Foreign Policy ([link removed])

Vijay Gokhale is a former foreign secretary of India and Indian ambassador to China.

MORE: Federal prosecutors accuse Zoom executive of working with Chinese government to surveil users and suppress video calls —The Washington Post ([link removed])


** Trump's Russia 'blind spot'
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In the understatement of the year, Sen. Mitt Romney said yesterday that President Trump has a "blind spot" when it comes to dealing with Russia. Romney was discussing Trump's response to the massive cyberattack on federal agencies that U.S. officials have widely attributed to Russia. It's just the latest example of Trump's deference to Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. ([link removed])
* — Officials had drafted a statement to be released Friday formally accusing Moscow of carrying out the cyber intrusions in a months-long campaign, but they were blocked from doing so by the White House. The statement would have echoed a statement made by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that "we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity." ([link removed])
*
* — In a Twitter outburst on Saturday, Trump contradicted Pompeo, seeking to turn blame away from Moscow and suggesting that the true culprit "may be China (it may!)" He also downplayed the hack itself, tweeting, "The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality. I have been fully briefed and everything is well under control." ([link removed])
*
* — Trump has repeatedly trusted the word of Putin over the assessments of U.S. intelligence agencies, including their conclusion that Russia waged a sophisticated campaign to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. He also failed to take punitive action against Russia for offering bounties to Taliban operatives for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan. —The Washington Post ([link removed])

MORE: Keep up the good work, Putin tells spy agency staff —Reuters ([link removed])


** Harden: Championing democracy again
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"[D]emocracy has been on its heels for the past four years. The Biden Administration should go big, with a long-term strategic vision of democratic power. An activist D20 would sharpen the distinction between political and economic models—and offer the world a choice between democratic, free-market nation states versus the Chinese or Russian models of autocracy and nationalized economies. With U.S. leadership, this collective of democratic states could project influential power and shape the global future while protecting the homeland for generations." —R. David Harden in The Hill ([link removed])

R. David Harden is managing director of the Georgetown Strategy Group and former assistant administrator at USAID's Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance.

MORE: Scot Lehigh: Beware of authoritarianism and conspiratorialism, twin threats to our democracy —The Boston Globe ([link removed])
"Mitt is being kind. The president doesn't have 'a blind spot when it comes to Russia. 'The president has uncommon clarity when it comes to Putin's Russia. With eyes wide open, Trump is pro-Putin." —Bill Kristol, conservative political analyst and editor-at-large of The xxxxxx (@BillKristol)

In recent days I've seen Evan McMullin, Bill Kristol, and other leading lights of NeverTrump conservatives suggest that the Republican Party may be beyond saving and that it's time to consider the formation of a new conservative-centrist party.

I actually came to this conclusion four years ago. The Republican Party structure and brand is corrupted beyond salvaging. It may seem unthinkable to some to consider an America with more than two major parties, or where the GOP has been replaced by something else. But history tells us that this isn't unthinkable at all. In fact, the Republican Party was born from the death of the Whig Party in the mid-19th century. The parallels are remarkable. The Whigs went with a candidate, Zachary Taylor, who was long on populist appeal and short on principles consistent with their platform...and within a few years, they had imploded as a party. Republicans took up the anti-slavery mantle just in time to elect Abraham Lincoln.

Our current two-party system has had a good long run, but nothing lasts forever. Change is not only possible, it's inevitable. —Vivian B., Texas
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** The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.
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