If former Attorney General Jeff Sessions – now running to regain a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama -- was hoping to reconcile with President Trump and gain his endorsement, that hope seemed to evaporate Friday night. The president once again backed Sessions’ opponent, former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville, in the Alabama GOP Senate primary runoff scheduled for July 14. “3
years ago, after Jeff Sessions recused himself, the Fraudulent Mueller
Scam began,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Alabama, do not trust Jeff
Sessions. He let our Country down. That’s why I endorsed Coach Tommy
Tuberville (@TTuberville), the true supporter of our #MAGA agenda!” The
president’s tweet included a link to Tuberville’s campaign-donation
site, and retweeted a Tuberville post from last Sunday, promoting his
campaign. Trump previously endorsed Tuberville in March, after Tuberville garnered the most votes in the state’s GOP Senate primary, AL.com reported.
But because Tuberville did not attract support from an outright
majority, he will face Sessions – the No. 2 finisher in March – in the
July runoff. The runoff was initially scheduled for March 31 but was rescheduled to July because of the coronavirus outbreak. Back in March, Sessions brushed off Trump’s decision to back his opponent. “Of
course, President Trump can endorse anyone he chooses for the U.S.
Senate election in Alabama," Sessions tweeted at the time. "But the
Constitution expressly empowers the people of Alabama, and only them, to
select their Senator. I intend to take my case directly to the people
of Alabama.”
President Trump's relationship with Jeff Sessions soured after Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation.
Later Friday, Sessions responded on Twitter to Trump's latest message. "Look,
I know your anger, but recusal was required by law," Sessions wrote. "I
did my duty & you're damn fortunate I did. It protected the rule of
law & resulted in your exoneration. Your personal feelings don't
dictate who Alabama picks as their senator, the people of Alabama do." In a separate message, Sessions also slammed Tuberville. "Tuberville's
a coward who is rightly too afraid to debate me," Sessions wrote. "He
says you're wrong on China & trade. He wants to bring in even more
foreign workers to take American jobs. That's not your agenda and it's
not mine or Alabama's. I know Alabama. Tuberville doesn't." Sessions,
73, represented Alabama in the U.S. Senate from 1997 to 2017 but
resigned when Trump appointed him U.S. attorney general. Sessions had
been one of the first high-profile Republicans to endorse Trump’s 2016
presidential campaign. But Sessions resigned as attorney general
in November 2018. His relationship with Trump soured after Sessions
recused himself from the Russia investigation, paving the way for the
appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller to lead a probe that
tormented Trump for two years. Sessions was ultimately succeeded
by William Barr, who became attorney general in February 2019. Matthew
Whitaker led the Justice Department on an interim basis between
Sessions’ departure and Barr taking office. The winner of the Sessions-Tuberville runoff will face Democratic incumbent Sen. Doug Jones.
CNN, which often dedicates wall-to-wall coverage for any latest controversy from President Trump, virtually avoided covering Joe Biden's "you ain't black" remarks Friday morning that sparked backlash throughout the day. The presumptive Democrat nominee sparked a firestorm on Friday during an interview with Charlamagne tha God on the radio show "The Breakfast Club" as he defended his record with the black community. “I tell you if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black,” Biden said. Later in the afternoon, Biden walked back those remarks during a conversation with black business leaders, stopping short of a full apology. "I've
never ever taken the African-American community for granted, had their
support ... I shouldn't have been such a wise guy. I shouldn't have been
so cavalier," Biden later said. "I don't take it for granted at all,
and no one, no one should have to vote for any party, based on their
race or religion or background." Still, Biden's remarks dominated
the conversation on social media with the hashtags #YouAintBlack and
#JoeBidenIsARacist trending on Twitter.
Fox
News and MSNBC covered the dust-up throughout the day. ABC News, CBS
News and NBC News all addressed the controversy on their evening
programs. However, CNN's lack of coverage throughout the day was called out by critics. "Fascinating
to watch how the left-leaning cable networks have covered Biden’s 'you
ain’t black' comment. MSNBC has discussed it nearly every hour... CNN
hasn’t mentioned it once," former CNN digital producer-turned-media
critic Steve Krakauer tweeted. George Washington University law
professor Jonathan Turley pointed out the "crickets" coming from CNN. In
the afternoon, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna
McDaniel called out the network for going hours without mentioning the
controversy. "It’s
been over 5 HOURS since Biden told Black people they 'ain’t black' if
they support @realDonaldTrump. How many times has CNN mentioned his
bigoted comment on air? ZERO. Unreal," McDaniel tweeted. She later slammed
the anti-Trump network for waiting until "12 hours" to mention Biden's
"bigoted remarks," tweeting, "We all know that if a Republican made a
similar comment, CNN would have reworked their entire day of programming
to feature 9-person panels condemning it. The bias is unbelievable." "When
you take into account how both MSNBC covered this repeatedly and Biden
decided to issue a mea culpa, you're left with no conceivable excuse for
CNN other than they did so on purpose," NewsBusters managing editor
Curtis Houck told Fox News. "Instead, they decided that trashing the
administration for allowing houses of worship to reopen and gleefully
touting negative hydroxychloroquine headlines were jobs one and two." Houck
continued: "CNN has their insane way of going about their
newsgathering, presentation and selection, but ignoring a story like
this for hours and hours reminds us that their demands that other news
organizations act like they do should not only be dismissed but laughed
out of the room." CNN
didn't offer a full on-air report of Biden's remarks until the end of
the 7 p.m. ET hour, when anchor Erin Burnett spoke with Charlamagne tha
God about the interview, making it the last major news network to report
on Biden's comments. It had articles published on the website earlier
in the day. Instead, the network spent much of the day offering
critical coverage of the Trump administration's handling of the
coronavirus outbreak. Jordan Chariton, co-founder of the progressive media outlet Status Coup, said CNN's lack of coverage of the controversy is because the network "has been in the tank for Biden for over a year." "They
dragged their feet on many stories related to him including him lying
on being arrested in apartheid South Africa on his way to meeting Nelson
Mandela," Chariton told Fox News. "Outlets like CNN are protectors of
the status quo and as such, they will always try and cover up bad
stories for candidates like Biden rather than cover and challenge him." This
isn't the first time CNN's on-air coverage has raised eyebrows. On
Thursday, CNN bizarrely spent over 100 minutes covering President
Trump's refusal to wear a mask at the Ford plant. Meanwhile, the network
spent just 15 minutes combined from Monday through Thursday covering
the growing nursing-home controversy plaguing Democrat New York Gov.
Andrew Cuomo. A
CNN insider told Fox News that while Trump should have worn the
mask, the network is putting an undue emphasis on "what's not
important." "I don't know why they focus on things like this when
there are certainly more important things to focus on," the network
source said. The insider knocked CNN, suggesting that if
Trump found the cure for the coronavirus without wearing a mask, him not
wearing the mask would become "the story" on the network. Cuomo
has largely gotten a pass from CNN, as the network has largely refrained
from airing critical coverage of the Democrat governor. On Wednesday,
he appeared for his 10th interview with his brother, "Cuomo Prime Time"
anchor Chris Cuomo. As in previous interviews, the CNN anchor made
no mention of the growing death toll in New York nursing homes. Yet, he
did manage to squeeze in some prop comedy, mocking the governor's
televised coronavirus test examination with overly-sized cotton swabs
while poking fun at the size of his nose. "CNN's
coverage of Andrew Cuomo has been consistent with much of the media:
focus on the glowing verbiage and ignore the catastrophic mishandling of
nursing homes that led to thousands of deaths,” Cornell Law School
professor and media critic William A. Jacobson told Fox News. “This
problem is compounded by a serious conflict of interest arising from
the relationship between Chris Cuomo, one of CNN's highest-profile news
personalities, and his brother the governor,” Jacobson added. “Chris
Cuomo should not be allowed to cover or comment on air about his
brother, and CNN should appoint someone to monitor and review coverage
of Andrew Cuomo to prevent this conflict of interest from bleeding over
to other news coverage.” Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean told "Tucker Carlson Tonight"
Thursday that Cuomo's failed nursing-home policy should be "one of the
biggest" stories of the year after both of her parents-in-law lost their
lives to the coronavirus. "I have not seen the coverage of this,"
an emotional Dean said. "Twenty percent of our lost loved ones are from
nursing homes ... because Governor Cuomo and several other
governors forced COVID-recovering patients into nursing homes." Dean,
who rarely comments on political issues, felt compelled to speak out
after watching Wednesday night's CNN interview between the two playful
Cuomo brothers. "The fact that I am seeing, last night, him
... making fun, inappropriate jokes and insensitive jokes, cruel jokes
... make no mistake," Dean said, "I am glad that Chris Cuomo has
recovered from COVID because he apparently did have it. And I'm glad
that their family is well, but my family is not well. And that is not
something to joke about." Fox News' Brian Flood, Yael Haron, Paul Steinhauser, Madeleine Rivera and Allie Raffa contributed to this report.
Some Democrats in Pennslyvania
are reportedly beginning to put some pressure on Gov. Tom Wolf about
the state’s reopening process two months after his office issued a
stay-at-home order. The Philadelphia Inquirer pointed to
a few recent instances where Democrats seemed eager to see bigger steps
in the state's reopening, including a letter from State. Sen. Maria
Collett that relayed some frustrations of residents in Montgomery
County. The Tuesday letter informed Wolf that many in her county
have seen little evidence that Wolf's administration “recognizes and
sympathizes with the added physical, emotional, and financial suffering
they are facing as a result of our prolonged stay-at-home conditions,
which you know.” Wolf has maintained that his top priority is
safety, but like other states, residents have suffered financially from
coronavirus guidelines. About 2 million Pennsylvania residents
have lost their jobs since mid-March. Food and milk giveaways draw long
lines. Some people have gone two months without money because of the
state’s problem-plagued online unemployment benefits portal. “We’re
making decisions based on the best information we have, and making the
best decisions we can, based on the best models that are always changing
and moving," Wolf said, according to PennLive.com.
The
state is reportedly taking a county-centric approach. The PennLive
report said 37 of the state’s 67 counties are in the yellow stage, which
essentially means caution and mitigation. Eighteen counties are red,
which means a stay-at-home order is in place. President Trump recently talked about the state’s lockdown and said Pennsylvanians “want their freedom now.” The
paper reported that Wolf’s response to the coronavirus has been praised
and “Democrats aren’t exactly defecting” but there is some pressure.
The paper reported that 16 Senate Democrats signed a letter recently for
the governor’s office to consider permitting non-“life-sustaining”
stores for curbside pickup. “The truth of the matter is we do need
to start thinking about getting people back to work," State Sen. Steve
Santarsiero, a Democrat, said. "I really think we’re getting very close
to that point. Curbside pickup is part of that question. I think that
would really help get things moving again.” Dr. Rachel Levine,
Wolf’s health secretary, said the Health Department will soon release
criteria for moving a county into the green phase of Wolf’s reopening
plan. “As
we release the metrics to go into the green zone, we’re also working on
what life in the green zone would (look) like, especially for
businesses, restaurants, etc.,” Levine said.
In a round table with the State Department Thursday, Attorney General William Barr emphasized the importance of the US beating China in the race for 5G telecommunications networks. “The
United States and our partners are in an urgent race against the
People’s Republic of China (PRC) to develop and build 5G infrastructure
around the world,” said Barr in a statement. 5G
is expected to change the way people live and work by supplying a
faster and more reliable internet connection - along with a host of
technological advances such self-driving cars, smart cities and remote
surgeries. “Our
national security and the flourishing of our liberal democratic values
here and around the world depend on our winning it,” Barr said Thursday.
“Future 5G networks will be a critical piece of global infrastructure,
the central nervous system of the global economy.” The race to achieving 5G first, is in developing infrastructure to allow 5G to work in the United States and allied countries. Security
officials warn that China may use the development of 5G and its
infrastructure to be able to spy on people more easily. “5G technology lies at the center of the technological and industrial world that is taking shape,” said Barr in a February speech addressing a conference on the security risks China poses. “In
essence, communications networks are not just for communications
anymore. They are evolving into the central nervous system of the next
generation of internet.” Barr noted that telecom giants like
Huawei are leading the 5G race, and currently account for 40 percent of
the global 5G infrastructure market. US
intelligence officials have also said that the equipment made by
Chinese telecom companies could possibly threaten national security. “If
the PRC [People’s Republic of China] wins the 5G race, the
geopolitical, economic, and national security consequences will be
staggering,” said Barr Thursday. Huawei is known to have built
equipment that preserves and shares private information to Chinese law
enforcement officials, through a process known as “lawful interception
interfaces.” US security officials believe this access could be shared
on a larger scale with the Chinese government and put US intelligence in
jeopardy. But
Barr said he believes the US could catch up with China’s 5G progress by
working “closely with trusted vendors to pursue practical and realistic
strategies.” We can win the race, but we must act now.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told "The Story with Martha MacCallum" Thursday that the Senate is "not quite ready to intelligently" lay out the next coronavirus stimulus package, but added "it's not too far off." "The
[CARES] Act, which passed a month or so ago on a bipartisan basis, only
about half of that money has gone out yet," McConnell said. "I think
there's a high likelihood we will do another rescue package, but we need
to be able to measure the impact of what we've already done, what we
did right, what we did wrong [and] correct that. "Let me tell you what it won't be," McConnell added. "It won't be a $3 trillion left-wing wish list as it passed the House." The
majority leader went on to say that lawmakers "need to work smart here,
help the people who are desperately in need, try to save as many jobs
as possible and begin to open up the states, which are decisions by the
governors that are going on all over America now and get this economy
growing again." With that in mind, McConnell said any new stimulus package would not include enhanced unemployment benefits. "The
problem was by paying people more not to work than to work, it's making
it difficult to get people back to work. You can understand that,"
McConnell told MacCallum. "We do need to continue unemployment
insurance, [it's] extremely important at a time like this. "But to
pay people more not to work than to work doesn't encourage resuming
your job. And that will end in July. And we think that in order to
create jobs, we need to incentivize people to go back to work, not
encourage them to stay home." The senator also reemphasized the need for businesses to receive liability protections in any future stimulus. "You're
going to have liability protection in there so that people, or the
plaintiffs' lawyers are prevented from stealing, in effect, all of this
public money we're sending down to hospitals and doctors and non-profits
as a result of the coronavirus," McConnell told MacCallum. "And so
that's one of our red lines, that the next bill will need to have
liability protection in there just to cover narrowly cover the
coronavirus, not anything else." McConnell
also responded to criticism that such liability provisions would
shield nursing homes and care facilities where coronavirus victims died
from legal action "Well, the answer is it wouldn't protect any
nursing home from from a gross negligence or intentional misbehavior
[claim]," McConnell said. "So it's not an absolute protection against
any kind of behavior. So those kinds of lawsuits would still lie."
President Trump blasted the attorney general of Michigan late Thursday after she said she was going to have a “very serious conversation” with Ford
Motor Co. for allowing the president to go without a mask during part
of a tour of the company's Rawsonville Components Plant in Ypsilanti. “The
Wacky Do Nothing Attorney General of Michigan, Dana Nessel, is
viciously threatening Ford Motor Company for the fact that I inspected a
Ventilator plant without a mask,” Trump tweeted after his tour. “Not
their fault, & I did put on a mask. No wonder many auto companies
left Michigan, until I came along!” Trump did wear a mask for part
of the tour of the plant that has been repurposed to make medical
supplies, but refused to put it on in front of reporters -- although at
least one photographer snapped a photo that was posted on social media.
It showed the president wearing a mask that included the presidential
seal.
President Trump holds his protective face mask as he speaks while
touring Ford's Rawsonville Components Plant that has been converted to
making personal protection and medical equipment, Thursday, May 21,
2020, in Ypsilanti, Mich. (Associated Press)
"I had one on before,” Trump told reporters during
the visit. “I wore one on in this back area. I didn't want to give the
press the pleasure of seeing it. In the back area I did have a mask on. I
had goggles and a mask right back there.” He
added it wasn’t necessary to wear a mask around reporters and Ford
representatives in the front of the plant because “Everybody's been
tested.” Nessel told CNN the state would be speaking to Ford about
allowing the president to go without a mask for the public portion of
the tour in what she said was a violation of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s
executive order requiring masks in enclosed public spaces. "They
knew exactly what the order was and if they permitted anyone, even the
president of the United States, to defy that order, I think it has
serious health consequences potentially to their workers,” Nessel told CNN. She
also said she was "ashamed" to have him as the president and she hoped
Micigan voters voters "will remember this when November comes, that he
didn't care enough about their safety, he didn't care about their
welfare, he didn't respect them enough just to engage in the very simple
task, the painless task, the easy task of wearing a mask when he was
provided one." Trump suggested in another tweet that Ford might leave Michigan if they’re held accountable for his actions. “Do
nothing A.G. of the Great State of Michigan, Dana Nessel, should not be
taking her anger and stupidity out on Ford Motor - they might get upset
with you and leave the state, like so many other companies have - until
I came along and brought business back to Michigan. JOBS!” he wrote. When
asked if it was true that it wasn’t required that the president wear a
mask, Ford’s CEO, Jim Hackett, told reporters, “It’s up to him.” In
a statement Thursday afternoon, the Ford Motor Company added: “Bill
Ford encouraged President Trump to wear a mask when he arrived. He wore a
mask during a private viewing of three Ford GTs from over the
years. The president later removed the mask for the remainder of the
visit.” Bill Ford, the great-grandson of Henry Ford, has been the
company’s executive chairman. Nessel later responded to Trump on Twitter, defending the state's auto industry. "Hi!
After struggling with our Gov & SOS, impressed you know my name,"
she wrote. "Seems like you have a problem with all 3 women who run MI-as
well as your ability to tell the truth. The auto industry has been
thriving for years bc of our incredible auto workers & companies." She
added that it was hard to say she's done nothing "with all the lawsuits
myself and the other @DemocraticAGs have filed and won against you."
White House press
secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Wednesday called out CNN’s Chris Cuomo
for taking a “less safe version" of hydroxychloroquine during his recent
bout with the coronavirus. "You had Chris Cuomo saying, ‘The
president knows that hydroxychloroquine is not supported by science. He
knows it has been flagged by his own people and he has been using it.’
Well, Cuomo mocked the president for this,” McEnany said. She
then compared hydroxychloroquine -- which President Trump recently said
he is taking to prevent catching the virus -- to the version that Cuomo
claims to be using. “Hydroxychloroquine, of course, is an
FDA-approved medication with a long-proven track record for safety," she
continued, "and it turns out that Chris Cuomo took a less safe version
of it called quinine which the FDA removed from the market in 2006
because of its serious side effects, including death. So, really
interesting to have that criticism of the president." Cuomo’s
wife, Christina Cuomo, recently addressed her husband's coronavirus
recovery, explaining he’s taking “potenized quinine,” which she called a
“natural antibiotic.” On Monday, President Trump told reporters
he has been using hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic against the
coronavirus for a little more than a week. Trump has been
extolling the potential benefits of hydroxychloroquine since the
beginning of the crisis, but medical experts and health officials have
debated how effective the anti-malaria drug is for either preventing or
treating the coronavirus.
Together
with the Nevada GOP, Republican National Committee (RNC) chairwoman
Ronna McDaniel on Wednesday demanded the state investigate what she
called a "shady" and potentially illegal "backroom deal" by local
politicians that would alter voting procedures ahead of the state's all
mail-in June 9 primary.
In a letter
to Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, McDaniel and the state party
charged that the Democratic-controlled Clark County Commission reached a
secretive agreement with state Democrats that could have violated the
state's open public meeting law. The RNC is specifically concerned that
"Democrat Party bosses are now forcing Nevada’s largest county to waste
over $300,000 of taxpayer money to mail ballots to all inactive voters." That break in normal protocol, Republicans warn, would greatly enhance the risk of fraud. The money would also effectively finance some "ballot harvesters," or operatives who can retrieve scores of ballots from individuals and turn them in. Some states, including Nevada, ordinarily prosecute ballot harvesters; others permit the practice to varying degrees. The
Clark County District Attorney’s Office, on behalf of the Clark County
Registrar of Voters, has filed a joinder that states: “At the direction
of local county officials, the Clark County Registrar of Voters is
setting up two additional election day voting sites and will mail absent
ballots to all registered voters, including inactive voters, at
additional expense.” The new rules came just 48 hours before a trial was set to begin in a lawsuit filed
by state Democrats against the Nevada secretary of state, which the RNC
was contesting as an intervening party. As part of the lawsuit,
Democrats demanded the suspension of provisions of Nevada law that enhance ballot verification. Marc
Elias, an ex-Hillary Clinton lawyer representing Nevada Democrats,
specifically called for Nevada to stop throwing out ballots when
signatures on voters' ballots appear different from those on voters'
registrations, saying "lay election officials have never had the
necessary expertise" to make an accurate determination. Elias also
demanded that Nevada "require mail-in ballots be sent to all registered
voters in Nevada, not just those in an active status." Elias said that
state election law doesn't distinguish between the two categories of
voters. Further, Elias pushed for the state to suspend prosecutions for
ballot harvesting, ostensibly for safety reasons during the pandemic.
Using
some detective work, the RNC assessed that Nevada Democrats have
already implemented some of those measures without disclosing them to
the public.
Voters masked against coronavirus line up at Riverside High School
for Wisconsin's primary election Tuesday April 7, 2020, in Milwaukee.
The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people,
but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health
problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Morry
Gash)
"Some unspecified Clark County officials voluntarily
decided after the suit was filed on April 16—but before the joinder was
filed on May 4—to yield to part of the plaintiffs’ demands," the RNC
wrote to Ford. "Yet between those two dates, the only advertised County
Commission meeting where commissioners could have discussed those
decisions occurred on Tuesday, April 21, 2020. And the agenda for that meeting
provides no evidence that the commissioners addressed issues of
additional in-person voting places or mail-in ballots during it." "We
respectfully ask you to investigate under NRS 241.039 whether the Clark
County Commissioners violated Nevada’s open public meeting law when
they decided, behind closed doors, to capitulate to the plaintiffs’
demands," the RNC added. "The Clark County Commission took costly,
substantial action regarding the June primary without notifying,
broadcasting, or allowing citizens to provide their input. To be
complete, your investigation should examine not only which unidentified
county officials made the decision referred to in Clark County’s
joinder, but also when they made that decision, and whether they
consulted with outside groups before doing so." The RNC
continued:" No doubt the governmental defendants in that case—including
your office—exchanged emails throughout the weekend before Clark County
filed its May 4 joinder. Some of those emails very likely disclose at
least in part how Clark County’s decision unfolded. But whether focused
on those emails or not, time is of the essence; actions taken in
violation of the public meeting law are void, NRS 241.036, yet the
primary is scheduled for June 9." The furtive move to mail out more ballots was particularly troubling, the RNC said, citing a Fox News report that thousands of ballots have
been sent out by the Clark County Election Department to inactive
voters – those who have not voted in recent elections, a roster that can
include people who either have moved or are deceased – and the
envelopes are piling up in post office trays, outside apartment
complexes and on community bulletin boards in and around Las Vegas. HOW BALLOT HARVESTING HELPED DEMS ROUT GOP IN CALIFORNIA The
excess ballots have drawn complaints from local residents who worry
that anyone could pick up a ballot off the street and cast a fraudulent
vote, as well as from Republican Party officials in the state who see a
nefarious motive behind the vote-by-mail system being employed by the
Democrat-dominated Clark County Commission.
“What’s
going to happen with these things, they’re not secured at all and there
are thousands of them just sitting here,” Jenny Trobiani, a postal
worker in Clark County, told Fox News that she has seen hundreds
of ballots being mailed to inactive voters. “This just seems fraudulent
to me, something stinks here." Republicans have argued that many states fail to adequately clean up their voter rolls. Last year, California was forced to remove 1.5 million ineligible voters after a court settlement last year when California's rolls showed a registration of 112 percent. "The
Clark County commissioners’ decision to capitulate behind closed doors
is bad enough, but that harm is compounded by the significant monetary
costs of these secret changes," the RNC argued. "Ms. Lorena Portillo,
Assistant Registrar of Voters of Clark County, affirmed in an affidavit
that the cost for additional printers to be delivered and programed will
be $138,997.50; the cost for mailing the additional ballots will be
$184,738.01; and that '[b]ased on past experience, at least 90% of
those' additional ballots 'will come back as undeliverable.' In other
words, the additional costs Clark County taxpayers will incur based on
the direction that Mr. Gloria received from unnamed county officials
exceeds $300,000, with more than $166,000 to be spent on mailings that
even county officials expect will not reach their intended recipient." The
RNC has taken aggressive steps to combat what it sees as an increasing
risk of election fraud. Earlier this month, the RNC launched ProtecttheVote.com,
a digital platform that the GOP says is part of its all-hands-on-deck
effort to "protect against the Democrats' assault on our elections" as
progressives push for sweeping changes, including vote-by-mail and more
ballot harvesting, amid the coronavirus pandemic. The launch comes after the RNC and Trump campaign doubled their legal budget to $20 million after an initial commitment of
$10 million in February, saying they wanted to "fight frivolous
Democrat lawsuits and uphold the integrity of the elections process." “In
battleground states across the country, Democrats are using the
coronavirus as an excuse to push through their long-sought partisan
agenda, but we are fighting back to protect the vote," RNC Chairwoman
Ronna McDaniel said in a statement to Fox News. "The RNC will stop at
nothing to ensure the integrity of our elections is upheld in the face
of Democrats’ brazen assaults. Americans deserve to have confidence in
their elections, and we will not stand idly by while Democrats try to
sue their way to victory in November.”
That
was a message echoed by President Trump in a tweet last month: "GET RID
OF BALLOT HARVESTING, IT IS RAMPANT WITH FRAUD. THE USA MUST HAVE VOTER
I.D., THE ONLY WAY TO GET AN HONEST COUNT!"
