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7 hours ago, Nebraska said:

laura ingraham tracks down a poll worker with recipts of voter fraud. let's see libs try and dispute these (hidden) facts
 

 


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Barr isn’t just humoring Trump. He’s weaponizing law enforcement.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/11/12/barr-memo-trump-campaign/

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Attorney General William P. Barr issued a new policy Monday addressing opening investigations of the election. Despite its conspicuous timing — just days into President Trump’s attempt to bluff past the fact that he lost to Joe Biden — several commentators have said there’s nothing to fear from Barr’s new policy. This internal Justice Department memo, they say, is supposedly designed to placate Trump by creating the appearance that the department is doing something to cast doubt on the election results; it signifies nothing more.

An examination of the document shows that Barr has taken extraordinary steps to unleash powers within the Justice Department that permit far more than appeasement of the president with empty gestures. Barr is, once again, mixing politics and Justice Department policy, permitting the department to be weaponized to try to overturn the results of this election. The effects of this new policy could be realized within days. Indeed, Barr states in the memo that he has already authorized election investigations. Watch out for announcements (or leaks) of federal inquests that appear to provide a veneer of substance to bolster Trump and his attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani’s empty allegations calling into question the rightful outcome of the election.

The Barr memo contains three revealing elements, each of which lowers the threshold for instituting an improper political investigation.

First, Barr changes the timing and goal of an election investigation by the department. Prior Justice Department policy forswore seeking to reopen an election after it ended, and thus called for only covert investigative steps so as not to interfere with voting or the counting and certification process. Except when there was reason to think records might be destroyed corruptly or to further an ongoing scheme, the department was to avoid overt steps until “the election to which they pertain had been certified and the time for contesting the election results had expired.”

But Barr has changed the very goal of these investigations, explicitly authorizing actions before certifications, labeling the previous approach as “passive” and “delayed,” such that federal agents could not realistically “rectify” an election. Such rectification has not previously been a goal of federal enforcement by the elections branch. Yet now, Barr cryptically notes that he has already authorized such investigations.

Second, Barr lowers the threshold for opening an investigation, noting that even mere “irregularities” can be investigated — as opposed to only potential crimes. Shockingly, nowhere does he say that the allegations must rise to a criminal level. Until Monday, long-standing policy has explicitly held that noncriminal irregularities must be redressed through other means, such as recounts, educational programs, disciplinary actions and private lawsuits, most of which the federal government would have played no part in. But conveniently, as Trump pursues evidence-free claims of irregularities, Barr conspicuously fails to note a criminal threshold that prosecutors should be using to assess the propriety of pursuing cases. Now all the evidence needed is allegations that aren’t “specious, speculative, fanciful, or far-fetched” — bald adjectives that set a low bar that can be easily manipulated to justify opening an investigation.

Third, Barr takes pains to underscore the “inherent authority” of each of the 93 U.S. attorneys throughout the country to decide whether to open an investigation “as they deem appropriate,” without approval from the attorney general or the Justice Department’s career Public Integrity Section personnel in Washington. This approach, permitting disparate decision-making and evaluations, is in striking contrast with Barr’s approach to investigations involving political campaigns (which now require his approval) or any investigation involving Russian interference (which also requires central oversight and approval). One might think a responsible attorney general would seek greater oversight over the gatekeepers to such investigations, but this memo does the opposite, allowing many Trump appointees to make their own decisions on highly sensitive investigations throughout the country.

Some have tried to calm public anxiety by noting that the Justice Department could not conclude such investigations before states certify their elections in the weeks ahead. But that misses the point: The sum of these three parts is not intended to provide for a completed genuine or rigorous investigation. Barr’s new policy allows the Justice Department to lend credibility to false claims of election fraud by opening “preliminary inquiries” into such allegations in the coming days. Indeed, the memo encourages prosecutors to take this step: “It will likely be prudent to commence any election-related matters as a preliminary inquiry, so as to assess whether available evidence warrants further investigative steps,” Barr instructed his subordinates.

The predictable result is the launch of several Justice Department inquiries into allegations of “irregularities” with the electoral results that will, only months afterward and far too late, be proved false. Before the meritless nature of the investigations are discovered, the goal of the new policy can be achieved. The short-term effect may very well bolster the Trump campaign’s efforts to stop state election officials from certifying results, so as to encourage state legislators to select electors for Trump despite a Biden win, and more generally to cast doubt on the legitimacy of Biden’s victory in the mind of the unsuspecting public.

This isn’t a new tactic. Barr has engaged in manufacturing provable lies before — the type that “often takes time to uncover, and by that point, Barr may already have succeeded in his goal.”

It is no wonder that the top Justice Department official who oversees investigations of voter fraud, Richard Pilger, resigned Monday night after, in his words, “having familiarized myself with the new policy and its ramifications.” He would presumably not have done so or said so if the new policy was just in the realm of theatrics rather than a real and present threat.

Propaganda experts describe a disinformation strategy of releasing “a firehose of falsehood,” which the Barr policy appears designed to do. Those same experts advise providing the targets of disinformation with “raincoats” in advance. Here that means journalists covering the election and the public as well should know what to expect from Barr’s devious strategy. Barr, in explaining his disagreement with then-FBI Director James B. Comey’s 2016 conduct, testified during his confirmation hearing that federal law enforcement authorities should not take actions that could sway an election, since the incumbent party has its hands on the “levers of the law enforcement apparatus.” Now he has done just that, and in a systemic and deliberate way that is far worse than the rogue behavior Comey undertook. The next attorney general should revoke this policy, but in the meantime career officials must uphold their oaths of office not to undertake matters for political aims.

 

Edited by very honest
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speaking of weaponizing, could this be the year we see a president launch a nuclear strike against his own country? wouldn't put it past the donald to threaten California, Oregon, or any other blue state with nukes. 

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Corey Lewandowski, a senior adviser to President Trump's reelection campaign, has tested positive for the coronavirus, a source familiar with the matter confirmed on Thursday.


https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/525681-trump-campaign-adviser-corey-lewandowski-tests-positive-for

hopefully they use some of that donated money for legal fees to help with Corey's medical bills. keep the dough rolling in

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Catching up on some news: Looks like some votes will probably get thrown out in PA because the legislature pushed back the date they'd accept mail in ballots but did not push back the date that ballots could be cured for lack of ID verification. That second date got pushed back by a commissioner. If it goes to supreme court it'll probably be sustained since the US Constitution says only state legislatures can make the changes to the ways elections run in the state. I'm not a lawyer so who knows. It sounds like it won't be a lot of ballots though.

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1 minute ago, hijexx said:

Catching up on some news: Looks like some votes will probably get thrown out in PA because the legislature pushed back the date they'd accept mail in ballots but did not push back the date that ballots could be cured for lack of ID verification. That second date got pushed back by a commissioner. If it goes to supreme court it'll probably be sustained since the US Constitution says only state legislatures can make the changes to the ways elections run in the state. I'm not a lawyer so who knows. It sounds like it won't be a lot of ballots though.

Those ballots have already been separated and did not count toward the EC-tipping tally, so they're basically inconsequential.

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Oh yeah that's right, not even in the count at the moment anyway.

Trump seems to be wasting everyone's time over all this. I mean I think if there was actual fraud sure I'd want to know about it and investigate it even if it went in his favor but there just doesn't seem to be any evidence that's the case.

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Just now, hijexx said:

Trump seems to be wasting everyone's time over all this.

Unfortunately, I think that's a keystone of Barr's play here. I haven't totally wrapped my head around it, but it seems to be the lawsuit equivalent of filibustering.

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1 hour ago, Goiter Sanchez said:

I'm out of verbal tactics in which to classify this level of stupidity.

Hold fast, everyone. There's dumbassery afoot!

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18 minutes ago, Rubin Farr said:

I thought this administration would end up being an Oliver Stone movie, but now it looks more like an Uwe Boll film.

:sorcerer:

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tbh i'd love to see what kind of society trump and his cavemen/-women following would come up with on a desolate island. like what happens once their smartphone batteries run out? how would they be able to keep up their contrarian identities? would god provide for their big tech needs? imagine it'd kinda be like lord of the flies meets idiocracy.

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trump's alleged plan as many people suspect.. it's becoming the dominant narrative

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Trump wants to start a digital media channel to take revenge on Fox News and usurp its audience when he leaves office, report says

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-planning-media-channel-rival-fox-news-axios-2020-11?utm_source=reddit.com

and i guess all the people who wrote this report will have to look for new jobs. lolz. 

https://www.axios.com/cisa-election-security-trump-a385868b-512a-4449-addd-4591829a4aef.html

Quote

Department of Homeland Security calls election "the most secure in American history"

 

Edited by ignatius
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5 hours ago, jaderpansen said:

tbh i'd love to see what kind of society trump and his cavemen/-women following would come up with on a desolate island. like what happens once their smartphone batteries run out? how would they be able to keep up their contrarian identities? would god provide for their big tech needs? imagine it'd kinda be like lord of the flies meets idiocracy.

Most of the island would be his golf course. And he would give his "followers" a small section of the island, probably the most useless part of the island. He would have also made up a narrative meant to stop anyone from leaving the island... an Alien invasion (of Mexicans) (Think 10 Cloverfield Lane).

Then he would prime his base and convince them that the white race must rebuild here, and finally... he would be able date his daughter Ivanka at last, telling her that it's up to them to save the aryan white race!

Turns out the events that led him and his base to the island was just Trump wanting an excuse to finally be with his true love.

 

Edited by Brisbot
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