Scott Gurvey

(January 5 – U.S.D.C. Court)

They are battening down the hatches at the White House. But before we get to that, we have another extraordinary court decision to contemplate.

Yesterday the United States District Court for the District of Columbia denied still another request for an injunction seeking to stop Congress from counting the Electoral College ballots declaring Joe Biden the 46th President when it meets tomorrow. The opinion handed down by Judge James E. Boasberg pulls no punches in describing the scope of the plaintiffs’ complaint:

Plaintiffs’ aims in this election challenge are bold indeed: they ask this Court to declare unconstitutional several decades-old federal statutes governing the appointment of electors and the counting of electoral votes for President of the United States; to invalidate multiple state statutes regulating the certification of Presidential votes; to ignore certain Supreme Court decisions; and, the coup de grace, to enjoin the U.S. Congress from counting the electoral votes on January 6, 2021, and declaring Joseph R. Biden the next President.

Judge Boasberg calls the lawsuit “risible.” I had to look that up. It means “such as to provoke laughter.” Unfortunately it is no laughing matter. Donald Trump and his supporters have filed more than sixty lawsuits seeking to overturn the will of voters and have failed every single time. Boasberg writes the lawsuit “rests on a fundamental and obvious misreading of the Constitution” and that plaintiffs do not have standing to bring the case. He also notes they made “no effort to even serve their adversaries” with their complaint even when promoted to do so by the court.

Unlike many of the other judges who have faced these lawsuits, Boasberg appears to be ready to take the repeated filing of frivolous actions seriously. He concludes:

Courts are not instruments through which parties engage in such gamesmanship or symbolic political gestures. As a result, at the conclusion of this litigation, the Court will determine whether to issue an order to show cause why this matter should not be referred to its Committee on Grievances for potential discipline of Plaintiffs’ counsel.

That discipline could mean fines, suspensions or even disbarment. It is about time.

Georgia

All eyes today are on Georgia, where people are voting to fill two seats in the United States Senate. Victory for the Democrats would give them control of the Senate and knock Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, off the perch from which he has dictated Senate activities for years and blocked progressive legislation passed by the House. If the Republicans win even one seat, McConnell will continue his mission by making life hell for Joe Biden. And stopping any kind of legislation which might help ease the suffering of the average American.

And then there is tomorrow….

Preparations are being made at Trump campaign headquarters, a.k.a., the White House, for another rally tomorrow mostly at taxpayer expense. Starting at 11am Trump is hoping a large number of delusional people will gather to proclaim Trump the winner of a second term while at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue members of Congress will be counting the votes of the Electoral College that make Joe Biden our next President.

Trump has been encouraging his gun toting white supremacist supporters to come to Washington and march. There are significant fears of violence in the nation’s Capitol. The national guard has been called up and D.C. residents have been warned by their government to stay away from the federal center. This situation is nothing less than a national disgrace.

Congress could be meeting all day, well into the night and perhaps into Thursday as Trump loyalists in both houses insist on debating the validity of the Electoral College votes, all properly certified as required by the Constitution and by laws enacted by the fifty states and the District of Columbia.

More vocal critics accuse the Republicans of treason. I just see them making fools of themselves. They range from Josh Hawley of Missouri, a young, ambitious and in-over-his-head politician hoping to win the favor of the Trumpies for future exploits. To Ted Cruz of Texas, the self-proclaimed constitutional law expert who appears to me to be thinking of some other constitution, maybe in some other country. A special mention is earned by Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia. The never elected Loeffler, facing the voters in today’s balloting, waited until last night to announce she will oppose some of the electoral votes in tomorrow’s session. That seems to make for a strange campaign slogan, “Vote for me today Georgia and I’ll vote to disenfranchise you tomorrow.” Think Georgians. Think!

Links to previous entries in this series….

Day One.

Day Two.

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