"Thou shall not bear false witness."
Exodus 20:19 and Deuteronomy 5:20
State governments are holding fake electors to account.
A grand jury in Arizona joined Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, and Georgia in indicting the people who swore falsely that they were "duly elected and qualified Electors for President and Vice President of the United States from the State of Arizona." The indictment.
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| Arizona AG Kris Mayes |
My lawyer-friends have given me casual advice over the decades: Never create a false document. This wasn't moral or spiritual advice. It was legal advice. The document is there, on paper, mute, permanent, and available for close examination. It is what it is. Don't sign something false. It will haunt you, they warned.
The 11 people who gathered in Phoenix were not "duly elected." The presidential votes had been counted. Arizona courts had reviewed multiple claims of fraud and error and found nothing of consequence. Arizona's Republican governor certified that Biden had won the popular vote and therefore the election.
A grand jury indicted them on four counts of conspiracy, fraud, and forgery. The indictment described a multi-state plan to allow Vice President Pence to consider two slates of supposedly equally valid ballots. He might discard both slates, and that would throw the election to the House of Representatives, where Trump would win.
The plan required Republican partisans in seven battleground states to sign a certificate of election asserting they were "duly elected." Electors in five of the seven states did so, Arizona's among them. Electors in two states, Pennsylvania and New Mexico, resisted and insisted on inserting language that said their election was contingent on courts, in fact, finding them to be duly elected. Electors in those two states are not in trouble.
The fake-elector scheme hinged on the willingness of citizens to sign their names on a document asserting something untrue. Their being "duly elected" was an aspiration, something almost true. But it wasn't true.
There is a vibe in the current moment and zeitgeist that says that elections don't count. Someone painted that in front of the Jackson County elections office right after the 2020 election.
Trump asserts that cheating is the national norm, that elections past and in the future have been and will be rigged, so cheat first. Assert victory and stick to that. That norm is dangerous for a republic. A republic needs norms and expectations that rules and laws are enforced and that good people -- people worthy of public trust -- obey the law and would be ashamed to be caught in a lie.
I am happy that the people who signed their names to false election documents are in serious trouble. I expect it will deter to others.
Heads up:
This blog post is a prelude to what I expect will be subsequent posts on telling the truth in the Oregon Voters Pamphlet. It is morally wrong to mislead voters about one's qualifications for office. But there is one place where it is also illegal to do so, the top section of the Voters Pamphlet statement describing education and occupation. Here is the warning to candidates preparing their Oregon Voters Pamphlet candidate statement, page 10:
5 comments:
Consequences for the liars, but the liar in chief remains free of consequences so far. It will take an election for that to happen. Oh well, at least some are being held accountable.
I think the messages for psychologists in prison leading groups is- unless your really rich, you will be held accountable for fraud.
“There is a vibe in the current moment and zeitgeist that says that elections don't count. Someone painted that in front of the Jackson County elections office right after the 2020 election.”
As the pictures show, what someone actually painted on the parking lot in huge white letters was:
“VOTE DON'T WORK
NEXT TIME BULLETS.”
That pretty much epitomizes what the Republican Party has degenerated into under Trump. He has normalized violence and threats of violence when they don't get their way. It's the opposite of what The United States is supposed to stand for.
Surely I'm not the only person reading this Blog who remembers Wes Cooley, who disregarded the warnings about lying about ones qualifications, and got caught, suffering consequences, IMHO, which were not nearly harsh enough, much like the rioters of January 6 getting their taps on the wrist for dong their best to tear down our Government.
They must not have that law in NY where Santos was elected. Oh wait, that’s right… 36 counts so far of lying, fraud, stealing…. But he’s not claiming immunity, and it didn’t keep him from running again. We’ve lost our collective moral compass.
And Cooley's lie was about military service.
Or as TFG calls them, suckers.
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