The New York Times - USA (2020-12-01)

A20 N THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONALTUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2020

Transition in WashingtonThe President's Quest

one of the G.O.P. Senate candi-
dates, and a former Republican
leader of the Georgia Senate. “At
some point he either drops it or he
says I want everybody to vote and
get their friends to vote so that the
margins are so large that they
can’t steal it.”
The split signifies both an ex-
traordinary dispute over election
integrity within the Republican
Party and a preview of the control
the president may continue to ex-
ert over the conservative base
even after he leaves office. As Mr.
Trump talks seriously about the
possibility of mounting another
bid for the White House in 2024,
his personal goals may not always
align with those of his party — no
matter the political stakes.
“I had someone message me
just last week saying: ‘Nope, I’m
done. Can’t trust the election.
Never voting again,’ ” said Buzz
Brockway, a former Republican
state representative. “The presi-
dent has a very dedicated group of
supporters who don’t really sup-
port the broader Republican Party
— they support him.”
Mr. Trump, who earned about
12,700 fewer votes than Joseph R.
Biden Jr. in Georgia, has re-
quested a machine recount, which
is underway. A hand recount of all
five million ballots found a few
thousand uncounted ballots that
slightly reduced Mr. Biden’s lead.
Already, a handful of Trump al-
lies, citing fears of fraud, are urg-
ing supporters to boycott the Sen-
ate elections or write in the presi-
dent’s name — an option not pro-
vided on the Georgia ballot in
runoffs.
L. Lin Wood, a conservative
Georgia lawyer and a Trump ally,
is advising conservatives not to
vote in the runoff elections, tweet-
ing on Sunday that he won’t vote
in “another fraudulent election
with rigged voting machines &
fake mail ballots.” Mr. Wood sued
unsuccessfully to stop the state’s
election certification and is now
appealing for an injunction to stop
the Jan. 5 runoff contests.
While that remains a fringe po-
sition, some Republican strat-
egists and officials worry that the
argument for not voting could
gain traction if the president con-
tinues his attacks.
In Marietta, Ga., this weekend,
Republican voters questioned
Ronna McDaniel, the national
party chairwoman, about why
they should invest “money and
time” in a runoff election that
some see as already rigged
against them.
“It’s not decided. This is the key
— it’s not decided,” she pleaded
with the audience. “If you lose
your faith and you don’t vote and
people walk away, that will decide
it. We have to work hard.”
Many top G.O.P. officials, in-
cluding the Senate majority
leader, Mitch McConnell, have not
commented on Mr. Trump’s at-
tacks on Georgia’s electoral sys-
tem. But his vitriol has roiled Re-
publican politics in the state,
where Mr. Biden upended several
decades of G.O.P. dominance with
a surprising victory over the pres-
ident.
Historically, runoff contests
have favored Republicans be-
cause of a drop-off of Democratic
voters after the general election.
But given the demographic
changes in the state and concen-
trated efforts by Democrats to
register more of their voters —
and persuade them to cast absen-

tee ballots before Election Day —

many Republicans are preparing

for a far tighter contest.

Parties, activists and allied out-

side groups have poured money

and manpower into the state, in-

vesting heavily in advertising and

grass-roots efforts.

Aware of Mr. Trump’s popular-

ity with conservative voters, both

Ms. Loeffler and David Perdue,

the other G.O.P. senator seeking a

new term, have bolstered Mr.

Trump’s assertion on Twitter that

the 2020 election was a “total

scam,” and called for Mr. Raf-

fensperger to resign. Mr. Kemp,

who was elected governor with

the president’s backing and is al-

ready raising money for his re-

election bid in 2022, is wary of an-

gering Mr. Trump while still try-

ing to support the state officials

who conducted a free and fair

election.

On Monday, Mr. Kemp’s office

released a statement noting that

Georgia law prohibits the gover-

nor from interfering in elections,

disputing Mr. Trump’s claim that

he could override decisions by the

secretary of state with an execu-

tive order.

Mr. Kemp’s campaign for gover-

nor, meanwhile, sent an email to

supporters emphasizing his sup-

port for continuing “investiga-

tions into ALL voting irregular-

ities” — a reflection of how impor-

tant it is to appeal to Mr. Trump’s

loyal base.

Mr. Raffensperger, who as

Georgia’s top election official has

borne the brunt of Trump support-

ers’ attacks, pushed back on Mon-

day against the baseless conspir-

acy theories being floated by the

president and his allies, in particu-

lar that software used by the state

was manipulated by foreign oli-

garchs.

Like Mr. Kemp, Mr. Raf-

fensperger is in a precarious posi-

tion; even as he refuses to take

steps to override the will of Geor-

gia voters, he is also seeking to

convince Republicans that he will

be aggressive in ferreting out

claims of liberal fraud.

“There are those who are ex-

ploiting the emotions of many

Trump supporters with fantastic

claims,” he said at a news confer-

ence on Monday morning. “Half-

truths, misinformation, and

frankly, they’re misleading the

president as well, apparently.”

He also announced that his of-

fice was beginning investigations

into four get-out-the-vote groups,

including the New Georgia

Project, which was founded by

Stacey Abrams, Mr. Kemp’s 2018

rival in the governor’s race and

the de facto leader of the Georgia

Democrats. Mr. Raffensperger

said that the groups were “work-

ing to register people in other

states to vote here in Georgia.”

Newt Gingrich, the former

House speaker from Georgia and

a Trump supporter, said that the

dissatisfaction with Mr. Kemp and

Mr. Raffensperger was so wide-

spread among Republican activ-

ists that he anticipated primary

challenges against both men two

years from now.

“I’ve had very close friends

write me and say, ‘I have a Repub-

lican governor and secretary of

state, and they’re both useless, so

why do I stay involved?’ ” Mr.

Gingrich said. “But I think they’ll

take pretty active measures to get

people to turn out based on the

long-term historical importance

of these two seats.”

Some Republicans are striving

to persuade Trump supporters to

again engage with that very sys-

tem the president is denigrating.

Surrogates, including Vice Presi-

dent Mike Pence, have already

campaigned in Georgia. Other

Trump allies are forming a super

PAC that will broadcast ads fea-

turing Donald Trump Jr., a popu-

lar figure in right-wing circles,

urging their supporters to vote in

the runoff elections.

So far, the president himself has

spent little time focused on the

Senate races, and instead has

been far more focused on his de-

sire for a recount of his own loss.

But advisers have stressed to him

that a Republican Senate is impor-

tant, and as Mr. Pence was also

traveling to Georgia on Saturday,

Mr. Trump agreed to go as well.

Republicans inside and outside

of Mr. Trump’s camp are divided

as to whether an appearance will

be productive. Some think it will

help, since the party’s base voters

will respond to him. Top Republi-

cans have encouraged him to

make the trip. But some of the

president’s advisers are con-

cerned about exactly how off-

script he might go, and whether

he will spend most of his speech

attacking Mr. Kemp and other Re-

publicans.

“I would hope when the presi-

dent is in Georgia Saturday, he

talks about the importance of

turning out the vote,” Senator Roy

Blunt, Republican of Missouri,

said Monday. “And I think what he

says on that trip will probably

matter more than what he has

said up until now.”

The president’s attacks on

Georgia’s voting system are part

of his overall efforts to undermine

the electoral system, as a way of

rationalizing his defeat. He has di-

rected his anger at other states,

and governors, as he did Monday

with Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona.

But unlike in other states,

where down-ballot races are

largely decided, Mr. Trump’s rhet-

oric in Georgia could carry long-

term political consequences for

both parties. If Republicans hold

only one of the two seats, they will

keep the Senate majority, giving

them an effective veto over Mr. Bi-

den’s agenda.

“As legal options are exhausted,

conservatives will move on to the

next fight,” said Brad Todd, a Re-

publican strategist. “More than

likely watching Nancy Pelosi be

sworn in and seeing the scaffold-

ing on the west front of the Capitol

preparing for an inauguration is

going to cause a unity of purpose

among conservatives.”

James Sublett, 67, voted for Mr.

Trump this year and believes the

president’s unfounded claims that

Democrats “stole the election.”

“The Democrats have cheated,

they have dead people vote, they

manufactured votes,” said Mr.

Sublett, a retired real estate bro-

ker.

Still, he said it was important to

vote in the Georgia runoffs.

“If we don’t get those Republi-

can seats, this country is turning

into socialism and communism

101,” Mr. Sublett said.

Trump’s Attacks Unsettle G.O.P. Amid a Georgia Runoff

From Page A

President Trump has escalated his attacks on Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, saying he was “ashamed” to have endorsed him in 2018.

ERIN SCHAFF/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Isabella Grullón Paz and Nicholas
Fandos contributed reporting.

Mr. Kemp is wary of angering Mr. Trump while still trying to sup-

port the state officials who conducted a free and fair election.

JOHN BAZEMORE/ASSOCIATED PRESS

A fear that tarring an

election as rigged may

depress voter turnout

among Republicans.

President Trump on Monday

morning inaccurately described

Georgia’s vote counting process

and implausibly urged the state’s

Republican governor to “over-

rule” its Republican secretary of

state.

The tweet was the latest of Mr.

Trump’s continuing assault on

election results in Georgia and

its top Republican officials, which

has ignited an intraparty feud in

the state.

Governor Brian Kemp of Geor-

gia does not have the authority

to do what Mr. Trump is suggest-

ing. Moreover, signature verifica-

tion is already part of the vote

counting process.

When absentee ballots are

received, Georgia’s election

officials verify the signature on

the envelopes. The ballots and

envelopes are then separated to

protect privacy, so rechecking

the envelopes during a recount

would be meaningless.

“Georgia law prohibits the

governor from interfering in

elections,” a spokesman for Mr.

Kemp told the Atlanta Journal-

Constitution. “The secretary of

state, who is an elected constitu-

tional officer, has oversight over

elections that cannot be overrid-

den by executive order.”

The notion that “the governor

has inherent executive authority

to suspend or investigate or

somehow interfere with this

process — that’s just not true,”

said Anthony Michael Kreis, a

constitutional law professor at

Georgia State University. “There

is no plausible case here whatso-

ever.”

Unlike the federal government,

Georgia does not have a unitary

executive and its governor and

secretary of state have separate

duties. Even the governor’s

emergency powers are limited.

Mr. Kreis said that Georgia’s

code was “very clear” on the

kinds of things a governor can do

in a state of emergency. Mr.

Kemp can move resources and

funds and enact temporary

measures, Mr. Kreis said, but “he

does not have the authority to

expressly interfere with elec-

tions.”

Georgia’s secretary of state,

Brad Raffensperger, continued to

push back on Mr. Trump’s and

his allies’ baseless claims of

mass voter fraud in a news con-

ference on Monday.

“The truth matters, especially

around election administration,”

Mr. Raffensperger said. “There

are those who exploit the emo-

tions of many Trump supporters

with fantastic claims, half-truths,

misinformation and frankly,

they’re misleading the president

as well, apparently.”

Times reporters chronicle and de-

bunk false and misleading infor-

mation that is going viral online.

Why won’t Governor

@BrianKempGA, the hapless

Governor of Georgia, use his

emergency powers, which can be

easily done, to overrule his

obstinate Secretary of State, and

do a match of signatures on

envelopes. It will be a “goldmine”

of fraud, and we will easily WIN

the state....

Donald Trump

@realDonaldTrump

Governor Lacks

Power to Intrude

In Voting Matters

By LINDA QIU

DISTORTIONS

WASHINGTON — The Justice
Department asked a federal judge
on Monday to dismiss the criminal
case against President Trump’s
former national security adviser
Michael T. Flynn, citing his par-
don last week — and making clear
that it broadly covered potential
legal troubles beyond the charge
Mr. Flynn had faced of lying to fed-
eral investigators.
“The president’s pardon, which
General Flynn has accepted,

moots this case,” the Justice De-

partment filing said.

Mr. Flynn had twice pleaded

guilty to a charge of lying to the

F.B.I. about his conversations in

late 2016, during the Trump presi-

dential transition, with the Rus-

sian ambassador to the United

States. His original plea deal also

covered legal liability for other po-

tential charges related to his work

as an unregistered foreign agent

of Turkey in 2016.

But Mr. Flynn — whose case be-

came a cause for Mr. Trump and

his supporters as they attacked

the Trump-Russia investigation

led by the special counsel, Robert

S. Mueller III — sought to change

his plea to not guilty. And Attorney

General William P. Barr asked the

judge, Emmet G. Sullivan of the

Federal District Court for the Dis-

trict of Columbia, to dismiss the

case in a highly unusual about-

face for the Justice Department.

But the judge instead began a

review of the request’s legitimacy,

appointing an outside critic —

John Gleeson, a former federal

judge and mafia prosecutor —

who portrayed Mr. Barr’s move as

a lawless abuse of power to show

special favor to a presidential ally,

and urged Judge Sullivan to in-

stead proceed to sentencing Mr.

Flynn.

Last week, with Judge Sullivan

yet to issue any ruling, Mr. Trump

instead pardoned his former aide,

taking political responsibility for

ending the case. As a result, the

Justice Department said in a new

filing, the entire matter is moot.

The filing was accompanied by

the text of the pardon itself, which

had not previously been released.

While Mr. Trump had said on Twit-

ter that he was granting Mr. Flynn

a “full” pardon, he left unclear how

far that would go in terms of any

potential legal jeopardy for Mr.

Flynn over other matters for

which he had not been charged.

The pardon, however, was writ-

ten broadly not only to cover lying

to the F.B.I., but to foreclose any

legal jeopardy Mr. Flynn might

face from a future Justice Depart-

ment arising from the Turkey mat-

ter, his inconsistent statements

under oath to Judge Sullivan and

any potential perjury or false

statements to Mr. Mueller’s team

or to the grand juries it used.

In a three-page filing accompa-

nying the pardon, the Justice De-

partment emphasized to Judge

Sullivan that the language cov-

ered “any possible future perjury

or contempt charge in connection

with General Flynn’s sworn state-

ments and any other possible fu-

ture charge” that the judge or Mr.

Gleeson “has suggested might

somehow keep this criminal case

alive over the government’s objec-

tion.”

Judge Sullivan did not immedi-

ately file a response to the new

motion to dismiss, and Mr. Glee-

son did not respond to an email re-

questing comment.

Andrew Weissmann, a former

member of the special counsel

team who was not directly in-

volved in prosecuting Mr. Flynn,

condemned the Trump adminis-

tration’s handling of the case after

Mr. Mueller’s office shut down.

“Trump issued the pardon only

after Barr debased the Depart-

ment of Justice by filing a disin-

genuous motion to dismiss,” Mr.

Weissmann said. “Sullivan will

have the opportunity to weigh in

on his view of all this when he

grants the motion to dismiss

based on the full pardon.”

But the Justice Department fil-

ing signaled that under the Trump

administration, at least, the Flynn

matter is closed.

“No further proceedings are

necessary or appropriate, as the

court must immediately dismiss

the case with prejudice,” it said.

Justice Dept., Citing Trump Pardon, Asks Judge to ‘Immediately’ Dismiss Flynn Case

By CHARLIE SAVAGE

The government hopes to protect Michael T. Flynn from poten-

tial legal jeopardy over matters for which he hasn’t been charged.

JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS

A filing signals that

the administration

considers the Flynn

matter to be closed.

Facts are

critical.

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