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Kari Lake Claims Supporters Were ‘Disenfranchised’ Because They Had to Endure the Same Conditions Black Voters Often Face

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Republican Kari Lake, who lost her bid to become the next governor of Arizona, has yet to concede, but even before the race was called for Democrat Katie Hobbs, Lake was crying fraud.

Lake, a top supporter of Donald Trump and his “Big Lie” falsehood that the 2020 election was stolen, has been crying fraud for over a year. She made clear months ago that the only outcome she would accept was being declared the winner.

Reporters have repeatedly asked Lake to show proof of her claims of 2020 election fraud, and she has repeatedly refused.

Now she’s calling this election “botched.”

“How do you certify an election that is this botched?” Lake asked on Fox News earlier this week.

READ MORE: Local Columnist Tells Election Denier Kari Lake to ‘Grow Up’ as Republican Blasts ‘Banana Republic’ Arizona

She’s also posting accounts by her supporters complaining they had to wait in line for hours to vote, with some suggesting they don’t trust the process, with the underlying implication being that perhaps there was election fraud.

On Thursday NewsNation reported Lake “said she is collecting evidence about potential election fraud after she lost the 2022 governor’s race.”

CBS News adds that Lake “said Thursday she is assembling lawyers and collecting evidence of voters having trouble casting ballots on Election Day as she considers her next move.”

There are no national minimum standards for how elections should be run or what conditions are acceptable. Republicans have not only rejected attempts to put into place basic expectations, but have passed countless laws at the state level to make voting harder, especially for communities of color.

Now Lake is claiming that the very same conditions Black and minority communities have had to endure, often because white Republican lawmakers, governors, and Secretaries of State have funneled resources into white, affluent communities, is evidence of disenfranchisement.

Lake offered no opposition when actual efforts to disenfranchise Black and other minority voters were enacted across the country in red states — not to mention her own state of Arizona,

Outgoing Arizona GOP Governor Doug Ducey signed into law numerous bills passed by Republicans in the state legislature, including a highly-controvesial “proof of citizenship” bill that the U.S. Dept of Justice is calling a “textbook violation” of federal law and is now suing over. That law also mandates proof of address for newly-registered voters.

READ MORE: Watch: Reporter Schools Kari Lake as She’s Accused of Spreading Election Disinformation

Ducey also signed a law that effectively hobbles Arizona’s permanent early voting list, which ABC News reported last year is used by 75% to 80% of voters. Estimates range from 126,000 to 145,000 or more voters would be purged from the list.

So egregious is the law U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland issued a statement, saying it will “rob up to 200,000 Arizonans of the ability to vote by mail, which has been done successfully in Arizona for many years.”

“It will disproportionately affect minorities who do not vote regularly or those who move their place of residence,” Hoyer added, “and this legislation would also punish independents by making it harder for those not affiliated with a party to maintain their registration. The practical effect of this law will be, as its authors intend, to make it far harder for people to participate and vote.”

Lake never spoke out against actual efforts to disenfranchise voters, who face some of the exact same challenges her supporters claim to have encountered, challenges she now says is voter disenfranchisement.

Just look at these headlines from 2020:

“Why Do Nonwhite Georgia Voters Have To Wait In Line For Hours? Too Few Polling Places” (NPR, October 17, 2020)

“Black and Latino Voters Face Longer Wait Times on Election Day” (Carnegie Corporation of New York, September 18, 2020)

“More than 10-hour wait and long lines as early voting starts in Georgia” (The Guardian, October 12, 2020)

“Florida Republicans targeted Black voters, justice department says in filing” (The Guardian, August 17, 2022)

Lake on Thursday recorded a video alleging voters were “disenfranchised” by her Democratic opponent, now governor-elect Katie Hobbs.

“The fox was guarding the henhouse and, because of that, voters have been disenfranchised,” Lake claimed.

Also on Thursday Lake posted this highly-edited video with sensational music depicting long voting lines, presumably for voting in Arizona — lines  which are unacceptable, but not uncommon across many parts of the U.S., especially in areas of red states with large minority voting populations.

Lake also posted this video of a man who say he had to wait 90 minutes in line, and when he tried to vote there were problems with the tabulator machines, which were widely reported on Election Day in Maricopa County. But as the Republican officials in charge of Maricopa County elections said in a video quickly released that morning, they had a backup system in place, which this man says was suspicious to him.

READ MORE: ‘This Is Who They Are’: Critics Blast Kari Lake for Mocking Paul Pelosi After Brutally Violent Assault

That backup system was to place ballots in a box that would be transported to a different location to be counted — not unusual at all.

Offering zero evidence to question the election officials’ methods, Lake says this man “felt it meant they would throw his vote in the trash.”

The Associated Press reports on Friday that Lake “pointed to long lines at some polling places that were exacerbated by problems with ballot printers at about a third of the vote centers in Maricopa County, the largest county in the state. She said the problems disenfranchised voters who couldn’t wait at the polls.”

“What happened to Arizonans on Election Day is unforgivable,” Lake said.

“County election officials said that all ballots were counted and that voters could go to any polling place in the county, many of which had little to no line, with wait times posted online,” the AP notes, adding that about “17,000 ballots were not scanned at precinct-based vote counters and were instead placed in a collection box to be counted by more sophisticated machines at the county’s election headquarters.”

In another post, Lake is complaining about a two-hour wait to vote — again, too long, but very common across parts of the U.S.

Lake says this man waited an hour, there were technical issues so his ballot was also put in box to be counted.

Placing paper ballots in boxes to be counted is how elections have been conducted literally for centuries.

Lake’s suggestions of fraud actually appears to be insufficient resources, GOP-created laws designed to make voting more difficult, and improper maintenance or testing of voting resources, like the tabulators.

She has offered no actual proof of fraud.

Watch the videos above or at this link.

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Florida GOP Lawmaker Who Wrote ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Facing Up to 35 Years After Pleading Guilty in COVID Fraud Case

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Joe Harding, the now-former Florida Republican lawmaker who authored the extremist “Don’t Say Gay” bill could face up to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday afternoon to federal felony fraud charges in a scheme to obtain $150,000 in COVID-19 relief funds, according to Florida Politics‘ publisher Peter Scorsch.

Harding, 35, was a construction project manager who started his own lawn care company. He quickly became a right-wing darling after his anti-LGBTQ legislation, officially the Parental Rights in Education Act, was embraced by Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed it into law.

Harding was charged in a December federal indictment with six counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements in his plot to obtain $150,000 in COVID funds.He resigned from the legislature the following day. He originally pled not guilty.

READ MORE: ‘Chilling’: Law Enforcement ‘Seriously’ Investigating Threats Ahead of Possible Trump Indictment Says Top WaPo Reporter

After Harding was charged and resigned, Nadine Smith, the executive director of Equality Florida, responded via social media, saying: “So much harm to students, parents and teachers because of his raw political ambitions. He slandered entire communities and trafficked in lie after lie that has emboldened violent bigotry. He will have his day in court but his legacy is already a despicable one.”

Harding is not the only family member accused of criminal acts.

“Harding’s indictment follows a September guilty plea from his brother-in-law, Patrick Walsh,” Florida Politics reported in December. “As reported by Fresh Take Florida, Walsh pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges connected to his receipt of nearly $8 million in disaster relief loans.”

Unrepentant to the harm many feel he has done to children and the LGBTQ community, in a statement Tuesday Harding said: “During the past legislative session I have felt the support of millions of Americans while fighting for our shared concerns and for the rights of parents. I will never forget the support I received from every corner of this great country.”

READ MORE: 18 Attorneys General Blast Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Law as Unconstitutional

Harding will be sentenced in July.

Florida’s Voice also reported Harding’s guilty plea Tuesday.

 

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Trump Calls for Congress to Investigate NY AG After Judge Refuses to Delay $250 Million Fraud Trial Against Ex-President

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Minutes before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron was to gavel in late Tuesday morning, a bomb threat was called in to 911, delaying a pre-trial hearing in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million civil fraud lawsuit against Donald Trump and his adult children, but only for about 30 minutes.

Over the weekend Trump urged his supporters to “protest,” and “take our country back.” He also claimed he would be indicted on Tuesday. It’s not known who called in the bomb threat, but it wasn’t the delay Trump’s attorneys were hoping for.

Once the hearing began, Trump’s attorneys asked the judge for a six-month delay, Law & Crime reports.

They were denied.

They then asked for a delay of a few weeks.

They were denied again.

READ MORE: ‘Like Al Capone Complaining About Organized Crime’: Jim Jordan Slammed for Demanding Manhattan DA Testify

“I don’t want to move this trial, not only because I said I don’t want to move it,” Justice Engoron said.

“That’s written in stone,” he added.

“This case is complex, but it’s not complicated,” Engoron explained. “It all boils down to whether the statements of financial condition are true, and the rest as Rabbi Hillel famously said, is all commentary.”

After the hearing ended Trump called for Congress to investigate Attorney General James.

“While Congress is at it, they should look at the Corrupt Attorney General of New York State, Letitia James, who got elected solely on a ‘I WILL GET TRUMP’ platform, without knowing anything about me,” Trump alleged on his Truth Social platform.

“She then brought a completely bogus lawsuit, which is presided over by an A.G. picked, Trump hating Judge, a political hack whose Court this case should not be in – It shoud [sic] be in the Commercial Division, but he wouldn’t let go, is pushing it hard, and knows exactly what he wants to do….”

As Law & Crime notes, Attorney General James “alleges that Trump, his children and his businesses have a pattern of wildly inflating or deflating their assets to reap tax benefits. She claims that Trump estimates the size of his Trump Towers triplex at three times its actual square footage. Trump Organization also valued rent-stabilized units more than 66 times higher than an outside appraiser, she says. These discrepancies and others, she says, warrant her massive proposed civil penalty.”

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‘Like Al Capone Complaining About Organized Crime’: Jim Jordan Slammed for Demanding Manhattan DA Testify

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House Republican Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan is under fire after sending notice to Alvin Bragg on Monday demanding the Manhattan District Attorney currently investigating Donald Trump’s possibly unlawful payoff to Stormy Daniels testify before Congress to explain the ongoing case.

Legal experts have said Jordan’s letter, which was also signed by the powerful House Oversight Chair Jim Comer, could be considered obstruction of justice.

Late Tuesday morning Jordan took to Twitter to defend his actions, which many see as an attempt to intimidate the Manhattan DA and interfere with the potential prosecution of the ex-president.

“Democrats think it’s ok for them to examine and defund local police,” Jordan said. “But not ok for Republicans to examine a local prosecutor in Manhattan abusing his power to take down a political opponent.”

READ MORE: Trump’s Lawyer in Stormy Daniels Case Back in 2018 Called Hush Money Payoff ‘Illegal’: Report

The Judiciary Chair, who has a law degree from Capital University in Ohio, appeared to not understand that he does not have oversight authority over a duly-elected county district attorney.

Attorney Ron Filipkowski, a Republican turned Democrat, slammed Jordan’s remarks.

“This makes literally no sense whatsoever. Local police are funded locally. Democrats aren’t seeking to haul local prosecutors in front of Congress for anything. This is a naked abuse of federal power over something Congress has no jurisdiction over.”

Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner, now an NBC News and MSNBC Legal Analyst, called Jordan’s and Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s actions “a dramatic and transparent abuse of power.”

READ MORE: Republicans Are ‘Obstructing Justice’ and ‘Becoming Accessories’ to Trump’s ‘Crimes’: Former Prosecutor

Aaron Fritschner, Deputy Chief of Staff for U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) called Jordan’s letter, “stupid and embarrassing” three times, and, called Jordan’s attempt at oversight of a county DA “is invalid, unconstitutional, inappropriate, stupidly pretextual and political.”

District Attorney Bragg, Fritscher continued, “will be on rock solid legal ground if he should decide to use their letter to kill insects or remove avian waste, but in the meantime we who have seen and written legitimate oversight letters in the past imo should mock Jordan, Comer et al for their hilarious incompetence.”

Others on Capitol Hill also mocked Jordan.

“A kangaroo investigation has been opened by Jim Jordan and the House GOP into the Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg,” U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) tweeted. “Republicans complaining about the weaponization of government is like Al Capone complaining about organized crime.”

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