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Presidential race 2020

Daily Bread for 6.9.24: Ron Johnson

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 73. Sunrise is 5:16 and sunset 8:32 for 15h 16m 46s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 10.5 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

 On this day in 1954, Joseph N. Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Army–McCarthy hearings, giving McCarthy the famous rebuke, “You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”


While these years since 2016 have ruined some (Gableman comes to mind), and left others in the past (Walker), a third type has come through better in these worse times. Charlie Sykes is of that last type: an ideological transformation that has shown him to be more principled in less principled times.

Sykes writes of Ron Jonnson, Wisconsin’s ventriloquist dummy of conspiracy theories, in Sen. Ron Johnson’s claim he knew nothing about a fake electors plot isn’t believable (‘Text messages show that Johnson and his staff were told explicitly about the plot to deliver the fake electoral votes to Washington’):

On Tuesday, Wisconsin’s Department of Justice brought felony forgery charges against one of the architects of the plan, Kenneth Chesebro. That attorney already pleaded guilty in Georgia to participating in the illegal attempt in that state to overturn the election. Wisconsin prosecutors also charged Trump aide Mike Roman and attorney Jim Troupis, who represented Trump in Wisconsin during the 2020 election. Wisconsin is the fifth state to bring criminal charges in connection with the conspiracy to overturn Trump’s defeat.

The evidence supporting the Wisconsin charges is especially robust, given the volume of communications — text messages, emails, photos, videos and social media posts — that were gathered as part of an earlier civil lawsuit that unearthed more than 1,400 pages of documents related to the conspiracy. (That case was settled after the fake electors admitted they had signed a document that was “used as part of an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 presidential election results.”)

….

Johnson initially said he was “basically unaware” of what was going on, dismissing the attempted handoff of the fake certificates as a “staff-to-staff exchange.” Later, however, he admitted that his staff had been in touch with Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., “about how Kelly’s office could get us the electors because they had it.”

Even so, he continued to insist that he “had no idea that there was an alternate slate of electors.” Referring to Troupis, Johnson said, “He was asking me to deliver some documents.” He said he didn’t know the document Troupis wanted him to hand off was a fake slate of Trump electors from his home state. What did he think the document could have been, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel asked. Responded Johnson: “I couldn’t have cared less. I’m asked by the attorney for the president of the United States to deliver something to the vice president on that day.”

But documents released as part of the civil lawsuit in March seemed to blow a hole in Johnson’s story. In a Dec. 8, 2020, email to Chesebro, Troupis wrote that he “spoke with Senator Johnson late last night about the Pence angle at the end.” Troupis wrote, “Just wanted to take his temperature.”

….

The documents also show that Troupis texted Johnson personally on Jan. 6, explicitly mentioning the electors: “We need to get a document on the Wisconsin electors to you for the VP immediately.” He added, “Is there a staff person I can talk to immediately.”

That same day, Troupis texted Chesebro, confirming that he had been “on the phone with Mike Roman and Senator Johnson’s COS [chief of staff] to get an original copy of Wi slate to VP.”

Of all the many influences of these last years on the men and women of Wisconsin, one can easily say that Sykes rose, while Johnson descended, to the occasion.

See also Wisconsin Attorney General Files Criminal Charges over Fraudulent Presidential Elector Scheme,  Wisconsin Native Kenneth Chesebro’s January 6th Instigation, and Wisconsin & Arizona Investigations into Fraudulent 2020 Presidential Electors, and the 6.4.24 criminal complaint, below:

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In Paris, a 10.5-mile trail plotted out by American Boy Scout troop leaders:

In Paris, among all of the history and glamour, one can find something completely unexpected: a 10.5-mile trail plotted out by American Boy Scout troop leaders. The trail highlights sites of importance to both the French and Americans. Ed O’Keefe brings us along to explore this connection dating back to Benjamin Franklin.

Daily Bread for 4.25.24: Wisconsin & Arizona Investigations into Fraudulent 2020 Presidential Electors

Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 59. Sunrise is 5:55 and sunset 7:49 for 13h 54m 37s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 97.5 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater Community Development Authority will hold a housing roundtable at 9 AM.

On this day in 1898, the United States Congress declares that a state of war between the U.S. and Spain has existed since April 21, when an American naval blockade of the Spanish colony of Cuba began.


The Washington Post reports that in Arizona

Eighteen of former president Donald Trump’s associates and allies have been indicted in Arizona for their alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results by trying to award the state’s electoral votes to Trump instead of Joe Biden, who won the state by 10,457 votes.

The group includes Trump’s final White House chief of staff and six aides or attorneys who worked on or supported his 2020 campaign. One is now advising his 2024 presidential campaign, and another is a senior official at the Republican National Committee. Also indicted were 11 Arizona Republicans who signed paperwork on Dec. 14, 2020, that falsely purported Trump was the rightful winner and then transmitted it to the federal government.

All defendants appear to have been charged under each count of the indictment. The charges are as follows: conspiracy, fraudulent schemes and artifices, fraudulent schemes and practices, and forgery. All are felonies, with the most serious being fraudulent schemes and artifices, which carries a standard sentence of five years in prison.

Wisconsin, too, had fraudulent presidential electors. In our state, an investigation into those electors is ongoing, although there has been a settlement in a lawsuit from two legitimate electors against the fraudulent ones. Patrick Marley reports that

Investigators for state Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) have interviewed Chesebro as a possible witness as part of an ongoing probe. Other details about the investigation have not been made public. Separately, [Atty. Kenneth] Chesebro, Trump attorney James Troupis and the 10 Wisconsin Republicans who posed as electors recently settled a lawsuit brought by two of the state’s legitimate electors. As part of the deals, they publicly released records about their efforts and withdrew their false filings from the National Archives. In addition, those who acted as electors agreed not to do so again this year or any time Trump is on the ballot. Troupis paid an unspecified amount of money to those who brought the suit.


Sky over Athens turns orange under Sahara sandstorm:

Daily Bread for 2.19.24: Former WISGOP Chairman Says He Was Tricked (But He’s a Lawyer Who Signed False Documents)

 Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 45. Sunrise is 6:45 and sunset 5:31 for 10h 46m 40s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 78.6% of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater School Board will hold a legislative breakfast at 8 AM, and Whitewater’s Library Board meets at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1954, the Soviet Politburo of the Soviet Union orders the transfer of the Crimean Oblast from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR.


Anderson Cooper, Aliza Chasan, Sarah Koch, and Madeleine Carlisle report Former Wisconsin Republican Party chair says he was tricked by fake elector plan:

Former Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Andrew Hitt was nominated to be an elector if former President Donald Trump won the state in 2020, but after Trump lost, Hitt and nine other Republican electors met at the state capitol and signed documents falsely claiming Trump won.

Hitt said lawyers told him the documents they were signing were meaningless unless Trump’s legal team won its lawsuit seeking to dismiss over 200,000 votes in two Democratic counties.

Hitt said he was advised that if a court ruled in Trump’s favor and he and the other Republicans did not meet and sign the documents on Dec. 14, 2020 — when the Democratic electors were required to meet to cast their votes for President Biden — he would be responsible for Trump forfeiting Wisconsin.

“It was not a safe time,” he said. “If my lawyer is right, and the whole reason Trump loses Wisconsin is because of me, I would be scared to death.”

….

But Hitt said he didn’t believe there had been widespread fraud in the state.

Hitt said he was advised by the state GOP’s outside legal counsel on Dec. 4, 2020, to gather the other Republican electors at the Capitol on Dec. 14 and, as a contingency, sign a document claiming they were “the duly elected and qualified Electors for President” for Wisconsin. 

“In case a court would overrule the election here in Wisconsin,” Hitt said he was told.

On the morning of Dec. 14, in a narrow 4-3 ruling, the state Supreme Court rejected the Trump campaign’s attempt to throw out votes cast in the two Democratic counties. Hitt said he and the other fake Wisconsin electors met anyway to sign documents falsely claiming Trump won, because he had been told the Trump campaign was still planning to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Hitt is, himself, a lawyer. He signed false documents, and now relies on other lawyers’ opinions in place of his own. He signed false documents and now contends that he was afraid not to sign. (Instead: he was not courageous enough to decline.) 

Hitt is unfit for the law and should be disbarred. No person of good judgment, whether lawyer or non-lawyer, should have sympathy for him. 


Yulia Navalnaya: ‘I will continue the work of Alexei Navalny’:

 

Daily Bread for 3.6.23: Wisconsin Supreme Court Re-Appoints Advocate of Fake Electors to Judicial Committee

Good morning. Monday in Whitewater will be cloudy with scattered showers and a high of 45. Sunrise is 6:20 AM and sunset 5:50 PM for 11h 30m 10s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 99% of its visible disk illuminated. Whitewater will hold a Strategic Planning Session at 6 PM.  On this day in…

Daily Bread for 2.6.23: Trump Campaign Knew It Lost Wisconsin in 2020, So It Prepared to Lie

Good morning. Monday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 41. Sunrise is 7:02 AM and sunset 5:15 PM for 10h 12m 33s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 99.5% of its visible disk illuminated. Whitewater’s Equal Opportunities Commission meets at 5 PM.   On this day in 1778, in Paris the Treaty of…

Daily Bread for 1.8.23: Why Have a Popular Vote When the Gerrymandered Wisconsin Legislature Can Pick the Winner?

Good morning. Sunday in Whitewater will be mostly cloudy with a high of 35. Sunrise is 7:24 AM and sunset 4:38 PM for 9h 14m 07s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 97.6% of its visible disk illuminated.  On this day in 2005, the nuclear sub USS San Francisco collides at full speed with an…

Daily Bread for 6.18.22: An Interview with the Former Judge Who Advised the Pence Team

Good morning. Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 74. Sunrise is 5:16 AM and sunset 8:36 PM for 15h 20m 17s of daytime.  The moon is a waning gibbous with 77.2% of its visible disk illuminated. On this day in 1815, the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher defeat Napoleon…

Daily Bread for 2.2.22: The Full List of Wisconsin’s Fake Trump Electors

Good morning. Wednesday in Whitewater will be cloudy sunny with a high of 17.  Sunrise is 7:07 AM and sunset 5:10 PM for 10h 03m 10s of daytime.  The moon is a waxing crescent with 2.4% of its visible disk illuminated.  Whitewater’s Common Council meets at 6:30 PM.  On this day in 1913, Grand Central Terminal…

Daily Bread for 1.29.22: Congressional Committee Subpoenas Two Fake WISGOP Electors

Good morning. Saturday in Whitewater will see occasional flurries with a high of 23.  Sunrise is 7:11 AM and sunset 5:04 PM for 9h 53m 38s of daytime.  The moon is a waning crescent with 9.4% of its visible disk illuminated.  On this day in 1980, the Rubik’s Cube makes its international debut at the Ideal Toy…

Daily Bread for 1.27.22: What Did Scott Fitzgerald Know and When Did He Know It?

Good morning. Thursday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 31.  Sunrise is 7:13 AM and sunset 5:02 PM for 9h 49m 04s of daytime.  The moon is a waning crescent with 28.4% of its visible disk illuminated.  Whitewater’s Community Development Authority  meets at 5:30 PM.  On this day in 2010, Apple announces the…

Johnson & Fitzgerald: Betrayers of Wisconsin

The Journal Sentinel’s editorial board correctly contends that Ron Johnson, Scott Fitzgerald and Tom Tiffany should resign or be expelled for siding with Trump against our republic: It was one of Scott Fitzgerald’s first votes in Congress — and he voted to give aid and comfort to an insurrection. This is what putting Donald Trump…

Ron Johnson Attracts Attention

The Never Trump conservatives at the Lincoln Project aren’t going away: they have lingering Trumpism in their sights. U.S. Senator Ron Johnson – who accepts every conspiracy theory but rejects Wisconsin’s certified electoral votes for president – has caught their attention. .@RonJohnsonWI I wanted to let you know what we are talking about at @ProjectLincoln…