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DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Fri Nov 20, 2020, 10:34 AM Nov 2020

Trump's lawsuits challenging the election have turned into a clown show


Republican officials aren’t just losing. They are embarrassing themselves.

By Ian Millhiser Nov 20, 2020, 9:20am EST

On Tuesday, former New York Mayor and Trump consigliere Rudy Giuliani made his first appearance as a lawyer in federal court since 1992. It did not go well. As election law professor Rick Hasen tweeted during the hearing, “I’ve never seen worse lawyering in an election law case in my life.”

Giuliani, who served as the lead federal prosecutor in Manhattan for much of the 1980s, was once a very distinguished attorney. But there are good reasons why a lawyer who hasn’t litigated a federal case in nearly three decades should be cautious about trying to relive their glory days. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are 140 pages long and full of traps for the unwary or the out-of-practice. Giuliani appeared unaware of important provisions of these rules — such as a one detailing what lawyers must do if they raise an allegation of fraud.

Indeed, at several points in the hearing, Giuliani appeared unfamiliar with basic legal concepts that would be familiar to any undergraduate who has taken a semester of constitutional law. “Maybe I don’t understand what you mean by ‘strict scrutiny,’” Giuliani admitted to Judge Matthew Brann at one point in the hearing.

(“Strict scrutiny” is the highly skeptical test courts apply to many government actions that are disfavored by the Constitution, such as actions that discriminate on the basis of race. It’s one of the foundational concepts taught to every law student in their introduction to constitutional law.)

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https://www.vox.com/21575301/trump-lawsuits-election-rudy-giuliani-pennsylvania-georgia-michigan
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Trump's lawsuits challenging the election have turned into a clown show (Original Post) DonViejo Nov 2020 OP
I've seen a number of analyses.... Happy Hoosier Nov 2020 #1
Elect a clown, expect a circus, or a clown show. Brother Mythos Nov 2020 #2

Happy Hoosier

(7,083 posts)
1. I've seen a number of analyses....
Fri Nov 20, 2020, 10:39 AM
Nov 2020

That now think they know the legal case is doomed. They don't have evidence that can stand up in court.

But they've laid the groundwork, and hope NOW that they might be able to get the occasional delay to the certification process so they can try to overturn the vote in states with Repug-held legislatures.

They no longer hope to disqualify enough ballots to "win" directly. Now they intend to overturn the election in a venue where the standard of evidence is whatever Newsmax says it is. It's cynical. It's perverted. It MIGHT work if they can delay cert, but the courts are likely to see this for what it is: an attempt to thoroughly undermine democracy.

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