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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDOJ drops an anvil on the Cyber Ninjas.....
This sort of activity raises concerns regarding potential intimidation of voters. For example, when such investigative efforts are directed, or are perceived to be directed, at minority voters or minority communities, they can have a significant intimidating effect on qualified voters that can deter them from seeking to vote in the future. Jurisdictions that authorize or conduct audits must ensure that the way those reviews are conducted has neither the purpose nor the effect of dissuading qualified citizens from participating in the electoral process. If they do not, the Department will act to ensure that all eligible citizens feel safe in exercising their right to register and cast a ballot in future elections.
If jurisdictions have questions about the constraints federal law places on the kinds of post-election audits they can conduct, they should contact the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division. If citizens believe a jurisdiction has violated the Civil Rights Acts election record retention and preservation requirements, or believe they have been subjected to intimidation, they can use the Civil Rights Division's online complaint form to report their concerns or call (800) 253-3931.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1417796/download
JohnSJ
(91,965 posts)third, fourth, fifth, etc.
brooklynite
(93,873 posts)JohnSJ
(91,965 posts)situation, and I am skeptical if there is any teeth behind this
No, it does not inspire confidence for me. This has been going on for a few months now, and this is the second warning
Bernardo de La Paz
(48,789 posts)JohnSJ
(91,965 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(48,789 posts)You don't know. Period.
JohnSJ
(91,965 posts)Effete Snob
(8,387 posts)If an Attorney General wanted to play Jenga at his or her desk all day, that would be doing the job.
Same was whatever Ben Carson did at HUD for the better part of four years.
There's nobody to tell him what to do, so whatever he decides to do is "his job".
bucolic_frolic
(42,676 posts)It's not a fiefdom, nor an Alzheimer's day care. It's a job, with duties, responsibilities, accountability, bosses, and professional affiliations and colleagues.
Effete Snob
(8,387 posts)Is that why Ben Carson is doing time for defrauding the government?
Caliman73
(11,694 posts)Ben Carson is most certainly not "doing time". Perhaps he should be, but he is not. He was just named to the board of directors of a prominent home building company in Texas. I'm not sure where you got the information that he is incarcerated.
AZ8theist
(5,339 posts)Caliman73
(11,694 posts)That is why we have the smiley.
There are members of DU with whom I am familiar and know their style of posting. I can say, "oh they are being sarcastic" because I have seen it often enough.
If not, then you need to really get in there and lay it on thick. It is quite possible that Carson could have been indicted for defrauding the government. Many of Trump's appointees were crooks and Carson went through that "Office Furniture" scandal (though he was cleared).
Kind of like the Onion and Borowitz have had to step up their game because the Trump administration was so freakishly corrupt, that normal satire wasn't cutting it anymore.
Effete Snob
(8,387 posts)Could you list just a few of his major accomplishments in office?
It may be that cabinet officers can get by with doing very little, as I seem to have missed Carsons busy agenda of accomplishments.
Caliman73
(11,694 posts)I am not defending Carson. He was an abysmal HUD Secretary.
I am just telling you that he is not in prison. You said "Is that why Ben Carson is doing time for defrauding the government?" and I responded that he was not. Your statement was either false or it was sarcastic, but not very clear.
Effete Snob
(8,387 posts)This subthread is about a demand that Merrick Garland "do his job".
The Attorney General is a cabinet-level appointed position. To a large extent, subject to the president's sole authority to dismiss a cabinet officer, the "job" of a cabinet officer is whatever that officer defines it to be.
Someone else responded by saying that was not a correct view of the degree to which the scope of a cabinet office is within the discretion of the cabinet officer.
I responded by pointing out, in the form of a rhetorical question, that Ben Carson was a cabinet officer who did BUPKIS during his term, other than spend enormous sums of money on decorating his office. There were no negative consequences for his failure to do much of anything at all. Thus, Ben Carson is an illustration of the point that a cabinet officer has wide discretion over whatever they consider their "job" to be.
If you disagree with that point, then you can either (a) point out that Ben Carson did a whole bunch of stuff he was supposed to do as part of his "job" or (b) accept the observation that the do-nothing term of Ben Carson at HUD validates the observation that a cabinet official has broad discretion over what they define the "job" to be.
But it seems that, without any appreciation for the relevant context, you seized upon the observation that: IF cabinet officers had well defined duties constituting their "job", then Ben Carson ought to be in jail for collecting a check for not doing any job at all. This was put in the form of "That's why Ben Carson is doing time" since I believed, perhaps wrongly, that pretty much anyone who pays any attention to politics would know that Ben Carson is not, in fact, in jail.
But, thank you nonetheless for stepping in to inform anyone who might not have noticed that Ben Carson indeed has not been jailed. That was in fact the point of my statement. My assumption would be that pretty much anyone on DU would know that Ben Carson is still at large and wandering the earth doing whatever it is that Ben Carson does. And thus it appears that a cabinet official has a wide latitude not to do much of anything, if that's how they choose to do their "job".
Caliman73
(11,694 posts)Carry on.
Effete Snob
(8,387 posts)FBaggins
(26,697 posts)It's just that DOJ isn't in a position to say "we won't allow you to do this"
The closest they can come is to hint at a lawsuit asking the courts to stop them. Which is far from an "anvil".
triron
(21,916 posts)SoonerPride
(12,286 posts)How many warnings are they given?
Stop sending sternly worded letters and instead send cease and desist orders and indictments.
Effete Snob
(8,387 posts)Surely, you are not suggesting this should be escalated to the sternly worded letter.
First we should try.... The Comfy Chair!
SoonerPride
(12,286 posts)perfect
Scrivener7
(50,774 posts)FSogol
(45,360 posts)Effete Snob
(8,387 posts)I see no action being taken in relation to the Arizona Fraudit.
This is a .pdf file. Full of words. Great words. Lovely words.
PortTack
(32,606 posts)B4 the first letter went out, and they didnt pursue it. If they dont take this second notice seriously as they did the first one, Im sure more measures will be taken by the DOJ.
Nevilledog
(50,687 posts)They just sent a new round of subpoenas to Maricopa, Secretary of State, and Dominion.
They were just talking about doing canvassing last week.
Effete Snob
(8,387 posts)Sounds like someone isnt quite familiar with what these numbskulls are up to.
Effete Snob
(8,387 posts)They are being given time to mine all the personal data they have been provided.
Voltaire2
(12,626 posts)Harker
(13,880 posts)vaccinations or information about them door to door would lead to their guns and bibles being rounded up.
Traildogbob
(8,584 posts)More like a plastic paper weight.
monkeyman1
(5,109 posts)Ford_Prefect
(7,828 posts)However, it does seem to forestall any repetition elsewhere by making clear that such is not legal action to take.
The DOJ doesn't mention warrants or evidence in AZ yet. It could be that this is the shot across the bow before action in the field. The shouted "hands up" prior to more efficacious responses by FBI or civil rights division officers.
This whole set of events began while the Senate delayed approval of several key appointments in DOJ. While I and others here have expected more from Justice than we've seen up to now it may be that they needed to get all the legal, evidentiary, and collateral ducks in a row on this in order to have an effective and complete response.
Like Jan 6th there appears to be more going on than meets the eye, and spun out by actors not present or visible to the press. Once the ballots and machines were handed over to Cyber Ninjas and their "staff" they were no longer viable evidence since no chain of evidence could apply. Everything which happened past that point is now subject to possible prosecution. In this case, much like Jan 6th, there are many actors with varying roles who might be revealed by an in-depth investigation of things like who financed this, who approved sending the ballot machines and hard drives out of state, not to mention the more mundane questions about who handled the ballots and why they weren't qualified to do so.
The Magistrate
(95,237 posts)The fraudit's course will not change without suit being filed, or arrests executed, whichever the relevant statute allows.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)whistler162
(11,155 posts)cyberninja's the bill for new machines and possibly routers.