The U.S. government has the tools, talent, and team to help fight the coronavirus abroad and minimize its impact at home. But the combination of Trump’s paranoia toward experienced government officials (who lack “loyalty” to him), inattention to detail, opinionated rejection of science and evidence, and isolationist instincts may prove toxic when it comes to managing a global-health security challenge. To succeed, Trump will have to trust the kind of government experts he has disdained to date, set aside his own terrible instincts, lead from the White House, and work closely with foreign leaders and global institutions—all things he has failed to do in his first 1,200 days in office.

We do not know yet how grave a threat the new coronavirus will turn out to be. On the one hand, scientists have quickly sequenced the virus and are working on a vaccine. China has imposed draconian quarantines to slow the virus’s spread, and is rapidly building massive new hospitals to treat its victims. To date, the U.S. has seen only a handful of cases, all of them the product of travel to China, not transmission here. These are causes for concern, but not overwrought fear.

But on the other hand, there are some worrisome developments. Models suggest that the cases in China may number in the hundreds of thousands—many times what the government has reported. Perhaps a million or more people left Wuhan before the quarantines, and could be spreading the virus widely. Other countries are reporting cases of the virus among people who were not in China; there are even reports that individuals may be infectious before the onset of symptoms (a substantial complication to traditional public-health screening). And the economic impact of a massive epidemic in China on the global economy is difficult to predict.

What will Trump do about it? His track record offers us two data points, one horrible and one merely disappointing.


....

BBC: For Biden’s leads to be wrong, “that would mean we’re witnessing either the greatest administrative error in US electoral history or the greatest fraud — and if that’s the case, Mr. Trump & his allies are keeping the evidence to themselves.”

II. BACKGROUND
On the same day that Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. was declared the
winner of Pennsylvania’s electoral votes, President Trump’s personal attorney
announced the Trump Campaign’s intention to sue to invalidate hundreds of
thousands of Pennsylvanians’ votes based on demonstrably false allegations that
Trump Campaign representatives were not permitted to observe the review and
counting of absentee and mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania. This lawsuit followed two
days later. Plaintiffs, the Trump Campaign and two individual voters, assert
violations of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause and Equal Protection
Clause, the Electors and Elections Clauses, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that some
County Boards of Elections counted ballots without the presence of poll watchers;
those who observed the counting of ballots were not permitted to scrutinize each
individual absentee or mail-in ballot envelope; and voters who reside in the
Defendant Counties were allegedly treated differently than qualified electors in other
parts of the state. Compl. ¶¶ 159-243. These claims have no basis in law or fact.
Plaintiffs seek to invalidate ballots based on a non-existent right of Trump
Campaign representatives to review individual absentee and mail-in ballots. The
remedy sought is dramatic and extends to all ballots cast in Pennsylvania—upwards
of 6.75 million votes—including those cast in-person. But just as in the recently dismissed case, Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. v. Philadelphia County, No. 20-

Case 4:20-cv-02078-MWB Document 40 Filed 11/11/20 Page 4 of 15
- 4 -

05533 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 5, 2020), the Trump Campaign once again fails to identify any
cognizable injury under federal or state law. There is still no constitutional right to
poll watch, so the Trump Campaign is not injured by state law setting forth the
parameters for authorized individuals to observe the review and counting of absentee
and mail-in ballots. Moreover, such ballots were counted with poll watchers from
the Trump Campaign present. And Plaintiffs’ allegations regarding allegedly
disparate treatment reflect nothing more than counties lawfully following the
Secretary’s guidance allowing eligible voters to cast provisional ballots if their
“mail-in or absentee ballot was rejected for a reason unrelated to the voter’s
qualifications.” Pa. Dep’t of State, Pennsylvania Provisional Voting Guidance,
(Oct. 21, 2020), https://www.dos.pa.gov/VotingElections/OtherServicesEvents/Do
cuments/PADOS_ProvisionalBallots_guidance_1.0.pdf. Plaintiffs’ requested
remedy—setting aside at least 6.75 million ballots, or in the alternative, “only” more
than 680,000 ballots—not only violates state law, it obliterates the constitutional
rights of voters and candidates and improperly inserts this Court into issues of state
law and election administration minutia.
III. ARGUMENT

It was apparent to legal commentators that one of the lawyers arguing the Montgomery County case before Common Pleas Judge Richard P. Haaz was not going to risk losing his law license by lying in court. Some also noted that sanctions may be issued where frivolous lawsuits have been filed.

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https://twitter.com/danielsgoldman/status/1326512942330867712

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https://twitter.com/AshaRangappa_/status/1326589702338568192

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On Tuesday, Judge Haaz promptly put Trump campaign attorney Jonathan S. Goldstein on the spot. The judge asked him point-blank if the campaign was actually alleging any fraud. Goldstein went to bat for President Trump while admitting that he was not alleging fraud, uttering the phrase (twice): “To my knowledge at present, no.” Legal experts said that Goldstein’s remarks were typical of a lawyer unwilling to risk sanctions or bar discipline in service of a client.

Georgia's Secretary of State on @CNN

Asked if the current Biden lead will hold, Sec. Raffensperger said, "we believe the ballots were counted accurately and the Risk Limiting Audit will confirm that."

A shame that the Trumps won’t meet with the Bidens at the White House. Joe and Jill could give them a tour and explain the history.