USA

Trump ‘stacking every card in the deck’ ahead of midterms

Former White House attorney Ty Cobb warned Friday that President Trump’s decision this week to fire the remaining Democratic members of the independent election management commission was part of a “deliberate plan” to put a finger on the scale of the upcoming midterm elections.

“You can view the dissolution of the Electoral Assistance Commission (EAC) as nothing more than another effort by one party to take over some of the umpiring role in elections,” Cobb said during an appearance on MS NOW.

Trump removed Democrats Benjamin Hovland and Thomas Hicks from the commission on Thursday, while the White House argued that it had the authority under the Supreme Court ruling. final decision in the recent Slaughter case.

In a 6-3 decision, the justices ruled that the president can fire presidents. most independent agencies upon requestIt overturned a nearly century-old precedent that had allowed Congress to insulate those bodies from political interference.

“The President and the head of the Executive Branch reserve the right to remove individuals who are not fully compatible with the important mission of securing America’s elections and ensuring that every legal vote is counted,” a White House official said in a statement. he said. “The decision to massacre gives the President priority in doing so.”

The third commissioner, Republican Christy McCormick, also resigned this week.

Founded in 2002, the EAC is an independent board that provides funding, training and assistance to state election officials to help them prepare for federal elections and facilitate voter participation. It also certifies voting technology and administers county voter registration forms, among other duties.

The president’s move has been criticized by Democrats and voting rights groups who see it as a thinly veiled attempt to interfere in future elections, even though experts say it will likely have a limited impact on this election cycle.

“All the signals are flashing red, the latest being @POTUS’ mass dismissal of the remaining Federal Election Assistance Commission members,” Democratic strategist David Axelrod wrote in an op-ed. social media post on Friday.

Trump has called for “nationalizing” the elections in recent months. false allegations He cited widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election to justify his administration’s push to restrict mail-in voting, obtain state voter rolls and require proof of U.S. citizenship to vote.

These efforts met resistance in the courts; District court judges have dismissed nearly a dozen lawsuits against mostly Democratic-led states trying to force compliance with demands for voter data.

Cobb, who has become an outspoken Trump critic since leaving the White House in 2018, said that while federal courts have been “formidable in countering attacks on the rule of law,” Trump’s efforts to install loyalists throughout the federal government cannot be ignored.

“These forces are already on the ground,” he warned. “I don’t think we can be optimistic about the elections because he’s stacking every card he gets.”

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