I can’t stand Donald Trump. But keeping him off the ballot in Colorado is outrageous. It is so un-American. Four months ago, I wrote to our dear NH Sec’y of State to make sure NH was not going to deballotize Trump. Here is that letter, dated August 28, 2023 (it has a bearing on the foolishness in Colorado and elswhere).
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Dear Secretary of State Scanlan,
Best greetings!
It’s not true, is it, that you are going to deprive Trump of access to the ballot in the NH primary? I heard of it only today at GraniteGrok.com, but I may have misheard. It would be so totally NOT NEW HAMPSHIRE to play such a game. The rest of the country respects us. Is someone trying to demolish even that small national joy?
The US Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment, sec 3, holds that no person can be elected who had taken an oath of office to support the Constitution and subsequently “engaged in insurrection or rebellion.” No one has proven anything about Trump engaging in insurrection or rebellion.
This month, on August 1, 2023, Trump was charged with four crimes in the US District Court of the District of Columbia, Case 1:23-cr-00257-TSC:
1. Conspiracy to defraud the US (by spreading false stories about the election).
2. Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding (by planning to obstruct Congress on Jan 6).
3. Obstruction of and attempt to instruct an official proceeding.
4. Conspiracy against people’s right to vote (by intimidating them).
I think you’d agree that none of those charges could win a conviction. Most likely, the January 6 “riot” was a psy-op to lower the image of our nation and also to pave Tyranny’s way.
Two official means of helping us find the facts were squelched.
First was the Select Committee of the House to investigate Jan 6, with Adam Schiff and others telling such embarrassing lies. Second was the Republican-led Senate’s declining to try Trump’s second impeachment. Even Rand Paul insisted on voting to “acquit summarily,” yet Trump himself should have wanted to have the insurrection story put on the table!
A third way that Americans were deprived of learning the facts was the wrongful imprisonment of many of the protestors. They were kept in jail in solitary, in conditions that would conduce to their opting to plead guilty in exchange for release. This is an obstruction of justice for which the FBI and DoJ attorneys should be arrested.
Come to think of it, a fourth way that we all got screwed, pardon my French, was by Trump’s declining to tell us what he intended his supporters to do to make the Certification process get derailed on January 6, 2021. He did say that Pence should help, but there was no way for that to happen. Per 3 USC 15.2: “The President of the Senate [Vice President Pence] shall have no power to solely determine, accept, reject, or otherwise adjudicate or resolve disputes over the proper certificate of ascertainment of appointment of electors, the validity of electors, or the votes of electors.”
Many Americans knew before Jan 6 that finagling had occurred in the 2020 election, possibly in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Arizona. (Actually, everywhere, if we can believe Jim Collier’s 1992 fabulous book Votescam — and I do.) Citizens could have fought it out with their state government. But as January 6 drew nigh, it was too late for people to act at the state level. Rather, the citizens’ target had to be Congress.
The method for Congress to intervene is cut and dried. Any House of Reps member can stand up and complain when dodgy ballots are being opened. Then, if at least one senator is willing to co-sign that complaint, it must go to each chamber for a vote, preceded by a maximum 2-hour debate. A majority of both chambers will result in a given state’s ballots being set aside.
Just as Arizona was being counted, a Rep complained. Bang! In came the “rioters.” We all recall the disruption, the breaking of glass, the guy wearing the horn hat, etc. The members escaped to their office rooms, and after 8 pm, they reassembled and continued the counting job till around 2 am. Debates actually did ensue for three states; I have read them at Congress.gov. None got a majority vote to de-certify. Conceivably, without the ‘riot,’ Trump’s desire for decertification may have prevailed. So Trump acted self-destructively if he encouraged a riot!
Mr. Scanlan, if you are indeed thinking of leaving Trump’s name off the 2024 primary ballot, maybe it is because Trump is also accused in Georgia of having pressured your counterpart, Sec’y of State Brad Raffensperger, to “find” 11,000 votes. I say that this was not a crime. If a president OR ANYONE has seen fraud in an election, they surely can ask the proper officials to dig out the correct voting numbers. When I heard that Fulton County, GA, was preparing a case, I swiftly wrote to the foreman of that Grand Jury to point out the facts as above.
I am no Trump supporter. I think he did a tragic job as president. I sued him twice for vaccinations and for threatening to nuke North Korea. It’s a pity that folks will feel loyal to Trump because he is victimized. It would be better for citizens to be loyal to the parchment.
Please do the right thing, Mr. Secretary, I’m sure you will. Excuse me for even worrying about the rumor of “no access.”
Thank you very much for listening!
