America’s #1 voter fraud chasing attorney in shining armor: Marc Elias –
this personal piece on him first hand from WESTLAW TODAY via REUTERS with this headline which is an excellent
article by the writer, Jenna Greene:
“How Marc Elias sealed
Biden's win in court – 64”
(Reuters) - When Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States, Marc Elias, watching at home on television, didn't celebrate, at least not exactly. “I exhaled,” he told me with a laugh. Little wonder.
As quarterback of the Biden campaign's state-level
litigation team, the Perkins Coie partner for the last two months worked around
the clock to fend off a deluge of election challenges from former President
Donald Trump and his allies.
Prior to the
election, Elias said: “We knew
obviously there was going to be some litigation, but not on the scale we saw. The
volume we saw was unprecedented, and so was the nature of the claims, which if
successful would have disenfranchised millions of voters.”
While Elias said he never doubted Biden would ultimately
prevail, he admits that the stress of handling the cases – especially in the
midst of a pandemic – was: “Intense experience as emotionally and physically
exhausting.”
Not only were the stakes enormous, he said: “But, most
lawyers don't have to litigate with the entire public looking over your
shoulder and critiquing your legal strategy.”
By Elias' count, he and his colleagues won 64 cases to date since the 2020 election and lost just one, a minor challenge over the deadline (November 9 vs. November 12) to confirm the identities of first-time voters who voted by mail in PA.
It's an extraordinary record of success. But more than that, they have been crucial in shoring up the legitimacy of Biden's win even as judge after judge, even those appointed by Trump, tossed suits claiming election improprieties.
Some were dismissed for lack of evidence,
others for lack of standing. The plaintiffs also withdrew some of the filings.
As then-Senate GOP Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
put it in a floor speech shortly before rioters overran the Capitol, he said he:
“Supported the president's right to use the legal system. Dozens of lawsuits
received hearings in courtrooms all across our country. But over and over the
courts rejected these claims.”
Take a bow, team Biden.
Elias is a 1993 graduate
of Duke University School of Law, and he has long been a top election lawyer
for Democrats.
He was general counsel for John Kerry's presidential campaign in 2004.
He was lead counsel for Senator Al Franken in 2008, prevailing in the MN senate election recount.
He went on to
win recount fights for VA AG Mark Herring in 2013 and NC Gov. Roy Cooper in
2016.
He was also general
counsel to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016. Clinton of course
won the popular vote but lost in the Electoral College 227 to 304 — roughly the
same margin as Biden beat Trump in 2020.
Some of the state-level losses for Clinton were squeakers.
For example, Trump in 2016 carried Michigan by fewer than 11,000 votes. (Biden,
by contrast, beat Trump in Michigan by more than 150,000 votes.)
But the Clinton campaign filed zero lawsuits challenging the outcome of the election. Elias said: “No one can accuse me of being resistant to bringing litigation, and the margins in 2016 were closer than 2020 in some ways. But we concluded there was not a path there to victory.”
To be sure, he noted, some election results
are well worth challenging. Elias points to the 2000 presidential race between
George W. Bush and Al Gore, when the outcome of the entire contest hinged on just
FL, when a tiny number of votes (in the end, 537). None of those circumstances
was present, he said sounding incredulous.
According to Elias'
Democracy Docket website, where court filings on both sides are posted it says:
“At times, the Trump litigation had the
feel of Hercules versus the Hydra – you cut off one head, and two more grew
back in its place. In MI for example, Trump and his Republican allies filed
nine post-election suits seeking to halt ballot counting or stop the
certification of election results. In WI and AZ, there were seven suits; in NV
eight; in Georgia 10; and in PA a whopping 15.”
For Elias, November and December were a blur. He worked
seven days a week, holidays included, from early in the morning until late at
night, pausing only for a brief midday break to exercise or as he says: “Just do nothing” although he
also said he avoided watching the news to minimize stress.
One of the most dispiriting moments, he said, was when 17 state AG’s general filed an amicus brief backing TX against the U.S. Supreme Court petition to prevent presidential electors from MI; GA; WI; and PA from casting their votes, adding: “It was absolutely astonishing. I never worried about the long-term damage of Trumpism until these 17 AGs signed on to Texas' claim against those four states.”
Now, looking ahead to 2024 and the
next election, Elias said he worries that Republican legislators will point to
unfounded allegations of voter fraud to further restrict voting rights. He said: “But if they do, they'll see me in court.” (Marc’s real grit).
My 2 Cents: Since that article was published until now that last part is in full swing in nearly every state with MAGA pressure on local election officials to early on be prepared to not certify the final vote count and/or to disrupt the process from day one.
However, Marc Elias and his team is ready all across the nation to intervene and stop that – but he needs a helping hand from average citizens and of course volunteer lawyers to sign on with him to stop Trump and his MAGA onslaught in 2024 which will be far worse than 2020 by a longshot.
See what you can do to help Elias and his team at your level.
Thanks
for stopping by.
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