Blocking GOP electors, threatening professional ruin: Democrat authorities suppress vote questions

As supporters of President Trump have been highlighting evidence of voting irregularities since the Nov. 3 election, Democrat authorities scattered around the country have employed heavy-handed pressure tactics to chill dissent around those questions.

For example, Rep. Bill Pascrell, a New Jersey Democrat, said former mayor Rudy Giuliani and other members of the Trump campaign's legal team should be stripped of their law licenses for bringing what he claimed were "frivolous" lawsuits challenging electoral results. 

In Michigan, Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel in November warned in an ominous tweet that filing a false allegation of voter fraud could result in criminal prosecution. Nessel's tweet was responding to claims by Patrick Colbeck, a former Republican state senator, who made public comments during a Michigan Board of State Canvassers meeting where the state's election results were certified for Biden. 

Nessel claimed in her Twitter thread that Colbeck "has never made a complaint of election fraud" to the Michigan attorney general's office.

"If he had, we would have fully investigated said claim," she said. 

"Colbeck's assertions aside, intentionally making a false claim of criminal activity to law enforcement is itself a crime," Nessel continued. "It's been my experience that is often the reason certain reports are not made."

Nessel also said that she, along with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's office, could file sanctions against lawyers like Sidney Powell, who briefly worked jointly with the Trump campaign, that would effectively bar them from state courtrooms

"These are flagrant lies that Ms. Powell is submitting to, of all places, the United States Supreme Court," Nessel told a Detroit news outlet. "It's disturbing, and it undermines our entire profession, and she has to be held accountable. We'd be asking there be action taken against her law license including potentially disbarment."

As the contentious Electoral College certification process unfolded over the past two months, Republicans in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, New Mexico, and Nevada all entered in a competing slates of electors for President Donald Trump, even as the official Electoral College members in those six contested battleground states officially cast their ballots for Democrat Joe Biden. 

Republican electors in Michigan initially also attempted to cast conditional ballots for Trump but were physically denied by orders of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, who ordered state police officers to block them from entering the state capitol building. The electors were eventually successful, but the initial blocking through the force of the state yielded concerns about Whitmer's actions.

"I was several blocks away helping with paperwork under the Electoral Count Act of 1887 ... when the clients (including 3 state reps) and the electors (16 total) tried to go into the Capitol to comply with a Michigan statute ..." Michigan trial attorney Ian Northon told Just the News in an email. "They were denied entry to the front door 'due to COVID' and apparent 'substantiated threats.' Actual reports showed no violence or credible threats. As is becoming standard fare in Michigan, either the Michigan State Police are lying or the Governor is."

In Pennsylvania, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf rejected House Resolution 1100 introduced by state House Republicans seeking an audit of the state's election results. The resolution allowed the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (LBFC) to contract an outside agency to complete the audit, and the LBFC audit would not question the results of the 2020 election, but rather scrutinize the process to guarantee integrity in every election.

"A legislative audit is unnecessary and duplicative because post-election audits are standard practice for the administration," Wolf said in a statement rejecting the Republican audit effort while praising his own administration's auditing.  

In Washington, D.C., Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser, who has been a vocal critic of police force, did not let that hesitancy stop her from requesting that the National Guard deploy to Washington, D.C. ahead of pro-Trump marches planned for Wednesday as Congress is scheduled to meet and certify the presidential election results. 

"We're asking D.C. residents and people who live in the region to avoid confrontations with anybody who's looking for a fight," Bowser said. "And the best way to do that is to avoid the area." 

The Guard will be used to help control crowds and manage traffic, according to the D.C. police chief, but Trump supporters said the measure could be interpreted as excessive show of force to intimidate those exercising legal, constitutional means to challenge the impending Electoral College certification by Congress.