A major right-wing legal group with ties to Donald Trump and his allies has borrowed millions of dollars from conservative foundations to file multiple lawsuits challenging voting rules in swing states, and has already disrupted the election. Election watchdog groups have warned that it is sowing distrust in the process and spreading dangerous conspiracy theories.
They also warned that these groups appear to be laying the groundwork for a concerted challenge to the results of November’s presidential election if Trump loses to Kamala Harris. There is.
From 2017 to 2022, America First Legal and the Public Interest Legal Foundation will be able to invest in the Wisconsin-based Bradley Impact Fund and its parent company, Lind & Harry, according to a financial analysis by the Center for Media and Center.・In total, the Bradley Foundation has generated more than $30 million in revenue. Democracy.
The group’s lawsuit overlaps with some Republican lawsuits and focuses in part on ultra-rare non-referendum votes and bloated voter roll collusion charges that led to the failed presidential election. If this happens, further lawsuits by Mr. Trump may occur. Watchdog groups say this reflects the claims of 2020 election deniers.
“The lawsuits brought by these right-wing groups attack the integrity of voting rolls, voting methods, and vote counting methods, making it difficult for people to vote, disenfranchising people, and intimidating and disrupting legitimate voters. It’s clear that this is an attempt to provoke a crisis,” said Larry Noble, former general counsel for the Federal Election Commission.
“At the same time, Trump appears to be laying the groundwork to contest the election results after November 5th if he loses,” Noble added.
In another worrying sign, Noble rejected the “grounds for a non-referendum lawsuit,” citing a lack of data to support the non-referendum claim.
In response to President Trump’s false claims of widespread non-referendum voting in the 2016 presidential election, a study conducted by New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice reveals only 30 incidents out of 23.5 million votes cast. It was not done.
Other poll watchdog groups have also issued strong warnings about the MAGA Alliance’s legal onslaught.
“During this election cycle, we’ve seen more lawsuits from Trump’s allies targeting battleground states,” said David Becker, who runs the nonpartisan nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research. There appears to be a lack of evidence.”
Becker said plaintiffs in the lawsuits often have known about the policies at issue for years or even decades, including issues around voting lists, non-referendum votes, mail-in voting and military voting. Critics pointed out that he seemed to have intentionally waited until the last moment. to file a lawsuit. “It is very unlikely that they will get the relief they are seeking, but this could later strengthen their claims that the election was stolen,” he said.
Mr. Becker’s claims are underlined by an onslaught of lawsuits by MAGA’s allies in battleground states.
The surge in lawsuits is exemplified in Michigan, where the Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) has filed a lawsuit alleging that the names of deceased people appear on voter rolls and are attempting to wipe them out. This reflects moves by right-wing groups and political parties this year. Republican Party.
PILF’s Michigan lawsuit states that the state is “consistently one of the most aggressive states in the nation in deregistering deceased voters,” and that “dead voters are routinely removed from Michigan’s voter rolls.” It was dismissed on March 1 by a federal judge, who ruled that the application had been deleted. and a continuing basis.”
PILF, which has filed similar lawsuits in several other states, received approximately $3 million from two Bradley Foundations between 2017 and 2022. It is chaired by Cleta Mitchell, a former Trump lawyer and director of the Lind & Harry Bradley Foundation. Mitchell responded to President Trump’s infamous call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2, 2021, to “find” 11,780 votes to reverse his loss in Georgia. I begged.
In late 2021, Mitchell organized a large MAGA Alliance project called the Election Integrity Network that promoted voting conspiracy and election denial claims around 2020, and has remained a central figure in right-wing legal efforts this year. It continued to exist.
Shortly after Pilf’s lawsuit was dismissed, the Republican National Committee filed a similar lawsuit in Michigan, which Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson denounced as a “PR campaign disguised as a meritless lawsuit.”
Meanwhile, in Arizona, America First Legal, run by President Trump’s former immigration adviser Stephen Miller, ordered each state to investigate about 44,000 voters who registered without providing proof of citizenship. He filed a lawsuit to force the county to do so.
The legal battle was prompted in part by Arizona’s two-step voter registration system, which requires voters to show proof of citizenship in state elections but not in federal elections.
Chuck Coughlin, a veteran Republican consultant in Arizona who became an independent in 2017, said, “This lawsuit is driven by falsehoods about non-referendum votes, and is designed to reduce turnout and suppress young voters through negative campaigning.” It’s part of President Trump’s argument that he will.” Participation in the Cycle”.
Miller’s group’s legal offensive has been supported by large checks from right-wing donors, including a whopping $27 million in 2022 from the Bradley Impact Fund.
Voting experts don’t see much merit in the group’s lawsuit, or in many others filed by Trump allies.
“Many of these lawsuits appear to be a vehicle for spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation,” said Leah Tulin, senior litigation attorney at the Brennan Center. “In other words, they read it more as a press release than a serious legal argument.”
As examples, Tulin cited several lawsuits filed by the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), whose board includes billionaire Linda McMahon, a former Trump Cabinet member and co-chair of the current transition team. Ta.
AFPI has filed lawsuits in Georgia and Arizona, including one aimed at allowing local election officials to block the certification of results if they suspect fraud. In Georgia, a Fulton County judge this month dismissed AFPI’s Georgia lawsuit filed on behalf of county election officials affiliated with Mitchell’s Election Integrity Network.
AFPI also filed a lawsuit in Texas this year, arguing that Biden’s 2021 effort to green-light government agencies to promote voter registration is nothing more than a partisan move likely to help Democrats. .
Ken Blackwell, director of AFPI’s Election Integrity Center and former Ohio Secretary of State, said in August that the Biden administration is “attempting to weaponize federal agencies into left-wing campaign operations that open the door to non-referendum voting.” X accused him of proceeding with the project. .
On another MAGA-aligned campaign front, Arizona-based Restoration of America is giving $3.1 million and $5.9 million to Tea Party Patriots Action and the Susan B. Anthony List in 2021 and 2022, respectively. donated dollars. Both groups have been active in the Only Citizens Vote Coalition, according to Issue One, a nonpartisan political reform group.
Restoration of America is proud to have State Republican Party Chair Gina Swoboda as our top executive. Swoboda is also an ally and podcast guest of Cleta Mitchell, who helped lead the Only Citizens Vote Coalition. This year, the Coalition government helped pass a bill in the House of Commons that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, despite having almost zero non-referendum votes and being illegal.
Election watchdog groups say the goal of these pro-Trump groups with negative election records, coupled with a proliferation of lawsuits by other MAGA allies, is to cast doubt on election rules and security. It says it is a prelude to challenges in the state. Trump loses.
“Under the guise of election integrity, new policies and legal challenges are being advanced that could ultimately disenfranchise the American people,” said Michael Beckel, director of the study. he said.
“Secret big-money donors are disseminating massive amounts of disinformation about election integrity, creating an environment in which Trump supporters can challenge the results of the presidential election if they don’t like it,” Becker said. he added.
Similarly, former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania told the Guardian: I think they are trying to lay the groundwork to challenge the certification in a lawsuit after the election. ”
Ultimately, Noble said the wave of lawsuits “created an atmosphere that posed a real and present threat to the safety of election officials who have a long track record of administering free and fair elections” and that they are protecting democracy and election security. He stressed that this poses a long-term risk.
“These are not just the efforts of some non-military groups, and this is not about real election integrity,” he said. “These are efforts supported by Mr. Trump and the (Republican National Committee) whose claims of election fraud have long been debunked. It seems to be about putting Mr. Trump back in power.”
