On Wednesday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is hiring former police officers to help him conduct an investigation of the 2020 election, in yet another perpetuation of former President Donald Trump's "big lie."
"Vos, of Rochester, said he recognizes Biden narrowly won Wisconsin and is not trying to change the results with his taxpayer-funded investigation," reported Patrick Marley. "He said he hopes the investigators can get to the bottom of issues Republicans have raised unsuccessfully in court, such as how the state's largest cities used more than $6 million in grants from a private group to run their elections."
According to the report, "Vos in a Wednesday interview said he was giving the investigators a broad mandate to spend about three months reviewing all tips and following up on the most credible ones. In addition to the grant spending, he said they may look into claims of double voting and review how clerks fixed absentee ballot credentials."
Vos has been a frequent enemy of voting rights. Last year, Vos and other Republicans in the heavily gerrymandered Wisconsin legislature worked with the state courts to block an effort to switch to mail-in voting for the pandemic ahead of a critical state Supreme Court race — although their preferred candidate went on to lose anyway.
This new effort to re-examine the election comes in the middle of a controversial and conspiracy-laden ballot "audit" in Arizona headed up by a pro-Trump cybersecurity company, and another GOP-backed audits in Georgia will move forward soon.
Some of the key figures in the protests that turned into the Jan. 6 insurrection don't plan on taking any action against Donald Trump's likely indictment in New York.
The former president expects to face charges as soon as Tuesday in connection with a hush money payout to porn actress Stormy Daniels, but few of his more prominent supporters have taken up his call for protests or other actions against the possibility of his indictment by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg Jr.'s office, reported the Associated Press.
"If you protest in New York City, you will be in the single most hostile jurisdiction in the United States," tweeted "Stop the Steal" organizer Ali Alexander. "There is no law and order. You have no liberty or rights there. You will be jailed or worse. Godspeed if this is your calling."
Alexander added that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, one of his allies in the "Stop the Steal" campaign, had told him that he would not take any action if Trump was charged.
READ MORE: 'Really sad': Adam Kinzinger roasts right-wing Christians for idolizing Trump
“We’ve both got enough going on fighting the government,” Alexander wrote. “No billionaire is covering our bills."
Right-wing provocateur Laura Loomer announced Saturday that she was organizing a pro-Trump rally outside Mar-a-Lago, reported the New York Times, but hours later deleted the tweet and instead encouraged supporters to attend his rally in Texas.
"Because I don’t want there to be any issues, upon further thought, it’s best people don’t show up to rally in front of Mar a Lago on Tuesday," Loomer tweeted. "I have deleted the rally post, & I believe it’s best for people to promote President Trump’s first official 2024 rally in Waco instead."
House speaker Kevin McCarthy has vowed to conduct a congressional investigation of Bragg's decision to charge Trump, but he stopped short of echoing the former president's call for protests.
“I don’t think people should protest this," McCarthy said. "I think President Trump, when you talk to him, he doesn’t think that, either."
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) tore into the "sad" conservatives proclaiming their belief in Christ and everything he stood for, while enthusiastically backing a former president about to be indicted for an improperly concealed $130,000 payment to an adult film star.
The exchange came during a CNN discussion of warnings about the unprecedented nature of the criminal case, from both former Rep. Peter Meijer (R-MI) and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ).
"I think they're both pointing to real risks for Democrats, and how this could be a political boon to the former president," said anchor Poppy Harlow. "I wonder what you think."
"Well, I certainly agree," said Kinzinger. "I've said from the beginning, I think this is going to secure Donald Trump's stature within the base GOP voter, which to me is actually really sad. Because these are people that profess Christ as their savior, that are now going to go out and defend a man that potentially, or is accused of, paying off, you know, a porn star, you know, to protect information about him, and then he lied to people about it. But I think it's a huge risk. If there was a preference, probably, if there was — you know, it would be like the federal case would come first or Georgia would come first, but that's not how the law works. The law works when you culminate an investigation and get an indictment through a grand jury."
RELATED: 'This man is a criminal': George Conway busts GOP's 'completely ridiculous' Trump defense
Kinzinger added a word of warning to his fellow Republicans, that "we don't know what the indictment is going to read."
"I would caution my Republican friends to wait until you see this indictment," said Kinzinger. "If, in fact, it comes. But, yeah, there's a huge political risk, no doubt. This is so unprecedented that this is all uncharted territory."
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Adam Kinzinger slams right-wing Christians for supporting Trump www.youtube.com
Should a Manhattan grand jury hand down an indictment against Donald Trump this week or later, how the former president responds with regard to turning himself in could have huge implications for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
With the former president claiming he will be arrested on Tuesday for his 2016 hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, it is expected that the former president will jet from his Mar-a-Lago home to New York and surrender to authorities.
However, the unpredictable and publicity-hungry Trump could elect to stay in Florida and force Bragg's hand to ask Florida to extradite the former president, which could complicate things for DeSantis as he continues to set up a 2024 presidential run of his own.
According to the New York Times, the law is on Bragg's side but DeSantis will have to weigh the political consideration of agreeing with the Manhattan DA and infuriating the hardcore conservative voters he would need to win the 2024 GOP nomination.
READ MORE: Georgia weighs slapping Trump with racketeering charges: CNN
"Surrender, some might argue, is not in the confrontational former president’s DNA, and he often seems to relish antagonizing and attacking the prosecutors who have investigated him," the Times report states before adding, "In the unlikely event that the former president refuses to surrender, he would put Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, his leading but undeclared rival for the Republican nomination, in an awkward political position. Under law, the role of Mr. DeSantis would be essentially ministerial and he would have few legal options other than approving an extradition request from New York."
"Still, if New York prosecutors sought Mr. Trump’s extradition, Mr. DeSantis would face an unenviable dilemma. He would be compelled to choose between authorizing an arrest warrant for Mr. Trump and inflaming his base, or attempting in some way to aide his Republican rival, and possibly face legal action as a result," the Times report added.
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