The prosecutor looking at then-President Trump's activities on and around Jan. 6 - Jack Smith - has filed additional materials in the prosecution he is heading. Meanwhile on the campaign trail Republicans keep getting asked if Biden won the election four years ago, mostly they hedge their answers. I've been thinking about how I'd answer that question.
I believe I'd answer that Joe Biden ended up with more ballots cast for him than were cast for Donald Trump. Biden was elected, inaugurated and is president.
My concern about the 2020 election is that it appears likely that many of those Biden ballots were cast and/or counted under conditions that violated the laws of the state, should have been ruled invalid and thus not counted. Instead they were counted.
The excuse given was the Covid pandemic, then ongoing. Private funding by wealthy individuals also influenced the collection and counting of ballots, which should be unlawful.
The schedule and structure of our system means there is no feasible way to challenge irregularities after an election. Our system presume a disinterested non-partisan aloofness in those operating the process and, in 2020, altering it at the last minute.
It is an aloofness that manifestly did not exist, and probably never exists. Governors and others took advantage of the pandemic to act unilaterally, using emergency powers in biased, self-interested ways.
You may argue Covid was a "black swan" event, unlikely to recur. However, now the precedent is set, expect similar "emergency" claims in future, for example Hurricanes Milton and Helene.
