The Trump game plan is to gum things up with bogus lawsuits to give some state legislatures the cover to overturn the election results. One of the law firms he is working with is Jones Day, one of the largest firms in the world, which has clients like Verizon and GM. The Lincoln Project and others are suggesting that these clients be pressured to drop Jones Day unless the firm stops working with Trump. Any ideas on how to pressure them? I do have a Verizon phone plan.
Also too, let’s raise some money for Stacey Abrams’ ballot access group and for the two special elections in Georgia.
Jon Ossoff, Georgia Senate
Raphael Warnock, Georgia Senate
Fair Fight (Stacey Abrams’ ballot access group)
TomatoQueen
In the Scott Pelley era, CBS Evening News would display gigantic photos of urban landmarks at the end of the broadcast, and Jones Day was always mentioned as the donor. This always struck me as a bit too cozy.
Kristine
I thought this was highly, highly improbable to damned near impossible given that some of the swing states have Dem governors and SoSs and others would need to break their own election laws in order to do so. And PA already stated they’re not going against the will of the electorate.
Did something happen to blitz this to confetti?
jonas
IANAL, but I’m not connecting the dots here. Help me out. Is the idea that if they can find a judge to toss enough ballots, the legislature will declare Trump the winner and certify only Republican electors or something? I guess that’s a plan of sorts, but the problem Trump keeps running into is that the mail-in ballots that keep getting counted are just mail-in ballots that need to be counted — they still can’t prove any funny business. And it’s funny how there has only been funny business in states Trump needs to win. Nobody from Arkansas is coming forward to allege they saw rampant attempts to steal the election there and we know Soros would be running a 50-state operation.
PsiFighter37
@Kristine: I think that is the reason for them trying to delay certifications, the first from various states (DE, SC, OK to name a few) that are already happening. My hunch is that all of these lawsuits get tossed with prejudice, and SCOTUS will not bother listening to any arguments unless it is to overturn a stupid decision made by an appellate court.
Yarrow
Another thing we can do is call all of our elected representatives, particularly any Republican reps we have, and ask them why they are not speaking out to support the peaceful transition of power. And I mean call any elected official. Mayor. City council. County clerk. Dog catcher. Whoever. They’re elected so they should understand peaceful transition of power. Any of them could speak out.
WaterGirl
@PsiFighter37: I listened to Bob Bauer again yesterday, and he is adamant that legislatures do not get to decide this thing.
Benw
Unless you’re full fascist I don’t get how you can be working for Trump now. If a nightmare miracle happens and you help Trump steal the election, I hope your commission was worth the last free US election!
Another Scott
Thanks for the thermometers, DougJ! (I donated earlier.)
A bit of levity:
rofl.
Since Fox News isn’t really news according to their own court filings, all’s fair. Amirite??!!
Cheers,
Scott.
Steve in the ATL
@TomatoQueen: per my Bloomberg Law terminal today re Jones Day, they are doing just fine:
2514 lawyers
908 equity partners
profit per lawyer $405,000
profit per equity partner $1,121,000
Equity draws cut or deferred NO
Cuts to attorney salaries NO
Cuts to staff salaries NO
Furloughs attorneys NO
Furloughs staff NO
Attorney layoffs NO
Staff layoffs NO
Other pain from pandemic NO
EthylEster
DougJ wrote: Any ideas on how to pressure them?
Delusional much?
These guys have already gotten a ton of money (millions, see below) from Trump, etc. It’s what they do for a living. They would just prefer not to take any heat for it, selfish assholes that they are. But I’m sure sternly worded letters or a really sharp Lincoln project video will convince said assholes to abstain from making their huge of pots of money.
From LGM: This year, Jones Day has received more than $4 million in fees from Mr. Trump, political groups supporting him and the Republican National Committee, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission records.
boatboy_srq
We mustn’t forget that Lord Dampnut’s previous experience has taught that litigation is a highly successful solution for him to get his way. In private practice, the opposition is either bludgeoned into submission by the number and variety of lawsuits or lacks the means to contest them successfully. In this case, though, the litigants are all public, so the means is not in question and the obligation to uphold the law is far higher than the dependency on the economies of industry. A state has the means to investigate and pursue the appropriate actions without regard to time or expense, where a construction company or workers’ union will see diminishing returns far more quickly and be much more ready to bargain or arbitrate. Civil servants will bemoan the waste of public funds but they’ll carry on with the procedures.
Lord Dampnut has no idea how badly he has lost this one, although he and his are almost certainly not going to foot the bill. He’s entered an arena where the rules he knows do not apply, and he has no experience with the ones that do.
boatboy_srq
RE: pressure on VZ/GM: there’s little individual citizens can do to apply pressure to these entities – but there’s more than a little bad publicity Lincoln Project could apply.
In GM’s case it might be useful to point out that Lord Dampnut has done significant damage to their ability to do business offshore.
something fabulous
I have been wondering: why is Ossof’s thermometer for such a vastly higher number than Warnock’s? Is it carryover from his first run? Seems very pointedly lopsided otherwise! Thanks and off to read in case already asked & answered.
frosty
@Steve in the ATL: That’s profit per lawyer and not revenue per lawyer!? JFC what s gravy train in your business!
Billing rate for a year for our average engineers would be a little south of $300K. Revenue. Profit for state and local government work is capped at 10%.
Steve in the ATL
@frosty:
you are correct, sir: PROFITS per lawyer, not revenue. So that’s net, after they pay their rent and staff salaries and take people like me out for $2,000 lunches and $6,000 dinners as “business development”.
Think how many SG’s you could buy. Vintage ones!
WaterGirl
@something fabulous: The thermometer does include the 2018 run. Even so, Ossoff does some to get a lot more donations than Warnock.
mali muso
Any reason the Fair Fight thermometer does not have a paypal option? That’s usually my go to method on ActBlue and this is the first time I haven’t see. It available.
HinTN
@Steve in the ATL: What does one consume at a $2000 lunch?
debbie
@EthylEster:
Hold on! Has Trump actually paid them???
Matt McIrvin
@Kristine: The idea is that some wording in recent stuff written by Kavanaugh and, I think, Alito, suggests that if the state legislatures simply ignore state and federal law and the governor and anoint some presidential electors themselves, SCOTUS might actually agree that those are the legit ones. I guess everyone voted for nothing!
I think it’s a stretch, personally. (Even Kavanaugh was talking bout obeying the letter of actual laws, not allowing the lege to violate them anytime.) I also don’t entirely see how you get from SCOTUS believing this to both houses of Congress agreeing–can the Supreme Court order Congress to vote a certain way? But it’s scary enough to be fascinating.
The Moar You Know
Nice theory on Trumps part, but just flat out not how it works. And none of the states seem terribly inclined to even consider the idea.
Matt McIrvin
@The Moar You Know: Some state legislators, including the PA Senate majority leader who dismissed it before, are starting to say disturbing things that suggest they might be coming around.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@debbie: I’d like to see those numbers broken down to which of those three entities paid how much.
Then I want to see the paper trail on any money that passed through trump’s personal accounts
Goku (Amerikan Baka)
@Matt McIrvin:
They would have to break their own laws to do so. AFAIK, Kavanaugh’s dumb theory about state legs only getting to decide how their elections are run would not effect this one because the laws on the books were in effect for this election already. They already decided. The state leg can’t just change the rules if they don’t like the result after the fact
Besides, the House can’t just refuse to vote to certify the election until the correct electors are approved
WaterGirl
@Matt McIrvin: Do you have links for that?
Betty
@Kristine: PA Republicans have been suggesting a change in that position. Shameful. I just hope they pay a price for this encouragement of division.
Steve in the ATL
@HinTN: wine, liquor, and sometimes food.
ETA: admittedly, it would be very hard to do in your neck of the woods! Maybe $200. MAYBE.
Aziz, light!
@something fabulous: For the run-off, Ossoff is getting more support because unseating Purdue is the steeper climb.
TomatoQueen
@Steve in the ATL: I invoke efg
Another Scott
Cheers,
Scott.