Slate "Rudy Giuliani Isn't Even Trying to Make Coherent Legal Arguments Anymore"

[NRaleighLiberal]

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/11/trump-rudy-giuliani-pennsylvania-lawsuits-not-coherent.html

On Wednesday, a federal judge in Pennsylvania rejected the Trump campaign’s request for an additional evidentiary hearing over its effort to invalidate the vote in the state over a set of technicalities. The rejection didn’t deter the Trump campaign, though, which a few hours later requested to file an amendment to its already amended complaint, asking the judge in the case to throw out the entire election in Pennsylvania and declare Donald Trump the winner, an argument that already failed in state court. The new request was signed by Rudy Giuliani, who just one day earlier had appeared on behalf of a client as a lawyer in court for the first time in nearly three decades.

You may have heard that Giuliani’s appearance before the court on Tuesday did not go well. “I’ve never seen worse lawyering in an election law case in my life,” University of California–Irvine School of Law professor and Slate contributor Richard Hasen tweeted.

Since the election, Trump campaign attorneys have been arguing similarly thin cases in courts all over the country (and judges are trashing them for it). But Giuliani’s appearance on Tuesday was distinctly terrible. He treated the entire affair as though it were a Fox News appearance, raising baseless conspiracy theories unrelated to the case, failing to understand or answer basic questions of law, and contradicting himself on whether or not the campaign was actually alleging any “fraud.”

Giuliani’s appearance might have been amusing, if not for his goal: to invalidate the ballots of hundreds of thousands of mostly Black voters in Pennsylvania as part of a plan to overturn an election the president lost by about 6 million votes and functionally end American democracy. (It’s worth noting that Giuliani was reportedly only placed in charge of Trump’s legal strategy a few days ago, after multiple law firms withdrew from the president’s team.)

Below are some of the most dumbfounding lowlights of Giuliani’s legal presentation, which now appears doomed to fail.


snip


Finally, Giuliani seemed to struggle with the English language itself. When describing poll observers having been prevented from adequately observing the polls, he stated, “they were denied the opportunity to have observation and ensure opacity.” The judge sought to clarify that opacity means a lack of transparency, rather than transparency.

“I’m not quite sure I know what opacity means,” Giuliani said. “It probably means you can see. These are big words, your honor.”

[Cousin Dupree]

1. It's amazing to me that these people are unable to be embarrassed by their own behavior.

[Harker]

2. "A mind is a terrible thing to lose." n/t

[OLDMDDEM]

3. A mind is a terrible thing to waste

Rudy and Dumpy have lost theirs long ago. I just do not understand how 73 million people could vote for Dumpy. He has no moral compass or ideas of his own that help this country. He only cares about himself. Why are we in the position we are in about this election? The courts are throwing out their lawsuits. This makes no sense. I have actually lost friends due to this election.

[Harker]

5. I was quoting Dan Quayle.

It's incomprehensible to me, too, that roughly half the country actively wants or passively accepts a deranged demagogue.

Your having lost friends is a microcosm of the growing chasm that divides us. That's sad.

[OLDMDDEM]

7. We agree.

My son works for the DOD. He is a true dumpster. I call those who follow Dumpy, true dumpsters. He is an electrical engineer, GS15. Very intelligent and believes that Dumpy has done a fantastic job. I simply do not understand. Our family has agreed to not talk politics. Dumpy has been cruel to women, children and opposing views. He is either a very sick man or very, very cruel, or both.

[Harker]

8. Love trumps Trumpsky.

Not talking politics isn't so hard to do when you have so much else in common, but it still must pose challenges.

I think civility is worth striving for, and I can tell you do, as well.

I hope we can collectively start building on common ground and what shared values remain. Otherwise, this breakneck rush to the precipice is going to end with both Holmes and Moriarty going over Reichenbach Falls.

[safeinOhio]

4. Needs to jack up his daily fee to

$30K/day.

[2naSalit]

6. Yup, words consisting of more than two syllables...

He needs to just go the fuck away. He is a shining example of what our, up to now, systems of education and political interaction have wrought and shows what needs to change.