Electors demand intelligence briefing before Electoral College vote

[NYC Liberal]

Source: Politico

At least 10 members of the Electoral College, including Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s daughter Christine and a former member of Congress, are demanding a briefing from U.S. intelligence officials on any ongoing investigations into Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.

In a letter to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper the electors -- nine Democrats and one Republican -- argue that they require the information ahead of Dec. 19, when the Electoral College is set to meet and select the next president.

“The Electors require to know from the intelligence community whether there are ongoing investigations into ties between Donald Trump, his campaign or associates, and Russian government interference in the election, the scope of those investigations, how far those investigations may have reached, and who was involved in those investigations,” they wrote. “We further require a briefing on all investigative findings, as these matters directly impact the core factors in our deliberations of whether Mr. Trump is fit to serve as President of the United States.”

The letter is signed by electors from five states and the District of Columbia. In addition to Christine Pelosi — a California elector — it includes a signature from one former members of Congress: New Hampshire’s Carol Shea Porter, who recently won election to her former House seat.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/electors-intelligence-briefing-trump-russia-232498

[MFM008]

1. Sounds like a first

To me.

[wordpix]

20. Write to EC at http://www.asktheelectors.org

you can ask more of them to support this report. Also pls. ask them to postpone the electors' vote until conclusion of recounts, court cases, investigations.

[NoMoreRepugs]

31. thanks for the link wordpix

sending a plea of sorts for some sanity actually made me feel better - Thank YOU

[Leith]

55. Sorry to Throw a Wet Blanket on This

But I don't think that this is legitimately a website for the electors.

https://www.whois.net

Put "www.asktheelectors.org" into the search engine and you can see that the site went up on Nov 15 of this year and the address is a mail drop in a mall area of Scottsdale AZ, next to a Gold's Gym.

Damn. It would be great if the electors could actually hear or read people's concerns, but it doesn't look like this will do that. I look up websites a lot and I've seen this address before. I don't know who owns these websites or why they started this one, but putting "http://it-ebooks.info/" into the search engine of whois.net gives you the same address.

The website owners may be collecting info on people and I don't want my fellow DUers to give out information on the internet to a website that is hiding who the owners are.

Again, very sorry, workpix.

[sarah FAILIN]

58. Look yours up on facebook

I sent a message to one of mine, not that it did any good. He was making fun of people doing this.

[Sunlei]

61. DOT 'ORG' is not a DOT GOV website. please don't give them any personal information.

[riversedge]

65. Thank YOU.

[world wide wally]

2. Here's a clue about n whether Trump is fit to serve as President:

NO

[blue neen]

3. Excellent.

[Coyotl]

4. They may also want to be briefed on any criminal inquiries!

Investigation of the DNC hack led to a Trump secret server in NYC connected to two servers in Russia.

FBI has FISA warrant for Trump secret server connected to Russia.

[AlexSFCA]

5. subpoena

Is there any way CIA can subpoena IRS to obtain Trump's tax returns. Or say with these CIA reports, electors have a reason to suspect treason and should demand evidence otherwise. It seems like we need proof of Trump's campaign communicating with Russia and if his campaign refuses to release emails to CIA then, perarps, some electors won't vote for Trump? 37 is a huge number though...

Basically, is there enough evidence to launch treason investigation against Trump??

This could perharps delay EC vote until the investigation is complete?

[wordpix]

22. for sure Ghouly was at least one link between Trump camp and Russia

recall Rudy's "something big coming" right before Comey's late non-news about HRC emails.

[Sunlei]

62. Thats why 'Ghouly' had to refuse the 'job' because extensive background security check required.

[Angleae]

59. Not the CIA. Well, not legally anyway.

The CIA has no domestic enforcement ability. It would have to be the FBI to subpoena it.

[hamsterjill]

6. Good!

I hope the heat keeps getting hotter!

We deserve to know the truth about this election!

[Amishman]

7. The count seems to be 9 Hillary electors and that same Pub from TX who already denounced Trump

Don't get your hopes up, the pub electors do not appear to be breaking ranks.

[Hortensis]

8. They sure don't. Electors from 5 states only at this point.

Still, at least they're on the record. This request itself is huge.

[secondwind]

9. Is it true that electors in 29 states are obliged to vote for the winner in that state?

[Hortensis]

11. It's an untried law, from what I've read, but

basically yes. The states passed laws turning their electors into rubber-stampers.

They're virtually all, or all, red states increasingly can't win the presidency based on popular vote. And, of course, in going so far right they're turning out some incredibly extremist and even sociopathic candidates, so let's hope this election generates a lawsuit to overturn them.

[wordpix]

24. terrible; however nothing in Amendment XII states electors must vote a certain way

so smart electors who don't want Trump can say the Const. trumps their state's laws

[Calista241]

44. Kind of like the difference between delegates and superdelegates right?

[Hortensis]

50. To the best of my knowledge, Calista. If any break

the state law binding them to the state results, federal courts will have to determine if the state law broken is valid, plus appeals, etc. Very interesting times...

[PoliticAverse]

40. Even so, the penalties are slight and the laws requiring them to so so may be unconstitutional.

[awoke_in_2003]

16. Yep

They identify two blue states plus D.C., all of whom weren't going to vote trump anyway. Would like to know the other states, but I bet they are blue as well.

[Ford_Prefect]

10. Silly question for today: If enough electors change or refuse to vote Trump into office,

perhaps by voting for a 3rd candidate (John Kasich for instance), does it get kicked to Congress to decide, or can Congress over-rule a disputed or re-ordered electoral count. I know that the states have rules about this but the electors are also human beings and occasionally subject to doubt.

[NYC Liberal]

13. Congress could refuse to certify some votes

but that would just cause them to not be counted -- they can't change the votes. So the end result is the same if Trump doesn't get 270 whether they're not counted or counted as votes for someone else.

If Trump doesn't get 270 after Congress certifies all the votes then the House will vote on the president.

[wordpix]

25. Amendment XII - getting most EC votes wins presidency and if a tie, q goes to the House

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelfth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

So if Kasich gets the most EC votes, he becomes pres. Although Hillary should challenge that if she comes in 2nd, since Kasich dropped out of the race and more recently, says he doesn't want the EC to vote him in.

[onenote]

39. Not getting "most" -- getting a majority.

And Kasich, who has publicly said he does not want electors to vote for him, isn't getting 270 electoral votes even if every Democratic elector switched to him.

[riversedge]

33. It gets kicked to the House of Reps. This is the process. I would

of course not like it but it would follow the Constitutional process at least.

[PoliticAverse]

41. If no one gets 270 electoral votes (and remember electors can vote for anyone)...

then it goes to the House which must pick among the 3 highest electoral vote getters.

[mopinko]

53. it is a silly question. it makes no sense to think the electors would act but still

deny the popular vote winner.
it is an absurdity to even have any "concern" for this .

[zipplewrath]

12. Pointless

I suppose if your only goal is to generate a sense of "illegitimacy" over the Trump administration, this might have some value. But they can get briefed all they want. Even if they get enough votes to prevent his election, it just goes to the House, where he will basically be selected. Even if they don't, the only other person they'll pick will be Pence.

Unfortunately, there is no way out of this nightmare. It's real and we have to begin to understand that. In our system, the GOP controls, and will control any possible way to address the results of the election. There will be no "re-election". ANY result that somehow "invalidates" the election will result in the whole thing going to the House. After inauguration, it would take impeachment, PERIOD. After that, the line of succession goes through Pence and Ryan, not to mention Sec of State. It's a nightmare and there will be no savior. All we can do is to repeatedly point out the failings, and counter the "fake news". And in two years we can start to argue about the next candidate.

[NYC Liberal]

14. Fine by me. I'm all for doing anything to weaken any

"mandate" he tries to claim.

If he's going to be president, then for now this is the best approach before he actually takes office.

[zipplewrath]

15. Drain the Swamp

Personally, I think the best thing is to highlight his cabinets weaknesses. He's collecting his own basket of deplorables and it is virtually the opposite of "draining the swamp". Even congress is uncomfortable with some of his people. I think the whole Russia thing isn't going to go very far because of the classification problems. It will be useful over on the Hill, but the better angle is highlighting the conflicts his appointments have, and will continue having. Sooner or later, it starts to wear on him and the GOP as the "swamp" appears to continue to do quite well.

[NYC Liberal]

17. That too. Every hit counts.

Attack on all fronts. Weaken his mandate. Go after his appointments. Do what the GOP did to Obama and block block block.

[zipplewrath]

23. Don't trip over ourselves

Just as long as a meaningless controversy doesn't distract from a substantive/effective one.

[NYC Liberal]

32. I agree. But I don't think this is a meaningless controversy.

Just because the results may not change doesn't mean it isn't a serious issue.

[zipplewrath]

52. Not for Trump

He's going to be president regardless. The serious part is that Russia is doing this, and will continue to do this. Trump, in the long run, will be the president that addresses it, and that can only help him unless he screws up amazingly badly. Us making a big deal out of it only builds him up if he manages to do anything.

[Calista241]

45. It doesn't matter if he has a mandate or not.

He's got a Repub House and a Repub Senate. That's all the mandate he needs.

The only thing a mandate did was scare the opposition party into following along during a Presidents first 100 days.

Thanks to Senate rule changes, we're basically powerless to stop him if the Repubs are all on the same page.

[Jean-Jacques Roussea]

30. Defeatism is why we lose

Don't give up. I can't imagine Obama handing the country over to a Russian operative.

[zipplewrath]

51. Get ready to watch

Obama can't do anything to stop it. At this point it's all in Congress' hands.

[adigal]

47. Doing everything we can to make him illegitimate is a win in my book

The more illegitimate he is, the less cover he will give reoubs to dismantle out government.

Although he is doing his best on his own, with his complete disrespect of our intelligence agencies. Even McConnell spoke against the disrespect shown.

[7962]

54. TWO years. Ugh. Pretty soon the 'cycle" will be non stop. nt

[BigDemVoter]

18. At the very least, I am CERTAIN this will make the Orange Rectum pucker.

[wordpix]

26. weatherman says expect a tweetstorm

Tweetler does that when he's making himself clear. First tweet starts, "The Electoral College is a disaster..."

[adigal]

48. Im interested who he will go,after tonight in his Nuremberg Tour, Part III

Who will recieve his wrath tonight?

[BigDemVoter]

49. Funny you asked!

I was wondering the same thing. I have a strong feeling it will be John McCain on the Republican side. . . John McCain has been more vocal about this than almost any other R, and we know the Donald doesn't like that at all.

I'm not sure which Dem he'll Tweet about-- probably all of us. How sad. .

[AlexSFCA]

19. ray of hope

It's a ray of hope, however small, helps us to get through another week until the judgment day of 12/19. The fact that the CIA report story is still the news not deflected by Trump shows that we still not completely lost our capability to stay on message.

I can see how electors in Utah may switch their votes to McMullin, former CIA agent.

We may not get enough electors to switch but any significant decrease in electoral voted will help to denormalize Trump and keep his administration in check. The fact that even McConnel is requesting investigation means GOP will not give Trump a pass. I honestly beleive that by rejecting Trump, GOP will be doing their party a service long term because they for once will do something good for this country.

No matter how futile this effort, we need to be as agressive as we can be until 12/19! And please do not suggest voting for Clinton - it is counterproductive and deligitimizes our effor as partisan.

[wordpix]

29. this 12/19 date could be moved back, geesh. Will they melt if the vote is in Jan?

[AlexSFCA]

34. even better

If the vote is moved to January, we could at least have hopeful holidays celebration!

Most importantly, this development helps to denormalize Trump after media has been trying so hard to notmalize him. I am also seeing so many people went back to sleep so judging by my facebook feed, folks are waking up!

[wordpix]

37. I just tweeted this to Podesta. Move back the date!

[PoliticAverse]

42. Congress sets the date. n/t

[Jean-Jacques Roussea]

36. Red pilling the electors is a must

We need to lift their Ruso-Trump brainwashing with cold hard facts and we need to do it now

[Glimmer of Hope]

21. CNN just reported that Podesta is calling for this too!

[riversedge]

27. podesta says Clinton campaign backs effort to get Electoral College voters intel briefing on Russian

Gabriel Debenedetti Verified account
‏@gdebenedetti

BREAKING: @johnpodesta says Clinton campaign backs effort to get Electoral College voters intel briefing on Russian interference


https://twitter.com/gdebenedetti/status/808368390402408448


Gabriel Debenedetti ‏@gdebenedetti 40m40 minutes ago

Here's the full Podesta statement




https://twitter.com/gdebenedetti/status/808369391943503872

[riversedge]

28. msnbc is reporting on Clinton camp approval--and politico story

Gabriel Debenedetti ‏@gdebenedetti 42m42 minutes ago

Gabriel Debenedetti Retweeted Gabriel Debenedetti

Story w @kyledcheney here. Podesta: “We support their efforts to have their questions addressed." http://politi.co/2hwhXHG

[wordpix]

35. very nice, HRC still has some fight. You go, girl!

[wordpix]

38. In light of the orig. article posted re: leaderless Dems in Congress, here's hoping HRC

will start fighting to get the investigations, information, recounts and so on so we can postpone the EC vote and get some clarity on Russia's role and Trump collusion. From there, let the EC vote but not before

[onenote]

43. And when the request is denied, as it will be, then what?

I'm not a fan of pointless exercises, I guess.

If these specific electors don't get the briefing they request, what will they do. Not cast their votes for Clinton? Is there some set of facts under which the briefing they seek would cause them to vote for Trump?

And if the briefing is offered to all electors and the Trump electors decline the invitation, then what?

[Achilleaze]

46. For the sake of America and democracy, this must happen

[humbled_opinion]

56. There is little doubt that

Russia's involvement benefited Trump, the question is was Trump campaign in collusion with Russia, if that is True it is Treason, there is no reason we should ever let that man anywhere near the White House.

[Kablooie]

57. if 36 voters or 7% change their votes the fun will really begin.

[AlexSFCA]

60. correction

12% not 7. We are talking about republican electors only! Uphill battle but not impossible. The public outcry needs to be much much bigger and worldwide.

[Cha]

63. Thank you, NYC Liberal!

[riversedge]

64. Christine Pelosi-the elector who, along with other electiors, was just on msnbc. She

did well at explaining that the electors need this information before casting their vote:


Trump vs CIA: 10 Electoral College Voters Demand Hack Probe Before Balloting

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/the-wrap/article/Trump-vs-CIA-10-Electoral-College-Voters-Demand-10791105.php

“Russian election interference activity raise serious concerns that must be addressed before we cast our votes,” open letter reads

Brian Flood, provided by
Published 10:08 am, Monday, December 12, 2016



Christine Pelosi and a group of other electors penned an open letter to national intelligence director James Clapper demanding more information regarding Russia’s involvement with election interference ahead of the Electoral College vote on Dec. 19.

The letter, posted on Medium, states that the “United States intelligence community has now concluded with ‘high confidence’ that a foreign power, namely Russia, acted covertly to interfere in the presidential campaign with the intent of promoting Donald Trump’s candidacy.”

The electors continued: “Confirmed communication between Trump’s aides and those associated with the Russian election interference activity raise serious concerns that must be addressed before we cast our votes.”

Particular points of interest outlined in the open letter include: Russian communication with the Trump campaign, Trump’s July plea for Russian hackers to release Hillary Clinton’s emails, Trump foreign policy advisor Carter Page’s visit to Moscow, a multi-million-dollar business relationship with pro-Putin figures in Ukraine and Russia, and recent National Security Secretary nominee Michael Flynn’s ties to Russia.


............................

“The Electors require to know from the intelligence community whether there are ongoing investigations into ties between Donald Trump, his campaign or associates, and Russian government interference in the election, the scope of those investigations, how far those investigations may have reached, and who was involved in those investigations,” the letter said. “We further require a briefing on all investigative findings, as these matters directly impact the core factors in our deliberations of whether Mr. Trump is fit to serve as President of the United States.”


The letter said, ...................................

The Medium post ends with the following message: “Presidential electors interested in adding their names to this letter should contact [e-mail].”