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Some of Trump’s closest “Big Lie” allies along with one of his former lawyers are launching a new advocacy group to try to further cement former President Trump’s false claims about a stolen election into reality.
And, as NBC News first pointed out, the “national board” for this new group, the Election Integrity Alliance, includes a few allies who led his legal effort to overturn the results of the election as well as one former convicted felon — Former New York City Police Commissioner and Giuliani bud Bernie Kerik — and another member who is under indictment for fraud and being investigated by the FBI — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Other members: Jenna Ellis, Peter Navarro, Sebastian Gorka, Michael Donnelly and Mirna Tarraf. The “alliance” will operate as part of the Trump-aligned non-profit, the American Greatness Fund, and its goals are vague: “support Congress, the state legislatures, and the voters and together, continue building a more perfect Union,” the website says.
“The Election Integrity Alliance will unite groups and efforts across the nation focused on combating election fraud and will build solutions and provide resources to state legislators and the public on challenges to free and fair elections. The Election Integrity Alliance will be a centralized hub that gives tools to enact meaningful change for the American people,” the description on its web page says.
The concept of ballot fraud has become a sticking point for Trump supporters since the presidential election, obviously because the former president so aggressively claimed a second term was stolen from him. It’s a predictable, but concerning move; hyping false notions of a stolen election can clearly lead to violence, attacks and civil unrest. This new group is just the latest Trump-aligned advocacy group to form since the election. As Politico noted, Larry Kudlow, Ben Carson, Russ Vought and Stephen Miller have also started their own groups.
Here’s more on other stories we’re following today:
What The Investigations Team Is Following
Kate Riga just published a piece outlining why one component of the McCarthy-Cheney feud might be personal for the House minority leader.
Josh Kovensky has a deep dive on the latest unsealed filing in the Rudy Giuliani case in which prosecutors ask the judge to allow a special master to go through the materials the FBI collected in its raid and determine what the DOJ can see and what’s protected by attorney-client privilege.
Matt Shuham just published a piece on news that the observers of the Arizona audit are being required to sign NDAs.
What The Breaking News Team Is Following
Some other key stories we’re following today:
- Prosecutors in the Giuliani investigation have asked a judge to appoint an independent reviewer to go through the evidence the FBI seized at the lawyer’s home and determine what material is protected from the feds’ scrutiny under attorney-client privilege.
- GOP leadership is now actively pushing House Republican Conference chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) out the door. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) openly endorsed Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) this morning to replace Cheney as conference chair, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is reportedly boosting Stefanik behind closed doors.
- After Scalise’s endorsement, Georgia Lieutenant Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) swiped at McCarthy and Scalise’s efforts to take down Cheney for “telling the truth” about Trump losing the 2020 race. GOP leaders standing by the election fraud myth “only shows that you’re able to take commands from Donald Trump,” Duncan said.
- The DNC’s reportedly already compiling opposition research into potential GOP presidential challengers in the 2024 election cycle-including the utterly bonkers MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. Yes, really. On the other hand, one major takeaway from the 2016 election for the Dems should be that the bar for running for president as a Republican lays about 5 feet below the Earth’s crust, so it seems like maybe the DNC’s learned something.
On The Agenda
9:50 a.m. ET: Biden received the daily presidential brief.
10:00 a.m. ET: Education Secretary Miguel Cardona testified in front of an Appropriations subcommittee.
10:05 a.m. ET: Harris traveled to Providence, Rhode Island.
11:00 a.m. ET: The White House COVID-19 response team held a press briefing with public health officials.
12:30 p.m. ET: White House press secretary Jen Psaki gave a press briefing with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
1:00 p.m. ET: Harris will attend an event about small businesses.
2:00 p.m. ET: Biden will give a speech in the State Dining Room on the implementation of his COVID-19 relief package.
2:05 p.m. ET: Harris will participate in a roundtable on women-led small businesses with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
3:00 p.m. ET: Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby will hold a press briefing.
4:55 p.m. ET: Harris will return to D.C.
Yesterday’s Most Read Story
MAGA World Thinks The Sketchy AZ Audit Will Pave The Way To A 2020 Reversal — Matt Shuham and Tierney Sneed
What We Are Reading
Milo throws $150K engagement “sodomy stone” into the ocean to prove he’s now ex-gay — Alex Bollinger
