Hello, and welcome back to The Franchise!

We’re gearing up for President Trump’s address tonight, which has been billed as a speech focused on this administration’s absolute favorite topic: election security — or more specifically, Trump’s gloss on “election security.” That includes, as we know all too well, his baseless claims about how infested with fraud election administration is in parts of the country where President Trump doesn’t win elections. We’re expecting an address that does little other than flood the zone with confusing data and baseless claims about the 2020 election, all in service of giving a platform to Trump’s voter fraud conspiracy theories ahead of the midterms. 

Trump is reportedly going to address the safety of voting machines (a post-2020 classic) and allege foreign interference in elections (another classic). According to MS NOW, Trump is expected to speak about declassified intelligence materials on both voting machines and alleged foreign interference efforts, likely related to the 2020 election. Reuters and other outlets are reporting that some of his claims may be about China. 

The address seems to be yet another escalation in the administration’s ongoing and seemingly never-ending campaign to scare people into thinking our election system is not safe and that the 2020 election was actually stolen after all. 

Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte and columnist-turned-conspiracy theorist John Solomon, are, per MS NOW, behind this effort to declassify and release these documents. For just a little bit of context, Solomon started the right-wing publication Just the News in 2020 after publishing several articles for The Hill pushing claims from Trump and his allies about a supposed corruption scheme involving Joe Biden and Ukraine — the episode that became the heart of Trump’s first impeachment. Just the News often amplifies Trump’s conspiracy theories. Solomon announced earlier this year that he had taken a temporary position in the White House where he would aid in “identifying classified or withheld documents concerning weaponization and election integrity.” Pulte, of course, has demonstrated his loyalty to any and all Trump causes by using his other post as head of a federal housing agency to launch thus-far unsuccessful criminal investigations into Trump’s political foes.

We say all that to say: the masterminds behind this grand announcement don’t exactly inspire confidence in the credibility of whatever claims Trump intends to spread this evening.  

It’s no surprise that Trump will be addressing our supposedly unsafe election system and the 2020 election — topics that have been an area of fixation for Trump and his allies for years now, but have become particularly pertinent for the administration just ahead of the midterm elections that Trump has made clear he is worried about losing.

There’s a lot more to unpack this week, so let’s dig in. 

Four More Losses in the DOJ’s Campaign to Seize Voter Data

Another day, another court defeat (or four) for the Trump administration’s ever-floundering campaign to seize sensitive voter data from the states.

Last week, a federal judge dismissed the DOJ’s lawsuit against New York over its refusal to hand over voter data to the federal government. And then this week, federal judges dismissed similar complaints against West Virginia, New Mexico and Virginia.  

These latest defeats bring the administration’s grand total of losses to a staggering 15, with zero wins — embarrassing at this point! 

The DOJ has been leaning heavily on provisions in the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (CRA) to make its case for why it is entitled to voter data from 44 states and Washington D.C. The data they’re after includes Social Security and driver’s license numbers. Not a single judge has sided with the DOJ in its overreach campaign thus far.   

In her ruling dismissing the DOJ’s lawsuit against New York, U.S. District Judge Mae D’Agostino, a Barack Obama appointee, noted that neither the Civil Rights Act nor the Help America Vote Act, give the DOJ authority to demand personal identifying voter information from the state. 

“Pursuant to the Elections Clause of the United States Constitution, the States are empowered, in the first instance, to regulate and administer elections,” she wrote. 

“For these reasons, this Court joins every district court to have addressed this issue in concluding that a voter registration list is not a record or paper that a state must produce to the Government under Title III,” she added.

And, U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston, an appointee of George W. Bush, granted West Virginia’s motion to dismiss the DOJ’s lawsuit, ruling that the DOJ  had no grounds to be demanding the type of information that it is demanding. 

“Clearly, this demand is devoid of any factual basis,” Johnston wrote. “The demand includes no indication that West Virginia is suspected to be noncompliant with the list maintenance requirements of HAVA or the NVRA, nor does it point to any anomalies in West Virginia’s voter registration data.” 

Also this week, U.S. District Judge Judith Herrera issued a similar ruling in a case against New Mexico, saying that the DOJ did not state its “basis” for requesting this information. 

In Virginia, U.S. District Judge Roderick Young, a Trump appointee, wrote in his ruling that Virginia’s voter data is “outside the scope of Title III of the CRA, the Motions to Dismiss will be granted.”

Tina Peters Is, Unsurprisingly, Cozying up To Trump

Election denier and former Mesa County elections administrator Tina Peters has been doubling down on election-related conspiracy theories (both old and new) since her release from prison last month. You’d think maybe she’d want to keep a low profile and stay out of trouble, but she has, in fact, been taking the exact opposite approach: she’s gone full steam ahead on some of the very conspiracy theories that landed her in prison in the first place. And now, she’s discussing some of them with Trump. The two have discussed some of these conspiracies related to voting machines and have been talking about a “solution” to this conspiracy-fueled “problem.”

Peters was convicted for breaching her own office’s voting equipment in some misguided quest to find evidence of 2020 election fraud. The data from the breach was then leaked online. Until last month, Peters had been serving a nine-year prison sentence. But in May of this year, Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, succumbing to mounting pressure from President Trump, commuted her sentence and made her eligible for parole on June 1. 

Since her release, Peters has been on a conspiracy theory press tour.

Late last month, Peters reportedly met with Trump to discuss ways to interfere in the midterm elections, per Media Matters. During a fundraiser for herself last month, Peters said that Trump had called her and that she believes that “Trump could sign an executive order to get rid of the machines.”

In several different right-wing media appearances last month Peters continually reiterated conspiracies about voting machines.

“We have to get rid of the machines,” she said on a “Faith and Freedom” appearance on June 28. “The machines don’t have any transparency; they are flipping votes.”

This month, during a livestream, Peters recounted her meeting with Trump at the White House where the two supposedly talked about voting machines and elections. “We are, right now, you know, with meeting the president yesterday, giving him a real solution to how to stop what’s happening.”

“Yesterday, when I was with the president, he talked — and I can’t get into the plan — but we talked, he basically said to his lead counsel to do what I was asking,” she added. 

Of course, it’s no surprise that Peters is doubling down on election conspiracy theories. Her conspiracies are in line with the administration’s larger campaign to interfere in the midterm elections and sow seeds of doubt about the safety and security of the country’s election system. 

In Other Election News:

USA Today: Trump moves to tighten federal control of elections ahead of midterms

TPM: DNI Nominee Clayton’s Answers on Election Integrity Are Too Cute by Half 

CBS News: Trump endorses MyPillow’s Mike Lindell in race for Minnesota governor 

ProPublica: FBI Has Looked at Using Questionable AI Tech to Review Signatures on Seized Mail-In Ballots