Georgia Rep. Barry Loudermilk had a message for electors as they gathered to cast their votes for Donald Trump on Monday. “Thank you for taking time and I am so sorry that many of you have gone through the harassment that you have gone through,” Loudermilk said. He added, “But you’re here and you’re standing firm and you’re here to protect the rights of even those who are protesting against you today.”
Today should mark the end to the harassment of GOP electors that has been going on for the past month. Electors have reported getting tens of thousands of emails, hundreds of letters and dozens of phone calls at all hours begging them to change their vote to block Trump’s election. Some electors have even been threatened.
The vote today will also mark and end to Democratic calls for a security briefing on Russian hacking and related calls to delay today’s vote. However, that does not mean the attempts to delegitimize Trump will end. As Buzzfeed suggests, this could just be the start of a campaign that lasts for years:
Prominent lawyers and scholars’ beliefs that Trump should not become president, however, could quickly turn into the ways in which they believe his presidency itself can and should be criticized — if not ended.
Enter the Emoluments Clause — the constitutional provision referenced in the Eisen, Painter, and Tribe memo and elsewhere — which bars the president and other federal officials from accepting “any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”
“While holding office, Mr. Trump will receive—by virtue of his continued interest in the Trump Organization and his stake in hundreds of other entities—a steady stream of monetary and other benefits from foreign powers and their agents,” the trio of scholars wrote. A handful of Democrats in the Senate already have made it clear they will not be dropping this as an issue.
Over the past six weeks we’ve had legislation to eliminate the electoral college, allegations of hacking, state-wide recounts, attempts to rally faithless electors, lawyers to support faithless electors, demands for a special intelligence briefing for electors, harassment of GOP electors, attempts to delay the electoral college vote and a steady supply of sour grapes from the losing candidate, her husband and her team. When do Democrats accept the results of the election the way they demanded Trump accept them in advance?
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