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Trump Timeline ... Trumpocalypse
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RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina elections regulator said Monday that “a coordinated, unlawful and substantially resourced absentee ballot scheme” potentially involving more than 1,000 absentee ballots or request forms took place last year in the state’s Ninth Congressional District.
The regulator, Kim Strach, the executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, gave the first account of investigators’ conclusions at a hearing in Raleigh that could determine the fate of the Ninth District race after allegations of widespread fraud.
The Republican nominee, Mark Harris, has a 905-vote lead over his Democratic rival, Dan McCready, but state officials last year refused to certify Mr. Harris as the winner because of concerns about “irregularities” in absentee balloting.
The hearing’s outcome could undermine Republicans’ assertions that they take a hard line against election fraud. The state board could certify the results or order a new election in the Ninth District, which includes part of Charlotte and a vast stretch of southeastern North Carolina.
Ms. Strach said the irregularities were connected to L. McCrae Dowless Jr., a longtime political operative in Bladen County who worked as a contractor for Mr. Harris’s campaign, and a network of associates. She did not blame the candidate himself nor say that he had direct knowledge of any misconduct.
In interviews and in affidavits since the November election, voters in the Ninth District have described how people had collected their absentee ballots — a violation of North Carolina law in all but some circumstances — or had their ballots marked and returned without their knowledge.
A slide presentation during Monday’s hearing included two bullet points: “Dowless instructed workers to falsely sign as witnesses” and “Blank or incomplete ballots were voted in Dowless’ home or office.”
Mr. Dowless or his employees were linked to at least 788 requests for absentee ballots in Bladen County, and at least 231 such requests in adjacent Robeson County, Ms. Strach said. Mr. Dowless’s associates later collected ballots, including ones that were unsealed or did not have a witness’s signature, and provided them to Mr. Dowless.
Amid the sea of dark suits and red “Make America Great Again” gear behind President Trump at his televised speech in Miami on Monday, one man stood out. Appearing above the president in some live shots, he wore dark sunglasses, a black baseball cap and a black T-shirt with a message of support for Trump’s longtime adviser now facing federal charges: “Roger Stone Did Nothing Wrong!”
The man is notable for more than his attire, though. Enrique Tarrio is the chairman of the Proud Boys, a far-right, self-described "western chauvinist” https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/10/14/political-violence-goes-coast-coast-proud-boys-antifa-activists-clash-new-york-portland/?utm_term=.8670b29518fc (organization known for violently clashing) with antifascists andhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/11/20/fbi-says-proud-boys-have-white-nationalist-ties-law-enforcement-officials-say/?utm_term=.9ef9b877bddb (for its alleged links to white nationalists).
Neither Trump nor the White House knew he was in attendance, Tarrio told The Washington Post. Rather, he said he scored the prime seat simply by showing up early at Florida International University.
The hard-working staff here at Spoiler Alerts has always been of two minds when observing the Trump presidency. At some point, one of these views is going to have to win out. No big whoop, it just determines the fate of the country.
The first way to look at President Trump is as the https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/08/21/the-trump-as-toddler-thread-explained-and-curated/ (Toddler in Chief), a president inept at exercising power. This is a man who knows nothing about policy and barely more than that about politics. He appointed a cadre of https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/11/29/mike-pompeos-faustian-bargain/?utm_term=.847933885a80 (toadies) and https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/08/31/why-secretary-of-state-rex-tillerson-should-resign/?utm_term=.072f6081ad17 (incompetents)who have https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/03/06/the-beclowning-of-the-executive-branch-in-2018/?utm_term=.1923d266f846 (beclowned the executive branch) from day one. Despite having GOP control over both houses of Congress, he was only able to ram through one significant piece of legislation in two years. He failed to repeal Obamacare, failed to get wall funding, and it is https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/02/12/so-how-is-truthful-hyperbole-going-foreign-policy/?utm_term=.343569a3be93 (far from clear) that he will be able to get “NAFTA II: The NAFTAing” through Congress. He has lost the fight for clean coal, and lost badly.
After two years, Trump made himself the focus of the midterms, leading to the biggest Democratic Party gains in the House since Watergate. His shutdown strategy was an unmitigated disaster, leading to https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/02/12/trumps-failed-shutdown-strategy-produced-an-even-worse-deal-than-he-started-with/?utm_term=.10c86306a40a (less funding) that was initially on offer in December. The man’s command of the English language is so bad that it’s impossible to read what he says without https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/02/11/age-cringe-politics/?utm_term=.c1f1f252ec73 (cringing). He’s a weak leader.
The second way to look at Trump is as a president who has not met a civilized norm that he will not shatter. His administration imposed an abhorrent travel ban from several Muslim-majority countries, an action that did not advance U.S. interest or U.S. values — and yet the Supreme Court wound up affirming his power to do so. He also announced a ban on transgender people serving in the military, and last month the Supreme Court allowed a partial ban to take effect while litigation continues.
His administration instituted a cruel separation policy to handle migrant families seeking asylum in the United States. In his rhetoric, the president is rude, crude, bigoted, narrow-minded and abusive. He has insulted career civil servants and threatened members of the press. On foreign policy, he has withdrawn the United States from a panoply of agreements and badly weakened America’s standing in the world. He is the president of the United States, and that role has only agglomerated more power in recent decades.
This is the paradox of the Age of Trump: a very weak man is occupying a very strong office. It remains unclear which will win out in the end.
