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Legal analysis published in October finds today's scenario favors Trump victory

Dated: January 2, 2021 by Sharyl Attkisson 27 Comments

      

As thousands of Trump supporters prepare to descend upon the Capitol this coming week amid a presidential election they are contesting, there is a mass of confusion and conflicting information about what happens next.

You may have heard that a growing list of Republican members of the House and Senate have pledged to object to the electoral count of some states during Wednesday's joint session of Congress.

Most analysts have said such objections, in practical terms, amount to nothing because while they can trigger debates lasting up to two hours, it would take a majority in both the House and Senate to reject the state results naming Joe Biden the next president of the United States.

There are other less discussed and, some insist, less likely scenarios. Some of them are examined in a legal analysis by John Yoo and Robert Delahunty. Published in October, about two weeks before the presidential election, it plays out multiple scenarios including under circumstances like the ones we face today. It is titled "What Happens if No One Wins? The Constitution provides for election crisesโ€”and its provisions favor Trump."

Here are some applicable excerpts from the analysis.

"Suppose states send electoral votes thatโ€”even if certified by the governorโ€”remain under question, whether because of fraud in the vote, inability to count the ballots accurately under neutral rules, or a dispute between branches of a state government...

...Vice President Pence would decide between competing slates of electors...

...If the electoral count remains uncertain enough to deprive either Trump or Biden of a majority in the Electoral College, then the 12th Amendment orders that โ€œthe House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President...

...If todayโ€™s House chose the president, voting by state delegations, Trump would win handily."

John Yoo and Robert Delahunty, Oct. 19, 2020

An extended excerpt from the analysis follows:

...Suppose states send electoral votes thatโ€”even if certified by the governorโ€”remain under question, whether because of fraud in the vote, inability to count the ballots accurately under neutral rules, or a dispute between branches of a state government.

While the Electoral Count Act appears to create safe harbors for a stateโ€™s report of its Electoral College votes, the Act itself might prove unconstitutional. Under the 12th Amendment, โ€œthe President of the Senate [i.e., the Vice President] shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates [of the electoral votes of the states] and the votes shall then be counted.โ€ Left unclear is who is to โ€œcountโ€ the electorsโ€™ votes and how their validity is to be determined.

Over the decades, political figures and legal scholars have offered different answers to these constitutional questions. We suggest that the Vice Presidentโ€™s role is not the merely ministerial one of opening the ballots and then handing them over (to whom?) to be counted. Though the 12th Amendment describes the counting in the passive voice, the language seems to envisage a single, continuous process in which the Vice President both opensย andย counts the votes.

The check on error or fraud in the count is that the Vice Presidentโ€™s activities are to be doneย publicly, โ€œin the presenceโ€ of Congress. And if โ€œcountingโ€ the electorsโ€™ votes is the Vice Presidentโ€™s responsibility, then the inextricably intertwined responsibility for judging the validity of those votes must also be his.

If that reading is correct, then the Electoral Count Act is unconstitutional. Congress cannot use legislation to dictate how any individual branch of government is to perform its unique duties: Congress could not prescribe how future Senates should conduct an impeachment trial, for example. Similarly, we think the better reading is that Vice President Pence would decide between competing slates of electors chosen by state legislators and governors, or decide whether to count votes that remain in litigation.

The Role of the House

If the electoral count remains uncertain enough to deprive either Trump or Biden of a majority in the Electoral College, then the 12th Amendment orders that โ€œthe House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President.โ€ Our nation barely avoided that outcome 20 years ago in the 2000 Florida recount and has only used twice it in our history (in 1800 and 1824). So if the disasters described above occur, then the Constitution gives the power to choose the President to the House.

So it seems like Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats would get to pick the winner. But not so fast, said the framers, who feared congressional control of the executive. Rather than allow a simple majority vote, the Constitution requires thatย the House choose the President by voting as state delegations. If the House decides the Presidency, Delaware would have the same number of votes as California.

This unusual process makes sense in light of the larger constitutional structure. The Framers rejected the idea that Congress should pick the President, which they believed would rob the Chief Executive of independence, responsibility, and energy. They wanted the people to have the primary hand in choosing the President, but mediated through the states, because they also feared direct democracy.

Thanks to Republican advantages among the states (rather than the cities) ... If todayโ€™s House chose the president, voting by state delegations, Trump would win handily. [Note from SharylAttkisson.com: See Republicans' 28 state majority under "Partisan composition of 116th and 117th Congresses by state delegation."]

Read the full article by clicking the link below:

https://americanmind.org/salvo/what-happens-if-no-one-wins/

Fight improper government surveillance. Support Attkisson v. DOJ and FBI over the government computer intrusions of Attkisson's work while she was a CBS News investigative correspondent. Visit the Attkisson Fourth Amendment Litigation Fund. Click here.

      
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About Sharyl Attkisson

Emmy-Award Winning Investigative Journalist, New York Times Best Selling Author, Host of Sinclair's Full Measure

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Robert Post says

    January 2, 2021 at 11:33 pm

    Sharyl
    Please stay with this election as we see communist coming into America fast!!

    Reply
  2. Donna says

    January 2, 2021 at 11:38 pm

    Thank you for posting this at this time

    Reply
  3. thebronze says

    January 2, 2021 at 11:46 pm

    We can no longer count on Pence to do the right thing. For whatever reason, he seems unwilling/unable to support Trump on Jan 6th.

    We used to shoot traitors...

    Reply
  4. Leo Higgins says

    January 2, 2021 at 11:51 pm

    It is a necessary civic duty for every able-bodied person who cares about the American way of life to be present to surround the Capitol on the 6th of January and provide โ€œmotivationโ€ for the Congresscritters to do the right thing. Iโ€™m going, and have convinced five others, who have each, in turn, persuaded 2-5 more people. Thatโ€™s 19 people at my instigation! With a little time left to scrounge up some more. And I did this in Massachusetts! You folks in red states should be able to dwarf that!

    Look. We need 5 million people - or more - to show up in DC on the 6th. That will be 4 times the record number at a rally or protest in DCโ€™s history. But it can be done! There are 119 million people who live within a 500 mile radius of DC. Thatโ€™s an 8 or 9 hour drive. Many millions more live within 1000 miles of DC; that is still just an all-day drive away. Donโ€™t want to drive? Well, here in the northeast corridor, thereโ€™s Amtrak. Thatโ€™s my choice! Iโ€™m taking Train 67 down, and Train 66 back, both trips at night, and expect to get at least a little sleep each way.

    If we canโ€™t come up with 5 million out of that mass of people with easy transportation options, then we are truly doomed, and will have to live with ourselves as the โ€œsummer soldiers and sunshine patriotsโ€ that Thomas Paine held in derision. We MUST show-up in overwhelming numbers to demonstrate to both the Marxist Democrats and feckless Republicans that we will NOT subscribe willingly to their connivance in the destruction of our culture, their schemes for redistributionism, the abolition of all personal rights in their openly-advocated โ€œGreat Reset,โ€ and the massive, openly produced fraud in this election to get them to these goals! We need people to stand there and make it clear that the people in the Capitol building ARENโ€™T LEAVING until they fix this problem!

    If YOU let this travesty go down unchallenged, and they have a clear path to steamroll us with their agenda, destroying the 2nd Amendment along the way, then be prepared for an escorting to a brick wall, or, at a minimum, many mandatory โ€œstruggle sessionsโ€ at a reeducation camp somewhere most unpleasant! Get there on the 6th of January! Do it for your children and grandchildren! DO it! Do it NOW!

    Reply
  5. Richard says

    January 3, 2021 at 12:42 am

    Biden will be indicted in Ukraine. The dude prison bound.

    Reply
  6. Jaye says

    January 3, 2021 at 12:46 am

    2020 has been a US Constitution teaching moment; esp. novel experience for those educated in teacher union K-12 for the past 20 yeaers.

    Reply
  7. Michael P Snyder says

    January 3, 2021 at 12:59 am

    Dear Sharyl =

    Trust can't live in the same space as secrets and lies. Thank you very much for your efforts to create trust for us again. I look forward to reading or hearing what you find on January 6.

    Mike Snyder

    Reply
  8. glorijoy says

    January 3, 2021 at 1:03 am

    There is no confusion as to what happens next. Either Trump is the POTUS for the next four years or this country descends into Civil War. There will never be another Republican President if we lose this. How do we know California is so blue when CHEATING DEMOCRATS Run it entirely? They've been CHEATING FOR YEARS. Either Trump crushes them the first week in January and we see them in handcuffs or we have to rise up and do it ourselves.. I want to see people go to jail for this theft of our votes. I want justice. There is no justice anymore for us if Trump fails. WE will have to take the justice back. It won't be pretty, it won't be without loss but it will be necessary.

    Reply
  9. Jerry Cote says

    January 3, 2021 at 1:46 am

    Pence "stealing it back" would have Democrats running to the same courts that have wanted zero to do with this. That is when both Trump and Pence must make clear they'll be ignoring any court decision. Dirty black robed cowards, you had your chance.

    Reply
  10. Yong Zhang says

    January 3, 2021 at 3:54 am

    Good to know!

    Reply
  11. Justin says

    January 3, 2021 at 4:25 am

    So am I correct in saying that it all boils down to whether or not Pence excepts the electors for Biden? The above scenario ways heavily on him rejecting those electors. Based on what Iโ€™ve read he has no intention on making any off the cuff decisions given his fight against the TX Reps lawsuit. So letโ€™s say he doesnโ€™t do anything but count the votes and pass the buck to Congress.

    Then both houses separate and vote independently, We know the house will except electors. If we donโ€™t have enough Senators vote no then we are screwed, correct? We have already lost Toomey, Sasse, and Murkowski so the odds are not great.

    Even if we do win and there is gridlock, then the electors are chosen based on what the Governorโ€™s certified. So Biden would win.

    So in essence our entire fate rest on the shoulders of the VP, which I have little faith in?

    Reply
    • Justin says

      January 3, 2021 at 4:28 am

      Ways=weighs

      Reply
  12. phergus says

    January 3, 2021 at 9:03 am

    I hope this is what it all comes to. The fraud , corruption and deceit of Joe Biden et al is the biggest cancer our people have suffered in ages. Look at how they are now making the inauguration so low key as to have no crowds....they are so unpopular they realize any crowd would not be of their ilk. The American constitution has been abused by the left in America..... almost murdered in fact. This cancer must be stopped , cut out and shown to the world we do not condone this corruption !!!.

    Reply
    • JungianINTP says

      January 3, 2021 at 9:46 am

      Speaking of FRAUD, phergus :

      January 3, 2021

      My Post Below

      Sharylโ€™s PAGE :

      https://sharylattkisson.com/2021/01/3-of-people-in-survey-say-they-became-very-ill-from-covid-19/#comment-81017

      Full Measure Team,

      Saturday night news - NBC News, by Lester Holt -

      reported a VERY C U R I O U S phenomenon, in

      order to GET OUT FRONT of a growing number of

      people ASKING : Where is the normal year-to-year

      FLU-bug statistic (( that graph-line!, which is NEVER

      shown in news reports next to the Covid-19 line )) ?

      Well, NBC had reported this Orwellian reason/LIE:

      โ€œFlu and cold cases
      are down 98%.โ€

      Why ? ! /

      What ? ! /

      Huh ? ! /

      Whereโ€™s my โ€œTake-A-Bromineโ€ pill ? !

      โ€”Because, claimed the reporting PHYSICIAN :

      โ€œAll of the efforts
      used to combat
      Covid-19 dropped
      cold an flu rates.โ€

      So, our INSANE keep-safe efforts can knockdown
      the normal flu-rate, down 98% ! ! !โ€”but canโ€™t knock
      back that LOCK-Down-the-Christian-West Covid-19
      bug? - and its STAY-Locked-Down V A R I A N T ? ! -
      while the Christian-hating, ATHEIST-steeped China
      is COVID-Free, and back to NORMAL, as reported by
      both CBS and ABC last week ? !

      Now, YOU may SEE/FEEL just how DEEP and EVIL
      this Deep Stateโ€™s Control and Power isโ€”as if its having
      stolen this election from Trump for that BABBLING
      BUTT-Head Biden is not PROOF Enough for YOU !

      -Rick

      Reply
      • JungianINTP says

        January 3, 2021 at 11:44 am

        P.S.

        M E E T

        Doxxer ,

        Color Revolutionisit ,

        Deep-Stater ,

        and

        โ€œhatchet womanโ€

        โ€”Brandy Zadrozny,

        an NBC reporter ,

        as DRIVELS on MEET the PRESS,

        on January 3, 2021,

        To defame Trump-supporters and โ€˜Qโ€™ :

        Meet NBC News' Brandy Zadrozny โ€” The Woman In Charge of ...
        https://canadafreepress.com/article/meet-nbc-news-brandy-zadrozny-the-woman-in-charge-of-doxxing-and-destroying
        Harassment, censorship, and intimidation of Trump supporters by any means necessary is a key element of the "color revolution" strategy. And Brandy Zadrozny of NBC News is a key hatchet woman...

        -Rick

        P.P.S.

        NBC NEWS (( all staff )) and THIS WEEK (( Robert Costa, Susan Page et al. )) and Dingbat Bonnie Erbeโ€™ (( a rabid, man-hating, White-Hating feminist )) are beachheads for ATHEISTIC Communist Chinaโ€™s ongoing infiltration of the Christian Westโ€”via ALL MSM.

        But HOW ?

        Two SINISTER means (( a third canโ€™t be mentioned here )) :

        Money and/or Incriminating Videos/Records (( think Hunter Bidenโ€™s laptop TROUBLES, and Joe Bidenโ€™s China-related SERVITUDE to Communist China!โ€”think Epsteinโ€™s CRIMINAL methodologies, decades of it ! )).

        -Rick

        Reply
    • Janice says

      January 3, 2021 at 3:11 pm

      That is what I think of Trump and his appointees! They are full of fear & hatred.. Trump has been the greatest divider in the history of the country!

      Reply
    • Louie Neff says

      January 4, 2021 at 7:46 am

      I agree 100%.!

      Reply
  13. Tom says

    January 3, 2021 at 10:09 am

    Pence opens the โ€œcertificatesโ€? Do the alternate slates of electors appear in โ€œcertificateโ€ form? This word implies a reference to the electors that have been certified (by the respective governors). If the alternate slates of electors are not officially โ€œcertifiedโ€ by the states from which they came, then how can there be a certificate of them for Pence to open? I desperately want to stop the steal, but I also donโ€™t want a future leftist VP to pull a batch of electors from his coat and claim to use the 12th Amendment to reverse the votes of the electors certified by conservative governors, just because he alleges that fraud occurred. Fraud ALWAYS occurs, and what frustrates me is that I keep hearing very plausible allegations of wrongdoing, usually based on expert opinions about it being possible, but never see any hard forensic evidence to show that it occurred. Iโ€™m sure it did occur, but my certainty doesnโ€™t make it so. If we are being prevented from accessing the data needed to prove our case, who is preventing us? Name their names, make them very famous, and charge them with obstruction. We all watched the video of what appeared to be votes being pulled out from under a table and counted without observers present. Have those people been charged? If not, why not? We all cry foul, but no one fills out the form to press charges? If nothing can be done because the โ€œlawsโ€ allow this to happen, then weโ€™re fighting the wrong fight, or at least fighting in the wrong way. Laws (rules, orders, decrees, whatever) that make it nearly impossible to detect fraud must be relentlessly contested and eliminated by our most competent attorneys. If there are reasons for these laws that are valid enough to override the ability to verify the legality and validity of every vote with complete certainty, then those very strong reasons need to be trumpeted across the land for all to hear. Iโ€™m very tired of allegations, appearances, innuendo, and theories when EVERYTHING we need to know is sitting somewhere!! If any evidence has been corruptly acquired, deleted or changed, then every person in that chain of custody must be prosecuted. If we are blocked from accessing evidence, then get the warrants BEFORE it gets destroyed and arrest anyone who obstructs us. If itโ€™s too late, then all related unverifiable votes must be rejected, and those who did not act swiftly enough to secure the evidence must be fired or prosecuted. Sovereign states can run their elections however they want, but they must be verifiable before, during, and especially after the election, even years later!!

    Reply
  14. Charles W Cherry says

    January 3, 2021 at 10:34 am

    If there was fraud, we should be able to somehow recount all votes across the country to make sure the results are 100% accurate. Surely we can figure this out if we can put men on the moon. Then whoever wins from an accurate count, is the winner. All of the cheating and fraud needs to stop. Those responsible, should be fired from any government position. Come on people, you are embarrassing us as a nation. If you are taking money from China, you should not be able to be president. If you did not send help to the ambassador in Benghazi when a flare shot from the embassy only means one thing, send help now, those that said "Stand down" should all be in jail for the deaths of those four Americans. Their blood will always be on your hands. Why can't you go govern and do what is right for this country, no matter what side of the aisle you are on? Why send so much money over seas when businesses are closing right and left all across America. People are hurting. Just because your pockets are full of lobbying money, does that blind you from seeing what is really going on around you? Businesses have been shut down for long periods of time during this Covid Pandemic. People here, need help now! This country has gone crazy! Defund the police? Are you crazy? Why not warn those who riot and loot, we are declaring war on you and you will be shot if you continue. Wake up America! Wake up Washington! Let's put our foundation back in place. One nation under God! Anyone who reads the Bible knows that if you take God out of everything, all nations have fallen. History has shown that over and over. I say, lets put God back over our country and pray to him for guidance and direction. Wouldn't that be GREAT! Who do you trust? God or Pelosi? God or Shumer? God or Biden? God or Kamala? God is in control anyway.

    Reply
  15. W. Castle says

    January 3, 2021 at 11:01 am

    Is Scotty a deep state operative? or just a pro-CCP apologist? And does he recall being forceabley removed from my home for promoting CCP propaganda? I felt sorry for him but can not allow CCP apologists in my home. #flashback

    Reply
  16. Lisa says

    January 3, 2021 at 11:19 am

    How do you know the Republican delegations would vote for Trump? They haven't supported him thus far. So unless they are required to vote by party, I do not think they will.

    Reply
  17. SCOTT L BECKER says

    January 3, 2021 at 12:26 pm

    there is no indication that pence is willing to nullify fraudulent electors. however, it would be wise for him to not broadcast his intention if he is willing to do so. here's hoping.

    Reply
  18. Kevin says

    January 3, 2021 at 3:34 pm

    The Hate & Ignorance of the Left means there will be blood in the streets if Trump wins the election. The same was said in 2008 and 2012 if 0bama did not win or if he were to be impeached.
    I have never done well with blackmail and threats and am ready. I do not need this, I do not want this, but in the immortal words of Thomas Paine,
    "If there must be trouble, let it be now so my Grandchildren can live in peace".

    As far as I was concerned, 0bama could not be impeached because as an Illegal Alien, you cannot be president of the United States. In other words, show your birth certificate or pack. Pack lightly because you are headed for Gitmo.
    I bring up 0bama again because the Left learned then, that if the American people will accept a fraud like that, they will accept anything.

    Reply
    • JungianINTP says

      January 3, 2021 at 5:30 pm

      Kevin,

      Jesse Jackson, Jr., was to be the FIRST CCP-installed POTUS (( think of Huangโ€™s donations scandal, and Bill and Hillary Clintonโ€™s China-gate coverup )).

      Obama had been (S)ELECTEDโ€”after Junior got caught stealing campaign funds (( about $300,000, with help from his energetic wife )), ruining the Shadow Cabalโ€™s first attempt at installing an African maleโ€”AS AN in-your-face humiliation for white males.

      Re โ€œbloodโ€ ?โ€”just step back and tend your own garden !

      Or write letters to the editor.

      Or write to your senator.

      Or pray.

      Or ALL of the above means of NON-Violent influence.

      -Rick

      Reply

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