Background Briefing: July 19, 2023
Trump Facing a Third Indictment From Jack Smith in DC for the January 6 Insurrection
We begin with the target letter Trump got from Special Counsel Jack Smith asking him to appear before the DC grand jury investigating the January 6 insurrection or face indictments for deprivation of rights, conspiracy to defraud the United States and witness tampering. Joining us to discuss this third indictment with more to come and how these many cases may end up in courts during next year’s presidential primaries and presidential election is Allan Lichtman, a political historian who teaches at American University and has studied both the American right and the presidency. The author of The Keys to the White House: A Surefire Way to Predicting the Next President, his prediction system has correctly predicted the outcomes of all US presidential elections since 1984 including the 2016 election when against all odds, he predicted a Trump victory. His most recent books are The Embattled Vote in America, Repeal the Second Amendment: The Case for a Safer America, and Thirteen Cracks: Repairing American Democracy After Trump.
Pro-Trump Fake Electors Charged in Michigan With Cases Pending in Arizona and Georgia
Then we look into yesterday’s announcement by Michigan’s Attorney General that 16 Republican operatives were charged with felony counts for acting as fake electors in trying to submit phony and forged Electoral College certificates to substitute their preference of Trump over the majority of Michiganders who voted for Biden. Joining us is Fred Wertheimer, the Founder and President of Democracy 21, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that promotes campaign finance reform, lobbying, ethics and related reforms to accomplish these goals. He has spent 35 years working on government integrity issues and we discuss his article at MSNBC, “Why Arizona’s 2020 electors investigation only adds to Trump’s troubles” and how other states like Arizona and Georgia are following Michigan’s lead as Special Counsel Jack Smith investigates who were the architects of this scheme in the White House.