{"id":2321751,"date":"2024-08-09T07:02:02","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T11:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-are-these-gopers-in-a-group-that-fortified-2020-for-dems\/"},"modified":"2024-08-09T07:07:30","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T11:07:30","slug":"why-are-these-gopers-in-a-group-that-fortified-2020-for-dems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-are-these-gopers-in-a-group-that-fortified-2020-for-dems\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are These GOPers In A Group That &#8216;Fortified&#8217; 2020 For Dems?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhy-are-these-gopers-in-a-group-that-fortified-2020-for-dems%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2321751&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the \u2063events surrounding the 2020 U.S. presidential election and the subsequent implications for \u2062the upcoming\u2062 2024 election. It references \u200ca Time Magazine article that revealed a &#8220;behind the scenes&#8221; alliance of\u200d powerful interests, including both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/electric-car-bricks-up-in-middle-of-busy-road-becomes-9-hour-headache\/\" title=\"Electric car causes 9-hour traffic jam.\">left-wing \u200dactivists<\/a> and some Republicans, who aimed to counter Donald Trump&#8217;s influence\u200b and ensure the integrity of the election. This coalition worked to promote mail-in voting, which has \u2062been a point of contention due to concerns\u200c over election fraud. <\/p>\n<p>Prominent organizations like Issue One and the National Council on Election Integrity \u200d(NCEI) were involved, promoting the narrative that mail-in voting is\u200b secure and necessary for a fair election process. The article also highlights how some Republicans affiliated with these groups have \u2064been critical of Trump, while others remain supportive.\u200d With Trump running for president again in 2024, the article raises questions about the motivations of these groups and their strategies heading into the election. <\/p>\n<p>Concerns about\u2063 the U.S.\u200c Postal Service&#8217;s ability to handle the expected volume of mail-in ballots for the upcoming election are also mentioned, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/man-awarded-300000-settlement-after-facial-recognition-flags-him-as-criminal\/\" title=\"Man Awarded 0,000 Settlement After Facial Recognition Flags Him as Criminal\">reflecting ongoing debates<\/a> about\u2064 the security\u200b and reliability of mail-in voting.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Nearly four years ago, Time Magazine <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/5936036\/secret-2020-election-campaign\/?amp=true&amp;__twitter_impression=true&amp;fbclid=IwAR1ZKF25fPx1cTe5mHxpAGrn-cSc-ZJHYgF-HemaW-9nYiORwQlgmNLnKV8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">admitted<\/a> that powerful interests participated in a &ldquo;behind the scenes&rdquo; &ldquo;conspiracy&rdquo; to deprive Trump of a second term. One of the groups mentioned in the article was Issue One, the parent organization of a group behind a 2020 initiative to &ldquo;neutralize &hellip; attempts to question the security of mail ballots.&rdquo; That group, the National Council on Election Integrity (<a href=\"https:\/\/issueone.org\/projects\/national-council-on-election-integrity\/\">NCEI<\/a>), includes a handful of Republicans. Given the fact that mail ballots statistically benefit Democrats and create opportunities for election fraud, why did these Republicans go all-in on mail-in voting?<\/p>\n<p>Four years later, another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/aoc-re-traumatized-by-jan-6-hearing\/\" title=\"AOC &quot;Re-Traumatized&quot; by Jan 6 Hearing\">presidential election looms<\/a>. Trump, again, is the Republican nominee, and, again, he wants a second term.<\/p>\n<p>What might these people be up to in 2024?<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Republicans and Never-Trumpers&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The conspirators belonged to &ldquo;an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans,&rdquo; that came together to &ldquo;oppose Trump&rsquo;s assault on democracy,&rdquo; Time Magazine&rsquo;s Molly Ball wrote in the 2021 article. According to Ball, this &ldquo;well-funded cabal of powerful people&rdquo; was &ldquo;not rigging the election; they were fortifying it. And they believe the public needs to understand the system&rsquo;s fragility in order to ensure that democracy in America endures.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The 45th president <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2SADS87dWE4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">warned<\/a> many times in 2020 how voting by mail could help rig the election in Biden&rsquo;s favor, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=J20N4HbIuho\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">suggested<\/a> that mass mail-in-balloting makes voter fraud easier to commit.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But according to Ball, &ldquo;it was crucial for voters to understand that despite what Trump was saying, mail-in votes weren&rsquo;t susceptible to fraud and that it would be normal if some states weren&rsquo;t finished counting votes on election night.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Members of these organizations mentioned in the article &mdash; including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/protect-democracy-project\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Protect Democracy<\/a>, the so-called &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/protectdemocracy.org\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">nonpartisan<\/a>&rdquo; litigation organization &ldquo;created to oppose the policies of President Donald Trump,&rdquo; according to InfluenceWatch &mdash; &ldquo;got millions of people to vote by mail for the first time,&rdquo; as Ball wrote, in 2020. Protect Democracy has blatantly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.authoritarianplaybook2025.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">referred<\/a> to Trump as a &ldquo;threat&rdquo; to &ldquo;our system of government&rdquo; in its reporting.<\/p>\n<p>The Time article also named the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/hub\/afl-cio\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">AFL-CIO<\/a> and a representative from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/william-j-brennan-center-for-justice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Brennan Center for Justice<\/a> &mdash; organizations that lean heavily left &mdash; among the other groups who also conspired to remove Trump.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>One of the groups mentioned by Ball was Issue One, based in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p>This group, according to its website, <a href=\"https:\/\/issueone.org\/about-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">aims<\/a> to &ldquo;fix our broken political system and build an inclusive democracy that works for everyone.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I contacted Issue One spokesman Cory Combs over email, asking if he could explain how and why mail-in voting isn&rsquo;t &ldquo;susceptible to fraud,&rdquo; as the Time article stated. I sent a number of other questions in a follow-up email, including asking if and how Donald Trump is &ldquo;still considered a threat to democracy,&rdquo; and whether mail-in voting &ldquo;made the difference&rdquo; in electing Joe Biden president in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Combs declined to answer nearly all questions, merely saying, &ldquo;Issue One is focusing our nonpartisan efforts in 2024 on making sure voters are directed to the most trusted sources of election information &mdash; state and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/group-our-vote-matters-is-suing-facebook-dominion-mark-zuckerberg-certain-state-officials-others-for-infringing-upon-right-to-vote-assemble-and-speak-freely-you-can-jo\/\" title=\"Group \u201cOur Vote Matters\u201d Is Suing Facebook, Dominion, Mark Zuckerberg, Certain State Officials, Others for Infringing Upon Right to Vote, Assemble and Speak Freely \u2013 You Can Join Too\">local election officials<\/a>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We will continue to communicate how our elections are safe and secure because they are administered by trained election workers who use sophisticated and continuously validated processes for counting every ballot,&rdquo; he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Issue One has labeled its efforts as &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/issueone.org\/about-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">crosspartisan<\/a>,&rdquo; according to its website.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of the 2020 election, Issue One created a National Council on Election Integrity (<a href=\"https:\/\/issueone.org\/projects\/national-council-on-election-integrity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NCEI<\/a>). That council &ldquo;consists of 39 government, political, and civic leaders united around defending the legitimacy of our free and fair elections,&rdquo; according to its webpage. The council &ldquo;worked to neutralize the false narrative of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/youtube-bans-trumps-full-cpac-speech-unless-users-add-countervailing-viewpoints-about-election-claims\/\" title=\"YouTube Bans Trump\u2019s Full CPAC Speech Unless Users Add \u2018Countervailing Viewpoints\u2019 About Election Claims\u00a0\">widespread election fraud<\/a> in the media, including attempts to question the security of mail ballots.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The NCEI includes plenty of well-known Democrats. Among them are former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile and former U.S. Senate majority leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But numerous Republicans also serve on the NCEI, many of whom have been or have become critical of Trump, including former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/03\/18\/politics\/asa-hutchinson-trump-biden\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">refuses<\/a> to endorse Trump in 2024) and former George W. Bush administration Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/09\/27\/politics\/tom-ridge-joe-biden-endorsement\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">endorsed<\/a> Biden in 2020. Former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele, who <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MichaelSteele\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bashes Trump<\/a> every day on X, is also a council member.<\/p>\n<p>Former Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock serves as the council&rsquo;s co-chair. She has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/06\/09\/opinion\/republican-party-2022.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">called Trump<\/a> a &ldquo;dangerous and diminished man,&rdquo; and has also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/donald-trump-calls-former-rep-barbara-comstock-rino-after-her-meet-press-appearance-1596694\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">joked<\/a> that if Trump disappeared, few Republicans would join the search party.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But not all of the Republicans on the Council are Never Trumpers &mdash; supposedly.<\/p>\n<p>Former Tennessee U.S. representative and current NCEI co-chair Zach Wamp, who according to Ball &ldquo;worked through the nonpartisan reform group Issue One to rally Republicans to the effort&rdquo; of, seemingly, dismissing Trump&rsquo;s concerns, also told Ball that the council included &ldquo;rabid Trump supporters.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>However, their names were not printed in the Time article.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Combs, when asked to identify who those &ldquo;rabid Trump supporters&rdquo; are or were, did not respond.<\/p>\n<p>Other Republicans on the council include former Rep. Charles Boustany, former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, former Rep. Carlos Curbelo, former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson, former Rep. Steve Gunderson, former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, former Rep. Susan Molinari, former Ambassador Connie Morella, former Rep. Deborah Pryce, and former Rep. Reid Ribble.<\/p>\n<h2>&lsquo;Reckless and Dangerous&rsquo;<\/h2>\n<p>State election directors nationwide recently expressed &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/us\/state-election-directors-fear-the-postal-service-cant-handle-expected-crush-of-mail-in-ballots\/ar-BB1qvABq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">serious concerns<\/a>&rdquo; that the U.S. Postal Service &ldquo;can&rsquo;t handle&rdquo; all of the mail-in ballots they are expected to receive in November 2024, according to the Associated Press. What&rsquo;s more, election integrity advocates &mdash; and even the corporate <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/04\/08\/media-tacitly-admit-mail-in-balloting-is-not-as-secure-and-reliable-as-they-claim\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">media<\/a> &mdash; have expressed concerns about the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/31\/how-new-postal-practices-could-threaten-the-integrity-of-americas-biggest-voting-precinct\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">vulnerabilities<\/a> and potential for fraud that come with voting by mail.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>And as we know, these concerns are nothing new. Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2020\/09\/03\/attorney-general-barr-mass-mail-in-voting-like-playing-with-fire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said in 2020<\/a> that mass mail-in voting is a &ldquo;reckless and dangerous&rdquo; method, and its proponents are &ldquo;playing with fire.&rdquo; Barr cited the story of one Texas man indicted for &ldquo;marking his preferred candidate on 1,700 ballots,&rdquo; as The Federalist reported in 2020.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Even The New York Times <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/10\/07\/us\/politics\/as-more-vote-by-mail-faulty-ballots-could-impact-elections.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported as far back as 2012<\/a> that &ldquo;votes cast by mail are less likely to be counted, more likely to be compromised and more likely to be contested than those cast in a voting booth, statistics show. Election officials reject almost 2 percent of ballots cast by mail, double the rate for in-person voting.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Despite grassroots activists maintaining these concerns, many in the GOP establishment seem to have endorsed voting by mail, not just as a necessary tactic but as a model system.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The grassroots seem to have a better understanding of what the concerns are and how they should be addressed from a process perspective,&rdquo; said <a href=\"https:\/\/voterga.org\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Garland Favorito<\/a>, a Georgia IT professional with more than 40 years of election experience. &ldquo;I think establishment people are not understanding what the issues are that need to be addressed.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      D.A. Butler is an award-winning journalist who has covered news, business, sports, and various human-interest stories. He&rsquo;s happy to ask questions that other journalists either will not ask or cannot ask.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Almost four years ago, Time Magazine acknowledged that influential entities were involved in a &#8220;behind the scenes&#8221; &#8220;conspiracy&#8221; aimed at preventing Trump from securing a second term. One of the organizations highlighted in the article was Issue One, which is associated with a 2020 initiative designed to &#8220;neutralize&#8230; efforts to challenge the security of mail ballots.&#8221; This initiative was led by the National Council on Election Integrity (NCEI), which includes several Republicans. Given that mail-in ballots statistically favor Democrats and can create opportunities for election fraud, why did these Republicans fully support mail-in voting? <\/p>\n<p>Now, as another presidential election approaches with Trump again as the Republican nominee seeking a second term, what might these individuals be planning for 2024?<\/p>\n<p>According to Time&#8217;s Molly Ball, those involved formed an &#8220;informal alliance between left-wing activists and business leaders&#8221; to counter Trump&#8217;s perceived threat to democracy. She described this group as a \u201cwell-funded cabal\u201d not engaged in rigging elections but rather fortifying them while emphasizing that it\u2019s important for voters to recognize the system&#8217;s vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, Trump repeatedly warned that mail-in voting could facilitate election rigging in Biden\u2019s favor and suggested it made voter fraud easier. However, Ball argued it was essential for voters to understand that despite Trump&#8217;s claims, mail-in votes were not prone to fraud and that delays in vote counting on election night would be normal.<\/p>\n<p>The organizations mentioned\u2014including Protect Democracy\u2014helped millions of people vote by mail for the first time during the 2020 elections. Protect Democracy has openly labeled Trump as a \u201cthreat\u201d to \u201cour system of government.\u201d The article also referenced left-leaning groups like AFL-CIO and representatives from Brennan Center for Justice among those who sought Trump&#8217;s removal.<\/p>\n<p>Issue One aims to reform political systems and promote an inclusive democracy according to its website. I reached out via email to Issue One spokesman Cory Combs asking him how they justify their stance on mail-in voting being secure against fraud and whether they believe Trump remains a threat or if mail-in voting influenced Biden&#8217;s victory in 2020. Combs largely avoided answering my questions but stated their focus is on directing voters toward reliable sources of election information.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of 2020 elections, Issue One established NCEI comprising various leaders committed to defending electoral legitimacy while countering narratives about widespread voter fraud.<\/p>\n<p>While many prominent Democrats are part of NCEI\u2014like former DNC Chair Donna Brazile\u2014there are also notable Republicans who have criticized Trump including Asa Hutchinson and Tom Ridge. Some members have been vocal against Trump; however, there are indications some council members still support him strongly although their identities weren&#8217;t disclosed by Time or Combs when asked.<\/p>\n<p>Recently state election directors expressed serious concerns regarding whether USPS can manage anticipated volumes of mail-in ballots come November 2024 amid ongoing worries about potential vulnerabilities tied with this method of voting\u2014a sentiment echoed even within corporate media outlets.<\/p>\n<p>Former Attorney General William Barr previously described mass mailing ballots as \u201creckless,\u201d citing instances like one Texas man indicted for tampering with numerous ballots as evidence supporting concerns over such practices&#8217; integrity.<br \/>\nDespite grassroots activists voicing apprehensions about these issues persistently over time\u2014the GOP establishment appears increasingly supportive not just viewing it merely necessary but endorsing it broadly.<br \/>\nGarland Favorito noted grassroots activists seem more attuned than establishment figures regarding addressing underlying process-related issues surrounding elections today<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3352,"featured_media":2321752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screenshot-2024-08-06-at-10.47.47%E2%80%AFAM-1024x510.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[32675,37640,6203],"class_list":["post-2321751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-2020-election","tag-fortification","tag-gop"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screenshot-2024-08-06-at-10.47.47%E2%80%AFAM-1024x510.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2321751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2321752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2321751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2321751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2321751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}