State criminal investigations are pending for interfering with mail ballots

My pleading may finally be answered: “Attorneys general from at least six states are huddling to discuss possible lawsuits against the administration to block it from reducing mail service between now and the election, several told The Washington Post.” State officials rush to shore up confidence in Nov. 3 election as voters express new fears about mail voting:

Attorneys general from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Washington and North Carolina, among others, have begun discussions on how to sue the administration to prevent operational changes or funding lapses that could affect the election. They expect to announce legal action early this week, according to several involved in the talks.

The AGs of all six states are Democrats, protecting your right to vote safely and securely by mail during a pandemic.

“This is not just terrible policy, but it may be [is] illegal under federal law and other state laws as well,” said Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D). “A lot of work is being done literally as we speak over the weekend and at nights to try to figure out what Trump and DeJoy are doing, whether they have already violated or are likely to violate any laws and how we can take swift action to try to stop this assault on our democracy.”

Eric Holder, who served as U.S. attorney general under President Barack Obama and now leads the anti-gerrymandering group National Democratic Redistricting Committee, is also considering legal action, a spokesman said.

Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) called the Trump administrations actions an “arson,” and he asked his state attorney general on Friday to empanel a grand jury to investigate Trump and some top executives at the USPS under New Jersey state law.

CNN adds, Several states considering legal action against Trump administration over USPS and mail-in voting:

Several states say they are considering legal action against the Trump administration and the United States Postal Service to stop them from using new operational changes that could slow mail service leading up to the presidential election, which will rely heavily on mail-in voting.

At least a half dozen states including Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia are said to be reviewing their legal options against the administration.

A source with knowledge of the matter confirmed Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is in touch with other attorneys general to figure out next steps, including possible legal action.

“We will not be deterred by Donald Trump’s blatant attempts to undermine the integrity of our elections. We are exploring all options available to ensure everyone’s vote is counted,” Healey told CNN in a statement on Sunday.

The Washington Post first reported that attorneys general from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Washington state and North Carolina, among others, are discussing potentially joining forces to sue the Trump administration.

New Jersey’s Office of the Attorney General told CNN in a statement, “Attorney General (Gurbir) Grewal is deeply concerned by recent reports of potential political interference in the operations of the U.S. Postal Service. As is our standard practice, we are neither going to confirm nor deny a grand jury investigation.”

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Friday, “We’re considering all options, including legal options against the President and the postmaster general.”

“There are a lot of barriers being put up from the administration — whether that’s trying to force Americans to risk their very lives to cast a ballot, to meddling with the Post Office, sabotaging the way we deliver mail, to falsehoods and lies about vote by mail,” Griswold said on AC360 on Friday.

“So, I just think it’s so important that every elected official, every elections official and every American citizen start sounding the alarm. The rhetoric coming out of the White House is something that you hear under dictatorships, not in the United States. We have to act. We cannot allow him to tilt this election.”

The Post also reported that the states involved in discussions expect to announce legal action early this week, according to several people involved in the talks.

A handful of state officials made their thoughts known on Twitter this weekend.

• • • “Trump is attempting to undermine this election — but we won’t let him,” Healey said.

• • • North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein said he was “reviewing all legal options to protect this election. … Pres. Trump admitted to trying to starve USPS of $ so it can’t deliver absentee ballots. His political appointee/donor is actively undermining timely mail delivery. USPS just warned NC about ballot delays,” he wrote.

• • • “In Arizona, it’s against the law to ‘delay the delivery of a ballot.’ I’ve asked Attorney General Brnovich to investigate recent changes at USPS, and whether or not the Trump administration has committed a crime,” said Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs.

This Republican partisan hack was dismissive of the Secretary of State Hobbs’ request. Brnovich has no intention of ever investigating the Trump campaign and his toady DeJoy unless protestors camp out at the Arizona Attorney General’s office every day to make a lot of noise about his failure to protect Arizonan’s right to vote safely and securely by mail, as residents of this state have done for many years. It is a dereliction of duty and misfeasance in office.

Law & Crime reports, Democrats Ask FBI Director to Open Criminal Investigation of Postmaster General and USPS Board of Governors:

A pair of Democratic members of Congress on Monday urged the Federal Bureau of Investigation to open an investigation into Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and the USPS Board of Governors. In a Letter (Scribd) to FBI Director Christopher Wray, Reps. Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) cited to recent reports detailing nationwide delays in mail deliveries and requested the bureau probe whether top officials at USPS were intentionally attempting to impede mail distribution for personal or political gain.

“There is overwhelming evidence that Postmaster General DeJoy and the Board of Governors have hindered the passage of mail. At least 19 mail sorting machines, which can process 35,000 pieces of mail per hour, have been dismantled and over 671 are slated for reductions later this year,” the letter stated. “If Postmaster General DeJoy and/or the Board of Governors took these actions ‘for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate’ then they violated both 18 U.S.C. § 595 [Interference by Administrative Employees] and 18 U.S.C. § 1701 [Obstruction of Mail] [among several other provisions of law]. Indeed, there is evidence that making mail-in balloting more difficult may be one of the motivations for the changes instituted at the Post Office.”

The letter comes on the heels of President Donald Trump’s interview last week with Fox Business Network, in which he effectively conceded that he was withholding funds to the USPS knowing that this would hamper mail-in voting.

Trump regularly confesses to his crimes in interviews because he genuinely believes that he is above the law and that no one will prosecute him for his crimes. He may soon learn differently to his great surprise.

Prompted by complaints from Democratic Senators, the USPS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has also launched a dual-pronged investigation into DeJoy that will center on his agency directives and compliance with ethics rules.

Under DeJoy — a Trump mega-donor with millions of dollars invested in USPS contractors and competitors who was confirmed by the Postal Service’s Board of Governors in May — the USPS has undergone a slew of worrying transformations including the mass reorganization of top executives and cost-cutting measures. The moves have come amid a ten-fold increase in mail-in voting due to the resurgent pandemic and the Trump administration’s attempts to prevent expanded access to mail-in ballots.

Lieu and Jeffries noted that DeJoy recently met with Trump and top GOP officials, stating that it was “not unreasonable to conclude” that those at the top of the USPS were simply executing on Trump’s desire to “affect” voting through the mail [i.e., a conspiracy].

“Postmaster General DeJoy and the Board of Governors have already taken action to delay the passage of mail. Unless these actions are reversed, these changes will affect the elections this November in at least 46 states,” the letter stated. “We therefore urgently request that you open such an investigation.”

House Oversight Committee chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney(D-New York) has called an emergency hearing on mail delays and concerns about potential White House interference in the U.S. Postal Service, inviting Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and Postal Service board of governors Chairman Robert M. Duncan to testify Aug. 24. House accelerates oversight of Postal Service as uproar grows, demanding top officials testify at ‘urgent’ hearing:

“The postmaster general and top Postal Service leadership must answer to the Congress and the American people as to why they are pushing these dangerous new policies that threaten to silence the voices of millions, just months before the election,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Oversight Chair Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) said in a statement announcing the hearing.

* * *

The Postal Service is in the process of removing 671 high-speed mail-sorting machines nationwide this month, a process that will eliminate 21.4 million items per hour’s worth of processing capability from the agency’s inventory.

On Thursday and Friday, it began removing public collection boxes in parts of California, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Montana. The agency said Friday that it would stop mailbox removals, which it said were routine, until after the election.

And White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that it would also halt sorting-machine removals.

Left Unanswered: Is the Postal Service going to put them back from where they were removed?

Meadows also said the White House is open to Congress passing a stand-alone measure to ensure the U.S. Postal Service is adequately funded to manage a surge in mail voting in November.

“The president of the United States is not going to interfere with anybody casting their votes in a legitimate way whether it’s the post office or anything else,” he said. [It already HAS interfered with several state primary contests].

Both statements would appear to step back from the president’s comments Thursday when he said he opposed Postal Service funding because he wanted to restrict expanding voting by mail.

Trump and his toady DeJoy apparently believed that no one would ever notice and report what was going on. They got caught red-handed violating federal and state laws to steal an election, and now they are backtracking.

It goes without saying that this is an impeachable offense of the highest order, but Senate Republicans will protect Trump.

I will reiterate what I have said many times before. The Party of Trump is a criminal enterprise led by a third-rate mafia “Don” Trump. They are all accomplices, coconspirators and accessories who aid and abet his criminality and corruption. There is not a patriot among them. They put fealty to their “Dear Leader” above all else, including loyalty to their country and our national security, and their oaths of office to defend the Constitution. They reject the rule of law and are amoral. It is a betrayal of the faith of the American people in our constitutional government. They must all be held accountable.