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Through the end of business hours on Friday, GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy had lost 13 straight votes for speaker of the House. Vote after vote, hour after hour, the Democratic minority cast its ballots for the conference's leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York. And as a result, Jeffries won vote after vote for speaker, though McCarthy finally pulled ahead on Friday. Democrats can vote as a block from now till this Congress is over, but they simply didn't have the numbers to elect Jeffries as speaker. With every vote in the House this week, they’ve shown that criticism to be overstated.

☆ GA Sec of State Brad Raffensperger said his office ghosted Lindsey Graham after the senator questioned the state's recount during the 2020 election
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger ghosted Sen. Lindsey Graham in November 2020. In a newly-released transcript, Raffensperger said Graham made an odd request during Georgia's recount. During the call with Graham, Raffensperger said that there hadn't been an outright ask to find additional votes like Trump requested in January 2021 but maintained the conversation was ominous. In January 2021, Raffensperger was asked by former President Donald Trump to "find" 11,780 votes to overturn the state's 2020 election results, a move which Raffensperger said led to months of death threats to him and his family. In an interview with Insider, Raffensperger maintained that election misinformation was the biggest threat to democracy in the US.

☆ Factbox: Jan. 6 report adds to Trump's mounting legal problems
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Industry Insight | Saw Law Firms Move Past The Pandemic Into A More Client-Focused Service Environment | Thomson Reuters Institute | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

A New York judge ordered that an independent monitor be appointed to oversee the Trump Organization before the case goes to trial in October 2023. Trump asked Raffensperger to "find" enough votes needed to overturn Trump's election loss in Georgia. Legal experts said Trump may have violated at least three Georgia criminal election laws: conspiracy to commit election fraud, criminal solicitation to commit election fraud and intentional interference with performance of election duties. A Trump Organization lawyer has said it would appeal the decision, while Trump has defended his company's operations. Allen Weisselberg, the company's former chief financial officer, pleaded guilty and was required to testify against the Trump Organization as part of his plea agreement.

Jonathan Ernst | ReutersThe Jan. 6 House select committee released its long-awaited final report Thursday, capping an 18-month probe of the 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol by a violent mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump. "Donald Trump's senior Justice Department officials — each appointed by Donald Trump himself —investigated the allegations and told him repeatedly that his fraud claims were false," Cheney wrote. "Donald Trump's White House lawyers also told him his fraud claims were false. Members of the Oath Keepers militia group among supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump, on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, January 6, 2021. U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to speak to supporters from The Ellipse near the White House on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC.

☆ Jan. 6 committee highlights: Panel votes on criminal referrals for Trump and others
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Rebecca Shabad | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Jonathan-Allen-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +48 min

“By the time President Trump was preparing to give his speech, he and his advisors knew enough to cancel the rally. “Some have suggested that President Trump gave an order to have 10,000 troops ready for January 6th. On far-right groups drawing inspiration from Trump: Trump has not denied that he helped inspire far-right groups, including the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, to violently attempt to obstruct the official certification proceedings on Jan. 6. "There is no question from all the evidence assembled that President Trump did have that intent." Share this -Link copiedInside the final Jan. 6 committee meeting The Jan. 6 committee met for what’s likely its final public meeting, with many of the usual faces present.

☆ Jan. 6 committee live updates: Panel votes on criminal referrals for Trump and others
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Summer Concepcion | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +42 min

Committee details Trump allies' efforts to obstruct its investigation In its report summary, the committee detailed some of the efforts to obstruct its investigation. On far-right groups drawing inspiration from Trump: Trump has not denied that he helped inspire far-right groups, including the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, to violently attempt to obstruct the official certification proceedings on Jan. 6. "There is no question from all the evidence assembled that President Trump did have that intent." Share this -Link copiedInside the final Jan. 6 committee meeting The Jan. 6 committee met for what’s likely its final public meeting, with many of the usual faces present. The committee will likely reveal Eastman’s referrals during Monday’s meeting, in addition to expected criminal referrals for Trump.

☆ Warnock says voter suppression remains an issue in Georgia even though he won, tells critic Brad Raffensperger 'we can do better'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sen. Raphael Warnock told CBS This Morning that voter suppression was still an issue in Georgia. He also addressed a WSJ opinion piece from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger that called him an "election denier." Raffensperger in his piece was referring to Warnock's victory speech, in which he said voter suppression occurred in the state. Georgia voters reelected Raffensperger in November over a Trump-backed challenger. While voters elected Republicans to other statewide offices in Georgia during the midterms, Democratic voters had strong turnout during early voting.

☆ Prosecutors in Georgia are fast approaching a decision on whether to charge Trump. Here's how it would go down.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Over the past year, she empaneled a grand jury and fought court battles to ensure testimony from Gov. Two other high-profile witnesses who fought grand jury subpoenas, Mark Meadows and Newt Gingrich, have their cases before appeals courts. A regular grand jury, which sits for two months, would probably move swiftly, Carlson said, since it would have all the evidence painstakingly compiled by the special grand jury. "The reason it'll go very fast is the regular grand jury will have a transcript from the testimony of a laundry list of witnesses that have already testified to the special grand jury," Carlson said. The case in Georgia, Carlson pointed out, is especially potent because of how uniquely strong the evidence is and how reliable the witnesses would be.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Wednesday called for the state Legislature to end general election runoff contests. “Georgia is one of the only states in the country with a General Election Runoff,” he said in a statement. It was the state's third Senate general election runoff in the past two election cycles. Under Georgia law, a runoff occurs if no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote in an election. Georgia is one of only two states — the other is Louisiana — that continue to hold general election runoffs (though another nine use runoffs in primaries).

☆ U.S. special counsel subpoenas officials in Georgia, Nevada -W.Post
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith has issued a subpoena to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and authorities in Clark County, Nevada, according to The Washington Post, bringing the number of U.S. states to have officials summoned to six. The Post, citing a copy of the summons, said those subpoenaed were asked to appear before a grand jury. Smith previously summoned state or local officials in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin seeking their communications with Republican former President Donald Trump, his campaign, aides and allies. Nevada's Clark County acknowledged receiving the subpoena for its elections division's custodian of records, the Post said. The subpoena for Raffensperger is dated Dec. 9, and the one for Clark County, Nevada, Nov. 22 the Post reported.

☆ Georgia Secretary of State Calls to End General-Election Runoffs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Joshua Jamerson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called on state lawmakers to eliminate its general-election runoff after previously defending the practice as healthy when the 2020 and 2022 elections resulted in high-stakes, second rounds of voting. In Georgia statewide elections, if no candidate notches 50% support, the top two vote-getters advance to a runoff. While several states have runoffs for primary elections, it is rare to have them in general elections.

☆ Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger calls on state legislators to eliminate runoff elections
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called for an end to general election runoffs. "Georgia is one of the only states in the country with a General Election Runoff. I'm calling on the General Assembly to visit the topic of the General Election Runoff and consider reforms," Raffensperger said in a statement. In the November general election, Warnock edged out Walker 49.4%-48.5%, but since neither candidate met the 50 percent threshold, the race was extended for an additional four weeks. State courts sided with the plaintiffs and voting took place on November 26 in select jurisdictions across the state.

☆ Georgia's top election official calls for end to runoffs in the state
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 14 (Reuters) - Georgia's top election official on Wednesday called on lawmakers to eliminate the state's unusual runoff election system, a week after Democrats again prevailed in a runoff for a closely fought U.S. Senate race. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said runoff elections put a significant strain on election officials. Under Georgia law, if no candidate secures at least half of the votes in November's regular election, a runoff between the two top vote-getters is triggered. Democrats in January 2021 swept two Senate runoff races, giving them control of the chamber and allowing President Joe Biden to advance his legislative agenda. Only Louisiana and Georgia employ a runoff system for general elections.

CNN —Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has called on state lawmakers to eliminate general election runoffs. “Georgia is one of the only states in country with a General Election Runoff,” Raffensperger, a Republican, said in a statement on Wednesday. I’m calling on the General Assembly to visit the topic of the General Election Runoff and consider reforms.”Georgia’s general election runoff system, rooted in its segregationist past, says that if no candidate in a general election gets more than 50% of the vote, the race must go to a runoff four weeks later between the two candidates who received the most votes. Raffensperger’s statement comes a little more than a week after Georgia’s third US Senate runoff election in two years, which saw Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock defeat Republican challenger Herschel Walker. The secretary of state pointed to the additional impact the four-week runoff period had on voters and county election officials this year.

CNN —Local officials in Nevada, New Mexico and Georgia have received federal subpoenas for records related to the 2020 election as the Justice Department’s investigation intensifies in battleground states. In addition, the Cobb County, Georgia, election board received an FBI subpoena this week, according to Ross Cavitt, the county’s communications director. In late December 2020, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced an audit found “no fraudulent absentee ballots” with a 99% confidence. CNN reported Monday that Smith had also subpoenaed Raffensperger as part of the Justice Department’s investigation. Clark County, Nevada’s most populous county, and Arizona’s secretary of state’s office also refuted claims of voter fraud after the 2020 election.

☆ A moment of truth is fast approaching for both Trump and the DOJ
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

She then rebuffed White House condemnations of her comments by insisting she was joking. Smith has also issued a flurry of grand jury subpoenas since Thanksgiving, including to ex-Trump adviser Stephen Miller and two former White legal counsels. A judge on Monday formally dismissed Trump’s case challenging the Mar-a-Lago evidence collection and in which she had appointed a special master. If a moment of truth is approaching for Trump, the same can be said of Garland and the DOJ. Trump has already tried to use claims that justice is being weaponized against him as rocket fuel for his 2024 presidential bid.

☆ DOJ special counsel in Trump probe subpoenas Georgia secretary of state
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who is also running for re-election on the Republican ticket, holds his first press briefing of Election Day in Atlanta, Georgia, November 8, 2022. The Department of Justice special counsel overseeing two criminal investigations of former President Donald Trump, Jack Smith, has issued a subpoena seeking documents from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Smith's subpoena, which Raffensperger's office confirmed to NBC News, is connected to the probe of Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss to President Joe Biden. A source familiar with the subpoena, which the secretary of state's office received Monday, told NBC that Raffensperger's lawyers are "weighing options" for a timeline to respond to the subpoena. Trump on Jan. 2, 2021, unsuccessfully lobbied Raffensperger to "find" the ex-president enough votes in Georgia to reverse Biden's win there.

CNN —Special counsel Jack Smith has subpoenaed Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as part of the Justice Department’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the US Capitol attack on January 6, 2021. Mike Hassinger, public information officer with the Georgia secretary of state’s office, confirmed that Raffensperger’s office has received a subpoena from Smith. “At the request of the Justice Department, we have no further comment,” Hassinger said in an email to CNN. Smith has also issued a flurry of subpoenas, including to election officials in battleground states where Trump tried to overturn his loss in 2020. And there’s nothing wrong with saying that, you know, um, that you’ve recalculated,” Trump said in one part of the call.

☆ Defeated Georgia GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker was 'absolutely shocked' he didn't win 100% of the vote in Johnson County, where he grew up: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Walker was "shocked" he didn't 100% of the vote in his home county last month, per The Daily Beast. The Republican carried Johnson County 74%-26% over Warnock, but was still taken aback by the result. While Walker received 2,484 votes to Warnock's 869 votes in Johnson County in November, Kemp earned 2,504 votes compared to Abrams' 867 votes. On Tuesday, Warnock defeated Walker in the runoff 51.4%-48.6%, earning a full six-year term in the Senate and denying Republicans a much-desired win. And Warnock gained ground in Johnson County in the runoff compared to the November election, winning 967 votes (29%) to Walker's 2,419 votes (71%).

☆ Strong midterm turnout in Georgia sparks new debate about a controversial election law
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Fredreka Schouten | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —The strong turnout in Georgia’s runoff election that cemented Democrats’ control of the US Senate is sparking fresh debate about the impact of the state’s controversial 2021 election law and could trigger a new round of election rule changes next year in the Republican-led state legislature. “There’s no truth to voter suppression,” Raffensperger said in an interview this week with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, a day after Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock secured reelection in the first federal election cycle since Georgia voting law took effect. State election officials had opposed casting ballots on that date, saying Georgia law prohibited voting on a Saturday if there is a state holiday on the Thursday or Friday before. In the CNN interview earlier this week, Raffensperger suggested that the Republican-controlled General Assembly might revisit some of the state’s election rules, including potentially lowering to 45% the threshold needed to win a general election outright. “There will be a push for this in the upcoming legislative session,” said Daniel Baggerman, president of Better Ballot Georgia, a group advocating for the instant runoff.

☆ After failure in Georgia Senate runoff, Republicans could bring in more voting changes next year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Republicans lost the state's Senate runoff election, which was held under the new rules. Some Republicans are now pointing fingers at those laws as they reflect on the runoff loss, The New York Times reported. But there is disagreement in the party over the approach it should take with voting laws, according to the Times. The current laws typically expand in-person early voting in many areas in normal elections, but NBC News reported that they reduce the number of early voting days in runoff elections because they cut the amount of time between general elections and runoff elections. A composite image showing Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who won the state’s runoff election, and his Republican challenger Herschel Walker.

☆ Trump isn’t the only thing that could rock American democracy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

In a rare bright spot for democracy in the wake of the US Capitol insurrection, Walker – unlike Trump after 2020 – conceded his loss. But looking to the next election, there’s a brewing fight over which states should have the first say in the presidential primary process. The most core question raised this week is being put to Supreme Court justices. Removing a check from the systemThe leap from Trump’s call to end the Constitution to the independent state legislature theory isn’t that far. Under the map approved by the state Supreme Court and after last month’s midterm elections, the delegation will be an even 7-7 when the new Congress is seated in January.

WHITE HOUSE RUNOn Nov. 15 Trump launched his campaign for the Republican nomination to take on Democratic President Joe Biden. NEW YORK CRIMINAL PROBEAfter Tuesday's verdict in the tax fraud case, the New York state judge set sentencing for Jan. 13. GEORGIA ELECTION TAMPERING PROBEA special grand jury was empanelled in May for a Georgia prosecutor's inquiry into Trump's alleged efforts to influence that state's 2020 election results. Trump asked Raffensperger to "find" enough votes needed to overturn Trump's election loss in Georgia. Legal experts said Trump may have violated at least three Georgia criminal election laws: conspiracy to commit election fraud, criminal solicitation to commit election fraud and intentional interference with performance of election duties.

☆ Takeaways from the 2022 Georgia runoff: Warnock's win expands Democratic power in the Senate as his own star rises
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Sahil-Kapur-Headshot.Jpg | Sahil Kapur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

ATLANTA — Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock wrapped up his “one more time” tour with a victory Tuesday in the runoff, defeating Republican rival Herschel Walker to secure a six-year term. But this electoral success is sure to elevate his star, possibly into the echelons of presidential or vice-presidential contenders. Walker improved his margins in some rural counties, particularly in northern Georgia, but it wasn't enough. Warnock's top advisers said they focused heavily on swing voters, and their strategy paid off. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, won their races on Election Day, topping 50% and avoiding a runoff.

We’re going to win Georgia,” Biden said in response to questions regarding his outlook on the Georgia Senate runoff contest as he exited Air Force One Tuesday night. Share this -Link copiedWarnock defeats Walker in Georgia Senate runoff, NBC News projects Sen. Raphael Warnock has won his second statewide runoff election in the last two years, defeating Republican Herschel Walker in the increasingly purple state of Georgia to capture a six-year term in the Senate, NBC News projected. Share this -Link copiedThe Senate runoff election is still too close to call, but Warnock leads The Senate runoff election between Warnock and Walker is still too close to call, but Warnock leads, NBC News' Decision Desk said just before 10 p.m. Share this -Link copiedPolls close soon in critical Georgia Senate runoff Polls are closing at 7 p.m. ET in the Senate runoff election in Georgia, where Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock is hoping to fend off a challenge from Republican Herschel Walker.

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