Elections
BREAKING: Pence defies Trump’s calls to overturn Biden’s victory
Wednesday afternoon, while President Donald Trump was speaking to supporters in front of the White House, Vice President Mike Pence issued a statement rejecting Trump’s calls for Pence to overturn President-elect Joe Biden‘s 2020 election victory, in a dramatic rebuke of the outgoing president and his dubious claims that widespread election fraud occurred.
In his statement shared to Twitter, filled with rows of paragraphs citing constitutional law and legal precedents, Pence argued that his role as the official who counts the electoral votes is “largely ceremonial.”
Ultimately, he argued that the Electoral Count of 1887 “establishes a clear procedure to address election controversies when they arise during the count of the vote of the Electoral College.”
“It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not,” his statement reads.
Pence did, however, still welcome lawmakers to object to the electoral votes, citing his own concerns about alleged irregularities during the contentious 2020 presidential election.
While Trump was speaking at his rally, Pence’s motorcade was en route to Capitol Hill to oversee the tallying of the states’ Electoral College votes. In the lead-up to this day, Trump was urging his second-in-command to overturn the electoral votes, which most legal experts have stated is not part of Pence’s constitutional duty.
Until now, it was unclear what Pence was planning going to do, but the shared view of legal experts pointed to him likely breaking with Trump.
This move by Pence likely puts the nail in the coffin of the planned effort by a dozen GOP senators and roughly one hundred House members to object to the electoral vote tally. Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.), one of the Republicans spearheading the effort, himself said on Tuesday in an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that Pence did not have the constitutional authority to carry out Trump’s wish.
You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.
Elections
IRS Whistleblower Receives Retaliation After Speaking Out on Hunter Biden Tax Case
A whistleblower in the Hunter Biden tax investigation, IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley, is facing harsh repercussions from the IRS after revealing alleged misconduct within the agency. Shapley, who gained widespread attention following an interview with investigative journalist Catherine Herridge, claims to be under intense pressure to accept a demotion or resign after publicly disclosing his concerns.
National Review reports on the recent developments, shared by Shapley’s attorney, Tristan Leavitt, reveal that the IRS had apparently been withholding a punitive decision until after Herridge’s interview went viral. “Less than an hour after @C__Herridge posted this story yesterday about the retaliation against the IRS whistleblowers, the IRS sent SSA Shapley this notice telling him he had 15 days to choose whether to be demoted or to resign,” Leavitt tweeted, noting that the agency appeared to have delayed this decision by at least two weeks.
On October 15, the IRS officially informed Shapley of a planned reassignment, notifying him he would be moved from his role as a Supervisory Special Agent in the criminal division to a Senior Analyst position—a demotion. Shapley was given the option to either accept the downgrade or, if he chose not to, request a lower-level special agent role or leave the agency entirely.
In response to the alleged retaliation, Shapley’s attorney sent a formal letter to Congress on Thursday. Addressed to House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and House Ways and Means Committee chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.), Leavitt’s letter highlights a history of punitive treatment Shapley claims to have faced since he first disclosed his findings.
“From the moment USA Weiss received access to SSA Shapley’s protected whistleblower disclosures and contacted IRS leadership, the IRS has treated SSA Shapley differently,” Leavitt wrote in the letter. He also added that “the illegal reprisal increased after SSA Shapley made clear he intended to blow the whistle to Congress and others. And it continues to this day, when the IRS knows it can retaliate against SSA Shapley simply by waiting out the clock for him to be forced into the position of resigning or being demoted.”
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is currently investigating the allegations of retaliation, not only against Shapley but also against another IRS whistleblower, Joseph Ziegler, who had similarly come forward regarding the Hunter Biden case. Leavitt has requested that the OSC intervene to prevent what he calls an apparent case of retaliation and has urged congressional Republicans to ask for a briefing on the progress of the OSC’s 17-month-long investigation.
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