"Lost, Not Stolen" a group of venerable conservatives destroys any case the 2020 election was rigged

Some conservatives have bought into Trump’s 2020 rigged election lie. Others have gone along with it because that is where the votes are. Yet others realized it was complete bullshit. And some of them also took the time to collect evidence on why it is destructive nonsense. And in this case, I am not referring to Liz Cheney and Adam Kitzinger.

I am referring to a group of respected conservatives who have analyzed the lies regurgitated by shameless politicians as pap for the base. They have produced a report titled, “​​​​​​​LOST, NOT STOLEN: The Conservative Case that Trump Lost and Biden Won the 2020 Presidential Election”. In it, they look at the voting in seven battleground states and systemically destroy the fantasy that the election was anything other than a fair fight, in which Biden smacked Trump down by a majority of 7 million votes.

I realize it is easy to give conservatives props for just doing the right thing (it is so unexpected). And I know that when all the dust has settled, they will still be dyed-in-the-wool reactionaries whose policies are antithetical to a prosperous America with equal opportunity for all its citizens. But the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And for now, I welcome all allies, even if I do not trust them an inch. They might be throwing cold water on election conspiracies, but even in their analysis, they still encourage restricting the franchise by “election integrity" laws.

So let us meet the conservatives who have put America above the party, at least for now.

Senator John Danforth is an ex-three-term Senator from Missouri who said in 2005, despite being an ordained Episcopal priest, “Republicans have transformed our party into the political arm of conservative Christians." On the negative side, he sponsored Clarence Thomas and promoted Jeff Hawley. An act he later described as "the worst mistake I ever made in my life".  

Benjamin Ginsberg is a long-time legal advisor for Republicans. Thomas B. Griffith was a George W. Bush appointee to the DC Court of Appeals. David Hoppe was instrumental in designing the Reagan tax cuts. And was Speaker Paul Ryan’s Chief of Staff.

J. Michael Luttig had been a clerk for Justice Scalia. He served in various roles under George H. W. Bush before Bush nominated him to the US Court of Appeals (4th Circuit). Michael W. McConnell was a George W. Bush appointee to the US Court of Appeals (10th circuit).

Theodore B. Olson is famous for being Bush’s lawyer in the 2000 Florida General Election fiasco. And for being pro-gay marriage in leading the fight against California’s Proposition 8. (N.B. Ginsberg worked with Olson on Bush v. Gore). Senator Gordon H. Smith was a two-term Republican Senator from Oregon.

You can be sure that the crazy wing of the party will paint them all as RINOs.

The authors start with their thesis statement,

“We have become deeply troubled by efforts to overturn or discredit the results of the 2020 Presidential Election. There is no principle of our Republic more fundamental than the right of the People to elect our leaders and for their votes to be counted accurately. Efforts to thwart the People’s choice are deeply undemocratic and unpatriotic. Claims that an election was stolen, or that the outcome resulted from fraud, are deadly serious and should be made only on the basis of real and powerful evidence. If the American people lose trust that our elections are free and fair, we will lose our democracy.”

Adding their conclusion

“We therefore have undertaken an examination of every claim of fraud and miscount put forward by former President Trump and his advocates, and now put the results of those investigations before the American people, and especially before fellow conservatives who maybe uncertain about what and whom to believe. Our conclusion is unequivocal: Joe Biden was the choice of a majority of the Electors, who themselves were the choice of the majority of voters in their states.”

Unlike Trump, Giuliani, Powell, and the rest of the crazy team, the authors of this paper connect all the dots over 69 pages of extensive research and analysis. And their conclusions are summed up in two statements,

“Of the 64 cases brought by Trump and his supporters, twenty were dismissed before a hearing on the merits, fourteen were voluntarily dismissed by Trump and his supporters before a hearing on the merits, and 30 cases included a hearing on the merits. Only in one Pennsylvania case involving far too few votes to overturn the results did Trump and his supporters prevail.”

Note, the 6-3 Supreme Court, containing three Trump appointees, refused to entertain a single appeal. And the cases had nothing to do with fraud. As the authors write

“Trump verbally attacked the elections as fraudulent, but his lawyers never filed such charges in court.”

The report is too long and detailed for me to summarize in a DK diary. And much of it the informed citizen will already know. But if you are interested in all the details, neatly organized and dissected by state, click here: Lost, Not Stolen. It is as open and shut a case as you can make. And will stand as the definitive fact-based assessment of the 2020 election.

Which the GOP will ignore.