Greg Olear: How turning in an assignment late might have saved democracy

[Nevilledog]

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Greg Olear 🇺🇦
@gregolear
"The timeline of events from early November 2020 through the January 6 insurrection strongly suggests that Trump was willing to move heaven and earth to remain Commander-in-Chief, despite his decisive loss in the election."

gregolear.substack.com
13848: In the Event of Foreign Interference in a U.S. Election (with Gal Suburban)
How turning in an assignment late might have saved democracy.
4:17 AM · Jun 3, 2022

https://gregolear.substack.com/p/13848-in-the-event-of-foreign-interference?s=w


On its face, Executive Order 13848, “On Imposing Certain Sanctions in the Event of Foreign Interference in a United States Election”—issued on September 12, 2018 by President Donald John Trump—seems perfectly benign:

Although there has been no evidence of a foreign power altering the outcome or vote tabulation in any United States election, foreign powers have historically sought to exploit America’s free and open political system. In recent years, the proliferation of digital devices and internet-based communications has created significant vulnerabilities and magnified the scope and intensity of the threat of foreign interference, as illustrated in the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment. I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with this threat.

The key takeaway is this:

Not later than 45 days after the conclusion of a United States election, the Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the heads of any other appropriate executive departments and agencies (agencies), shall conduct an assessment of any information indicating that a foreign government, or any person acting as an agent of or on behalf of a foreign government, has acted with the intent or purpose of interfering in that election. The assessment shall identify, to the maximum extent ascertainable, the nature of any foreign interference and any methods employed to execute it, the persons involved, and the foreign government or governments that authorized, directed, sponsored, or supported it. The Director of National Intelligence shall deliver this assessment and appropriate supporting information to the President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security.

As Trump wells knows, a hostile foreign power—Russia—did tamper with the election of 2016. Our Intelligence Community should be making sure hostile foreign powers are not tampering with our elections. The threat of foreign interference in elections is a national emergency. President Biden agrees; back in September, he re-upped E.O. 13848 for one more year.

But Trump doesn’t do anything without some ulterior motive. And if Gal Suburban, the crack open-source researcher and today’s guest on the PREVAIL podcast, is right, 13848 was one of the weapons Trump and his seditious brain trust planned to use to nullify the results of the 2020 election. The executive order was an arrow in the fascist quiver—perhaps the arrow that would end democracy in the United States.

*snip*

[Nevilledog]

1. Kick

[jxla]

2. E.O. 13848 Federal Register dated 09/14/2018

https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2018-20203