What the Jan. 6th Report Says About the Fake Electors Scheme
Plus, some of my 2022 favorites.
Best of The Bulwark in 2022:
CHARLIE SYKES: Tucker Carlson and the Dangers of Crying Wolf
JONATHAN LAST: Conservatism Inc.'s Complicated Relationship with "Freedom"
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Editor’s note: We’re going to be a little slower paced than usual going into New Year’s… As you know, there won’t be a TNB this week, but we’ll still be publishing as news breaks! Take it easy out there in the last days of 2022.
PHILIP ROTNER: What the Jan. 6th Report Says About the Fake Electors Scheme.
On December 14, 2020, Republican operatives in at least five states—each of which had already officially certified Joe Biden as the winner—forged and submitted to Congress and the National Archives fake Electoral College certificates purporting to certify Donald Trump, not Biden, as the “duly elected” winner. The left-leaning watchdog group American Oversight first blew the whistle on the fake elector scheme in March 2021, but it wasn’t until Rachel Maddow devoted a series of shows to it in January 2022 that it really captured public attention.
In October, former DC police officer Michael Fanone joined Charlie Sykes for our first live show, and recalled the events of Jan 6 — when he was seriously injured defending the Capitol. A one-time Trump voter and Fox News fan, Fanone is now waging “a one-man war” against Trump and his reality-denying apologists. He also shared his thoughts about Kevin McCarthy, Lindsey Graham, Mike Pence, and the battle for the American soul.
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JIM’S FAVORITES OF 2022 🎉
I didn’t like writing this story, but it needed to be written: It was looking like a crazy insurrectionist was going to beat Larry Hogan’s successor according to polls. Maryland Republicans didn’t think they’d get Mastriano’d like their neighbors in Pennsylvania. “Can’t trust the Dem’s polling!” the argument went. The polling at the time had Cox beating Kelly Schulz by eight points. He beat her by double that: 16.
And then he lost to to Wes Moore, who Tim and I interviewed and I spent a day with, by 32 points.
🚨OVERTIME 🚨
Merry Christmas / Happy Hanukkah! I hope the holidays, if you celebrate, were special and enjoyable despite Winter Storm Elliott. Our flight back to D.C. was cancelled, along with a sibling’s family and many thousands of fellow travelers. But one thing this storm, despite disaster and death, is revealing: how great people are. Take this story from the NYT out of Buffalo.
The Kia/Hyundai Theft Problem… Is leading to vigilante justice, and people stealing Santa’s Sleigh.
The top 100 videos of 2022… A somewhat depressing compilation that’s running through New Year’s.
Driving Lyft for a week… Timothy Lee argues that their model is broken.
The abandoned Rubber Bowl… A neat video look at the former home of the Zips, and why it is still (partially) there. NE Ohioans had a joke about making it a dome that’d be renamed the Con Dome. Get it?
With all this cold… Who could go for some soup? But maintain the broth in perpetuity?
Most ‘secret’ family recipes… Are copied.
This is your brain… On Christmas music. And the importance of holiday cards.
That’s it for me. Tech support questions? Email members@thebulwark.com. Questions for me? Respond to this message.
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