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After six weeks of representing Norm Coleman’s case to the three judges on the Election Contest Court, the Coleman legal team has "provisionally" rested — which means it’s now the Franken team’s turn at bat.
The Franken team will make a motion to dismiss the case entirely as the Franken camp claims that there’s no way for Coleman to take the lead in the vote count. (Franken’s lead, per Jay Weiner at MinnPost, stands unofficially at 255 — that is, 258 minus three of the Nauen voters; those three voters’ ballots were pulled from the count by the court yesterday.) This motion will likely not get anywhere as the court has already indicated that some additional ballots will be counted, and it has hinted that some others such as Pile 3a (which WineRev explains here) will also be counted. Taken together, the total number of additional ballots is large enough to potentially give Coleman the lead, and so long as that possibility exists, however small, the case cannot be dismissed. Franken may fare better with the motion for summary judgment, especially if it involved the missing Minneapolis ballots that Coleman’s camp finally admitted existed last week; if the ECC now believes there is no factual dispute to be settled any more with regard to these ballots, then that issue may be struck from the contest in the interest of speeding things along.
During yesterday’s lunch recess, the Coleman camp continued its custom of holding press conferences in order to make various unsupported statements that they don’t dare utter in court for fear of drawing sanctions and fines. Ben "Pro Hack" Ginsberg attacked "systemic corruption" in voter databases, attempting to make a mountain out of the molehill that was state elections official Gary Poser’s testimony that the voter database could theoretically be corrupted. Nobody at the presser bothered to ask Ginsberg if anyone on Coleman’s legal team had brought this up before the judges while court was in session. Meanwhile, the Election Contest Court ruled that the Coleman camp owes Al Franken’s attorneys $7,500 — which is the price of three days of court action, the amount of time that the court figured the Coleman camp had wasted with its attempt to hide Pamela Howell until the last moment and coach her even when she was in court. (Meanwhile (h/t WineRev), Noah Kunin of The UpTake points out that during the recount, Franken’s people issued a complaint over Howell’s handling of ballots in her precinct. Could it be that her unsupported word on the stand is payback for this?)
Oh, and remember the Duluth election official who wanted to be paid for his time spent on the stand or he wouldn’t show? Well, guess what? The ECC ruled that 1) they’re not paying him and 2) he’d better show up or else.
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this just in from RNC and Mickey Mouse Steele:
Dear peterboy,
As you know, my mission as the new Chairman of the Republican National Committee is to rebuild our party from the grassroots up – using new technology to spread our conservative message and remind voters that our party is the one and only true party of the people.
But before we get too far down that road, we’ve got some unfinished business to attend to. Specifically, we’ve got to stop liberal Democrat comedian Al Franken from stealing Norm Coleman’s U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota.
As you may know, Norm Coleman won re-election on November 4th by 215 votes. But a subsequent recount — tainted with inconsistencies and improperly counted ballots — awarded a temporary 225-vote margin to Franken.
As I write to you, Franken and his allies are working feverishly to persuade a panel of judges in Minnesota that certain un-counted ballots must remain un-counted… and deny the one-person, one-vote principle which is the very foundation of our democratic process.
Your immediate financial support of the Coleman for Senate Recount Fund will help us stop this tragic injustice, and I urge you to click here now to help.
As the former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and candidate for the U.S. Senate, I’m no stranger to the gutter campaign tactics and shady legal maneuverings of the Left Wing. They don’t fight fair, and they’ll stop at nothing to consolidate the power they crave.
This outrageous power grab by Al Franken and Harry Reid must not stand. With Norm Coleman in the Senate protecting taxpayers, it would have been much more difficult for Obama and Reid to get the 60 votes they needed to pass their outrageous, pork-laden stimulus package. And with Norm in the Senate protecting workers, it will be much more difficult for the Democrats to pass “Card-Check” legislation that will prevent the right of workers to cast secret ballots in union elections.
These are but just a few of the reasons why I’m counting on you to support Norm Coleman’s recount fund with the most generous contribution you can make.
Click here to contribute $15, $25 or $35. If you can contribute $50, $100, $500 or more – up to the legal maximum of $2,300 per person – please do so now. Whatever the amount, we need your help to keep a good man doing a fine job for the conservative principles you and I share.
Republicans must once again assert that the opportunities this nation has to offer rests not in government, but in the hands of individuals. Through both our words and our deeds, our party will do just that in the elections to come.
But first, we’ve got some unfinished business from 2008. The power to return Norm Coleman to the U.S. Senate rests in your hands right now, through the click of a mouse and your contribution to the Coleman for Senate Recount Fund.
I look forward to your reply. Help me help Norm, and begin the process of rebuilding our party for 2010 and beyond.
Thanks so much,
Michael Steele
Chairman, Republican National Committee
now normie wants a “do over” election, because the election we already had is full of errors
you really gotta wonder about that logic
process A didn’t work, so we need to repeat process A
there is a name for that
INSANITY
if normie’s claims are true, and the election process is fatally flawed, then why would normie want to repeat the same process ???
is it just me ???
Do note that there is a difference between what some of Norm’s folks say in court and what some others of them — namely, the ones who aren’t allowed to speak in an official capacity for Norm in front of a judge — are spewing at their presscons.
[Donning lambswool cardigan sweater after entering the door]
[Background music]
[softly, as if to self] …
It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood,
A neighborly day in the beauty wood,
Would you be my,could you be my Neighbor?
[Cheery smile]
Hi boys and girls. Mr Postman brought us a letter today! This letter is a wonderful sample of a psychological concept called projection.
Sometimes boys and girls project when they’re on the playground and get angry. When one of your friends has said something hurtful that made you angry, have you ever said, “I know you are, but what am I?” I know you have. It’s a something that people do sometimes, but it’s never attractive.
Well, in today’s letter, Mr Steele, a grown-up who chairs the Republican National Committee does the same thing. Listen to what Mr Steele has to say:
Now most of you boys and girls weren’t born, or maybe you were in diapers when former President George Bush appealed an election in Florida. The Republicans held a pretend-riot outside the Miami-Dade County elections office to stop a recount of votes. And they did stop the counting of people’s votes.
In Minnesota, a panel of three judges are examining Senator Coleman’s claims and Mr Franken’s claims. Now, boys and girls, which sounds more orderly to you? A riot, staged by one party to the argument, or three judges listening to people talk one at a time?
So today’s word, boys and girls, is projection. Can you say today’s word? I knew you could.
[Fade out]
the “spewing” is designed to have the same effect as the official speaking
and it IS having the same effect
just ain’t the effect normie was going for, thas all ..
(wink)
Continued excellent reporting, thank you PW!
Will these Coleman lawyers just fall over from accumulated humiliation?
No.
Hopefully, when this is settled Norman will have more time to pursue his interests, namely, taxidermy and looking after his mother. Actually, those two things sort of fall in the same category.
I suspect that the real sanctions won’t be handed down until after this case is done and gone. The courts (both ECC and MN Supreme) want to avoid giving Norm any basis for a successful appeal.
Ed Gein, Ed Gein, he bought it sight unseen…
My father had a law partner who did criminal defense work. The serious kind. His rule: if you lie to me and make me look like an asshole, find yourself another lip.
But these guys – fighting for their political party and ruining their reps. I don’t get it, no matter the size of the check.
That’s why Friedberg made such a big show of tossing Trimble and Company under the bus when the Howell hanky-panky was brought to light. We’re getting close to the “rats in a slumfire” stage of the proceedings, as in:
It’s a high-profile case, if they’re successful it’ll look great on their resumes. “Look, we helped Coleman steal an election. Just think what we can do for you!” If they lose they won’t talk about it so much.
They could televise that part of it on pay-per-view and cut the national debt by quite a bit.
The only thing that could reduce the national debt at this point is a giant meteor strike.
Thanks for the great reporting.
They’ve got the start of it on video.