But Ms. Wheeler draws a very sensible straight line -- from Sidney Powell's in-court admissions, to the able USDC Judge Sullivan in the Flynn case, that she personally had discussions with the occupant of 1600 Penn, about the Flynn case. . . (which would presumably include begging him for a pardon of Flynn), in order to protect that same Individual No. One from additional criminal exposure, should Flynn need to offer evidence anew (to avoid jail, for perjury). . . on the one hand -- and the fact that Sidney Powell was (through the first half of this past week, at least) ALSO working as Individual No. One's personal lawyer, in the Pennsylvania, Georgia and Michigan election lawsuits. Conflicting representations, anyone?
In any event, here is the latest Third Circuit opinion summarily dismissing Rudy G.'s Pennsylvania wing-nuttery, and a bit -- just to show how deeply out in the deep blue winter Atlantic this whole crazy effort to overturn a now 6 million plus vote win, clearly achieved by Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris:
. . .The Campaign had to plead plausible facts, not just conclusory allegations. Plaintiffs must do more than allege conclusions. Rather, “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face. . . .” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Id. The Second Amended Complaint does not meet Twombly and Iqbal’s baseline standard of specifics.
To start, note what it does not allege: fraud. Indeed, in oral argument before the District Court, Campaign lawyer Rudolph Giuliani conceded that the Campaign “doesn’t plead fraud.” Mot. to Dismiss Hr’g Tr. 118:19–20 (Nov. 17, 2020). He reiterated: “If we had alleged fraud, yes, but this is not a fraud case. . . .”
Though it alleges many conclusions, the Second Amended Complaint is light on facts. Take the nearly identical paragraphs introducing Counts One, Two, Four, and Six: “Democrats who controlled the Defendant County Election Boards engaged in a deliberate scheme of intentional and purposeful discrimination. . . by excluding Republican and Trump Campaign observers from the canvassing of the mail ballots in order to conceal their decision not to enforce [certain ballot] requirements.” Second Am. Compl. ¶¶ 167, 193, 222, 252. That is conclusory. So is the claim that, “[u]pon information and belief, a substantial portion of the approximately 1.5 million absentee and mail votes in Defendant Counties should not have been counted.” Id. ¶¶ 168, 194, 223, 253. “Upon information and belief” is a lawyerly way of saying that the Campaign does not know that something is a fact but just suspects it or has heard it. “While legal conclusions can provide the framework of a complaint, they must be supported by factual allegations.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679. Yet the Campaign offers no specific facts to back up these claims.
The Campaign has already litigated and lost most of these issues. Many of the Second Amended Complaint’s claims have already had their day in court. The Campaign cannot use this lawsuit to collaterally attack those prior rulings. . . .
As I say. . . this is all just to round out the record. To document that Rudy and Sidney Powell are. . . terrible at the tasks of any actual lawyering. They are great spectable, in an entirely ironic fashion, melting both boot black, in one case, and pancake makeup, respectively -- under hot TV lights. . . but they are not real lawyers.
Biden-Haris has won the 46th US Presidency. About that there can be no serious doubt. So. . . I'll grin broadly, and march onward -- toward a better. . . tomorrow.
नमस्ते
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