Democratic dirty trickster Marc Elias is trying to steal a Senate seat

Marc Elias is backmost and that is not bully news.

Despite the Pennsylvania contention called by the AP astir a week ago, Elias is moving with Democratic Sen. Bob Casey to try to alteration that outcome. It is not astonishing that Casey was near with Elias.

For many, Elias is simply a notorious figure who captures the hypocrisy of the “save democracy” crowd. Ellias is an lawyer who has been sanctioned successful court and denounced by critics arsenic a Democratic “dirty trickster” and adjacent an “election denier.”

Despite his checkered history, Elias remains the go-to lawyer for galore Democratic campaigns.

It was Elias who was the wide counsel to the Clinton statesmanlike run erstwhile it funded the infamous Steele Dossier, which falsely pushed the thought that Donald Trump was a Russian asset.

During the campaign, reporters asked astir the imaginable transportation to the campaign, but Clinton run officials denied immoderate engagement successful the Steele Dossier.

When journalists discovered aft the predetermination that the Clinton run hid payments for the dossier as “legal fees” among the $5.6 million paid to Perkins Coie, they met with thing but shrugs from the Clinton staff.

New York Times newsman Ken Vogel accused Elias of denying engagement successful the anti-Trump dossier. When Vogel tried to study the story, helium said, Elias “pushed backmost vigorously, saying ‘You (or your sources) are wrong.’”

Times reporter Maggie Haberman declared, “Folks progressive successful backing this lied astir it, and with sanctimony, for a year.”

Elias was backmost erstwhile John Podesta, Clinton’s run chairman, was questioned by Congress connected the Steele Dossier and denied categorically any contractual statement with Fusion GPS.

Sitting beside him was Elias, who reportedly said thing to close the misleading accusation fixed to Congress.

The Clinton run and the Democratic National Committee were ultimately sanctioned by the FEC over the handling of the backing of the dossier done his anterior firm.

The Democratic National Committee reportedly aboriginal chopped ties with Elias.

Nevertheless, different Democrats continued to hire Elias contempt his controversial history. He unsuccessfully led efforts to situation Democratic losses. Elias besides was the subject of aggravated criticism after a tweet that some person called inherently racist, aft suggesting Georgia voters couldn’t find their ain driver’s licence number.

Elias continued to beryllium accused of not defending but thwarting democracy.

In Maryland, Elias filed successful enactment of an abusive gerrymandering of predetermination districts that a tribunal recovered violated not lone Maryland instrumentality but the authorities constitution’s adjacent protection, escaped code and escaped elections clauses. The tribunal said that the representation pushed by Elias “subverts the volition of those governed.”

His enactment for New York redistricting not only ignored the explicit volition of the voters to extremity specified gerrymandering, it efficaciously negated the votes of Republican voters.

In 2024, the Chief Judge of the Western District of Wisconsin not lone rejected but ridiculed the Elias Law Group for 1 of its challenges. Judge James Peterson (an Obama appointee) said that the statement “simply does not marque immoderate sense.”

The constituent is that it does not person to marque sense. Democratic campaigns money Elias and his assorted profitable enterprises to propulsion undemocratic causes.

That is the lawsuit with Casey. Trump won Pennsylvania’s statesmanlike election, and Dave McCormick received tens of thousands much votes.

With 99% of the votes counted, adjacent Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer relented successful allowing McCormick to be the predisposition for caller senators.

What is astir striking is the strategy of Elias.

The authorities has astir 87,000 provisional ballots to count, but those ballots were mostly challenged for defects oregon suspected invalidity.

Even if they were to count, it is improbable that they volition interruption truthful overwhelmingly for Casey to overturn the result. Indeed, lone astir 30,000 were coming from Casey strongholds successful Philadelphia and Allegheny County.

However, Elias conscionable wants to get wrong .5% to trigger a mandatory recount.

It is reminiscent of Trump demanding an further recount successful Georgia, maintaining connected a telephone that each helium needed was to “find 11,780 votes” to alteration the outcome. 

All Elias needs to bash is find 40,000 votes.

Of course, erstwhile Trump made that comment, Elias and Democrats insisted that helium was an predetermination denial and menace to democracy. What is hypocrisy to some is simply a surviving to others. Elias has garnered millions successful seeking to flip election results oregon alteration predetermination procedures.

It is not the archetypal clip Elias seemed to morph into those helium denounced. Previously successful New York, Elias unsuccessfully sought to flip the effect successful a legislature contention by claiming that the Dominion voting machines someway switched oregon changed votes. Sound familiar?

Casey volition yet person to judge defeat, but Elias volition apt stay the break-the-glass enactment for Democratic campaigns erstwhile different lawyers person mislaid the appetite for challenging predetermination results.

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law astatine George Washington University. He is the writer of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech successful an Age of Rage.”