[SE Mom]

I just emailed with a former doj lawyer friend. He’s followed this closely and cannot get a grasp right now. His last reply to me- “Who’s on First”??

Stay tuned, eh?

[jstolzen]

I thought the original Fed court ruling that allowed the recount to start Monday was ONLY on “when” the recount would start, not “if” the recount was legal and COULD start.

Assuming that’s the case, it would seem (not a lawyer but interpreting everything I’ve read on this) that the Fed judge did not rule on the legality of the recount - just that it could begin earlier than the mandatory 2-day waiting period.

The twisted pretzel logic he used was that (assuming) the recount was going forward, that waiting two days may “disenfranchise” the voters if it could not be completed by 12/13.

So, he never ruled on the legality of the recount - just the timing.

Ergo, how on earth does he have the right to say anything about the recount continuing until HE says it will stop?

I don’t believe this judge has any authority whatsoever to do that - it’s a State decision that the Fed has zero control over..and the State appeals court just ruled tonight that the recount is not legal, because Stein is (as we know) not an “aggrieved” candidate - which is what is required to get a recount.

[MarMema]

Opponents of the recount are also claiming that because an order issued by U.S. District Court Judge Mark Goldsmith early Monday morning to start the recount immediately only dealt with the timing of the recount, state courts are free to rule on whether the recount could continue.

Judges on the panel were skeptical of that argument, jokingly asking attorneys representing Trump and Schuette's office whether they were willing to go to jail for them for violating a federal judge's order.