Posted on 01/16/2021 6:04:37 PM PST by SeekAndFind
The Department of Justice on Friday announced it closed an investigation into ballots that were discarded in Pennsylvania.
“After a thorough investigation conducted by the FBI and prosecutors from my office, we have determined that there is insufficient evidence to prove criminal intent on the part of the person who discarded the ballots,” acting U.S. Attorney Bruce Brandler said in a statement. “Therefore, no criminal charges will be filed and the matter is closed.”
Brandler recently replaced David Freed, the former U.S. attorney who last year revealed nine military absentee ballots had been tossed in Luzerne County. Freed resigned on Jan. 1. The U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment at the time about the investigation.
Luzerne County, with a population of about 317,000, sits in northeast Pennsylvania outside of Scranton.
The probe centered on who discarded the ballots, which were mostly for President Donald Trump. Freed also said investigators found four official, bar-coded, absentee ballot envelopes that were empty. Most of the material was found in a dumpster.
“The preliminary findings of this inquiry are troubling and the Luzerne County Bureau of Elections must comply with all applicable state and federal election laws and guidance to ensure that all votes—regardless of party—are counted to ensure an accurate election count,” Freed wrote in a letter to Shelby Watchilla, director of elections for Luzerne County, in September 2020.
He said interviews revealed staffers were improperly opening nearly all envelopes received, even though they weren’t supposed to open military ballots until Election Day. Opening any absentee ballot before then “violates the controlling statutes and is contrary to Pennsylvania Department of State guidance,” Freed said.
Luzerne County Manager David Pedri’s office later said a contractor was to blame for the discarded ballots. The contractor was fired but not charged. Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar, a Democrat, told reporters what happened was “a bad error” and “not intentional fraud.” The county and state didn’t respond to requests for comment.
FBI agents worked with Pennsylvania State Police officers to conduct the investigation. County election officials cooperated with law enforcement, federal officials said.
Trump mentioned the probe several times. He told reporters in Washington last year: “We have to be careful with the ballots. The ballots, that’s a whole big scam. You know they found, I understand, eight ballots in a waste paper basket in some location. They found, it was reported in one of the newspapers that they found a lot of ballots in a river. They throw them out if they have the name Trump on them I guess.”
Among many other issues, ballots should only pass through the mail system in very limited numbers for legitimate absentee voters. Because stuff like this.
Let’s set the intent of the person aside... two questions:
1) Were the discarded ballot LEGAL or not?
2) If legal, were they in sufficient numbers to affect the PA election results?
Did They break the Law? If so, why weren’t they charged?
Is “criminal intent” an actual element of the crime? Because if it isn’t, the fix is in.
OTOH, if it is an element of the crime, and they can’t prove it, then the lack of prosecution is actually legit.
(But, I suspect it is not an element. If the law says that ballots can’t be discarded, and someone discards them, that’s a crime right there.)
RE: When POTUS invokes the Insurrection Act they can tell it to the military tribunals hearing the criminal cases.
I keep hearing about this but I don’t see it happening. It’s 4 days before inauguration day.
I agree. I’m a dreamer....I’m hoping the 26,000 National Guard aren’t there for the swearing in.....if you get my drift.
RE: When POTUS invokes the Insurrection Act they can tell it to the military tribunals hearing the criminal cases.
I keep hearing about this but I don’t see it happening. It’s 4 days before inauguration day.
I agree. I’m a dreamer....I’m hoping the 26,000 National Guard aren’t there for the swearing in.....if you get my drift.
Intent......it has lots of meanings these days. It would appear that the new SOP that Comey jotted down still holds true.
The stink...
Like visiting the old fish market...
There is a substantial body of law with no remedy. Election procedure is one such area. The "law" there is more like suggestions. Like you need a person from all parties? Just a suggestion. No penalty for violation.
Corrupt DOJ sees no problems with rigged election.
“Intent”.
In 2008, OH many people voted more than once. When asked if they intended to commit fraud, they answered “No”. Case closed.
Ballots were discarded.
But the issue is the criminal intent. Pay attention to the criminal intent.
That is what matters NOT THE EFFING FACT THAT THE BALLOTS WERE DISCARDED IN THE FIRST PLACE.
Just amazing. Now all your sheep friends who eat whatever is said over the news can spew back to you about “no evidence of fraud.”
As I posted before...
Let’s set the intent of the person aside... two questions:
1) Were the discarded ballot LEGAL or not?
2) If legal, were they in sufficient numbers to affect the PA election results?
These are the two relevant questions. We can talk about the intent of the person responsible later.
I keep hearing about this but I don’t see it happening. It’s 4 days before inauguration day."
President Trump MAY be just waiting until biden is sworn in - he has to be sworn in, otherwise, it wouldn't be a coup (takeover of OUR country) until that happens. biden will be just like chavez/maduro, a dictator taking over a country. Once biden takes over....hopefully, President Trump will swoop in and get them all! That's probably why we're not hearing much right now. Whatcha all think??
RE: Once biden takes over....hopefully, President Trump will swoop in and get them all!
You are assuming that the US military is supporting this. What gives them the legal authority to stage this coup and who is the commander who will do this?
What makes you so sure that OTHER military folks who oppose Trump will not fight back?
And you forgot that Trump PUBLICLY stated that there will be a peaceful and orderly transition of power.
This theory is even more bizarre than an Oliver Stone movie.
The point is that this is ONE instance of obvious error in the election process. This warrants a COMPLETE audit of the election results. It matters NOT if this one instance add up to sufficient numbers ... what about 100 instances? Now THAT may add up to a stolen election. Transparency means we look at ALL the processes.
RE: “OK, folks, it’s been a couple months. Let’s just hang it up. What difference, at this point, does it make?”
1) To make sufficient noise so that the voting system will be FIXED
2) To remind Biden that his victory MIGHT NOT BE HONEST and we are not necessarily obligated to consider him our legal president.
It is my understanding that ALL ballots must be kept for a period of 22 months after an election. If they are discarded early, we can no longer access them to determine if they are LEGAL or not. So lets prosecute the crime which breaks the actual law as it is written and figure out ancillary issues later. Ballots turned in to an election, legal or not, must be kept for auditing purposes ... transparency. What if we were to discover that 99% of ALL the discarded ballots were fraudulent? Even if they weren’t counted, wouldn’t we want to know that they existed? That they were cast? Legal or Not legal is meaningless if we can’t examine them.
and if the Supreme Court goes against the Dems there will be a ton of packing
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