Free Republic

Continuing allegations that the 2020 election was “stolen” are roiling our politics and dividing our country. Indeed, now a significant percentage of the American public doubts the legitimacy of our system. That caused us, political conservatives who have spent most of our careers working to uphold the Constitution and the conservative principles upon which it is based, to delve deeply into those charges and gauge their accuracy. All of us have either worked in Republican Party politics at multiple levels and in various capacities or worked in the government as a result of Republican appointments. Indeed, one of us, Theodore...

A group of prominent conservatives released a new report Thursday outlining their investigation into the 2020 election and have concluded former President Trump's claims of a stolen election are unfounded. The report, "LOST NOT STOLEN: The Conservative Case that Trump Lost and Biden Won the 2020 Presidential Election," was put together by three former federal judges and eight conservative leaders who investigated Trump's claims. Over the course of a year, the group looked at all 64 cases of the Trump campaign's fraudulent claims in six key states and concluded that there were no substantial instances of fraud that would have...

Olson, Ted Boutrous, and Anne Champion — all from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP — filed documents in Washington's federal district court Tuesday that outlined their case against Trump, senior aides, and Secret Service personnel after Acosta's "hard press pass" was suspended last week. The decision followed a heated press conference exchange between Trump and Acosta, during which a White House intern tried to wrestle the microphone from the journalist to prevent him from asking another question. Acosta has denied "placing his hands" on the young woman as administration officials claim

Gibson Dunn has been retained by the NRSC on behalf of Rick Scott for Florida. They are a preeminent litigation powerhouse that are veterans of Bush v. Gore. Firm partners include former solicitor general Ted Olson who successfully argued Bush v. Gore.

As things now stand, Mueller has not made, or even attempted to make, a record to explain why he would be justified in invoking the power of the judiciary to compel the president to show up before a grand jury—without a lawyer—and answer whatever questions Mueller and his army of prosecutors may put to him. Two Supreme Court decisions have been cited by some commentators as precedents authorizing compulsive judicial authority to force a president to testify before a grand jury. But neither case goes nearly that far. Indeed, both decisions are explicitly limited to the unique circumstances that gave...

Can special counsel Robert Mueller require President Trump to testify before a grand jury? It would be unprecedented, and his effort to do so could lead to a major constitutional confrontation. The president could, of course, resist a grand jury subpoena by asserting his right under the Fifth Amendment not to be a witness against himself. However, for political reasons, he may not wish to do that. And he may not need to. Another off-ramp for the president, which he may choose not to take, is to remove the special counsel. Mueller is an appointee of the Department of Justice,...

John Dowd, a personal attorney to President Trump, resigned his post Thursday amid a shake-up in the president’s legal team as Trump has sought more firepower to deal with the special counsel’s Russia investigation. The resignation came Thursday, according to three people familiar with the decision. Dowd declined to comment. Dowd’s departure was a largely mutual decision made after the president lost confidence in his ability to handle special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation and Dowd became frustrated with Trump’s recent efforts to bring on new attorneys, they said. In recent weeks, Dowd clashed with the president, including an...

President Donald Trump's legal team has approached high-profile attorney Theodore Olson about joining forces. The newspaper described Olson as a seasoned litigator, who served as solicitor general in the George W. Bush administration. The Post said Olson, 77, has long been considered a legal superstar.

Ted Olson dings Cruz's proposal to revamp the Supreme Court.Conservative attorney and prominent gay rights activist Ted Olson took a swipe Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz , saying the freshman senator had abandoned a fundamental understanding of the constitution when he suggested a constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage in the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision in favor of marriage equality. Immediately following the Court’s decision, Cruz promised to keep the issue “front and center” in his campaign. ”That is very much front and center something I intend to campaign on,” he said. “And marriage and religious liberty are...

(CNSNews.com) – Former Solicitor General Ted Olson told “Fox News Sunday” that it is “not illegal” for a bakery for instance to refuse to participate in a gay wedding under last week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide. “It's not illegal under this ruling,” Olson said in response to Fox News host Chris Wallace’s question about how the ruling will affect religious freedom. “There's the question – and it became hot this spring – of religious freedom. Can the proverbial baker or photographer who is selling his services openly, can he refuse to participate in a same-sex marriage...

Evan Wolfson and Ted Olson aren't pleased with the Supreme Court's decision not to make marriage equality the law of the land, but they're ready to keep fighting. In the heat of the civil-rights fight, when told he shouldn't push too hard for racial equality because of political backlash, Lyndon Johnson famously shot back, "What the hell's the presidency for?" Ted Olson had a similar question for the Supreme Court Wednesday, pondering why the justices had opted not to take a single case on same-sex marriage this term. "I agonize over the court not making a decision," said Olson, an...

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz is taking heat for his anti-gay views and vocal opposition to marriage equality by none other than a fellow Republican figure. Prominent Republican lawyer, Ted Olson, who is a strong supporter of LGBT rights, thought Cruz's comments on marriage equality were "very, very sad." Cruz had a lot to say to the crowds at the Texas GOP convention about the "threat" that is gay marriage. His speech appeared on an article of The New Yorker (emphasis mine): "Marriage is under assault," Ted Cruz said to the crowd. "It is under assault in a way that is...

Ted Olson isn’t big on making predictions. The conservative attorney who successfully argued Hollingsworth v. Perry, ridding California of Proposition 8 and allowing gay couples to marry, isn’t willing to guess which gay marriage case will make it to the Supreme Court next. (He’s working on one out of Virginia.) “Every time you make a guess of what a judge is going to do … you’re wrong, so I try to stay away from that,” he told Whispers. Olson also isn’t willing to play political prognosticator, though he said we’d eventually see a GOP presidential candidate who is pro-gay marriage....

PARK CITY -- The Sundance premiere for Ryan White and Ben Cotner's Proposition 8 documentary The Case Against 8 at Temple Theatre on Saturday afternoon drew one of the most enthusiastic audience responses of the festival to date. OUR EDITOR RECOMMENDS Sundance: Zach Braff Was Warned 'People Will Go Apes--t' Over Kickstarter Campaign Sundance: Kristen Stewart on 'Camp X-Ray's' Haunted Set, Meeting Robert Redford (Video) Daily Warm Up: Aaron Paul Talks Sundance Drama 'Hellion,' 'Breaking Bad' Spinoff Sundance at 30: Vintage Photos of Park City's Biggest Stars Lawyers Ted Olson and David Boies, who successfully fought to overturn California's Proposition...

Ted Olson weighs in...

Okay, so I'm not a lawyer, much less a constitutional lawyer. Ted Olson is a lawyer -- an accomplished attorney with a fine mind and a capacity for facile argument. But he's dead wrong when he says the law can exclude polygamy or any other marriage arrangement though it recognizes the legal "right" of homosexuals to marry. Let's carefully consider Olson's oral argument in response to Justice Sotomayor's query about the plasticity of marriage should the institution be opened to homosexuals. SNIP SNIP Here's the Sotomayor-Olson exchange from a transcript provided by NPR: JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR: Mr. Olson, the bottom line...

EXCLUSIVE: EMails Show Prop. 8 Judge Sought Ted Olson’s Advice On Whether to Attend Supreme Court Argument on Gay Marriage Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:25 am Vaughn R. Walker, the judge who struck down Proposition 8, California’s gay marriage ban, sought Ted Olson’s opinion regarding whether Walker should attend next week’s Supreme Court arguments on the gay marriage cases. Olson was one of the lawyers who successfully persuaded Judge Walker to strike down Proposition 8 after a trial held in 2010.In December 2012 emails obtained exclusively by Patterico.com, Judge Walker, who retired in February 2011, asked Olson’s law...

Paul Ryan taps Ted Olson to play Biden in debate prepBy Felicia Sonmez, Saturday, September 15, 10:31 AM The Washington Post Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan has tapped former U.S. solicitor general Ted Olson to play the role of Vice President Biden in preparations for next month’s debate. Olson is best known as the top Republican attorney who, along with New York attorney David Boies, led the legal battle against California’s Proposition 8, banning same-sex marriage. His first mock debate session with Ryan, a congressman from Wisconsin, came this past week. Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck called Olson “one of...

..."I am gratified that the president has thrown his personal support and the authority of the presidency behind the goal of justice, equality, and decency for all citizens," said Ted Olson, founder of the Federalist Society and former Bush administration solicitor general.. I called Olson on Wednesday to get the conservative legal leader's take on the North Carolina gay-marriage ban at the ballot and the way it sets up a Supreme Court showdown, possibly as early as 2013--no matter who is president. Olson has stern words for his fellow conservatives who flooded the polls on Tuesday, making North Carolina the...

Gay Marriage Effort Attracts a Novel Group of Donors ADAM NAGOURNEY and BROOKS BARNES March 23, 2012 LOS ANGELES — On a warm Friday afternoon three years ago, Rob Reiner, the director, arrived for lunch at the Beverly Hills estate of David Geffen, the entertainment mogul. Mr. Reiner and his political adviser, Chad H. Griffin, had spent six months drafting an ambitious legal campaign aimed at persuading the United States Supreme Court to establish a constitutional right of same-sex marriage. Mr. Reiner, joined by Mr. Griffin and Mr. Reiner’s wife, Michele, told Mr. Geffen they would need $3 million to...