Today on Jay Sekulow Live happening now, Georgians are voting in the most important two US Senate elections in history. Live from Washington DC, Jay Sekulow Live. All eyes on Georgia today as voters head to the polls as we speak in two crucial Senate runoff elections that will decide the balance of power in Washington and these races could not be tighter. Phone lines are open for your questions right now.
Call 1-800-684-3110. While it is election day in Georgia, most of the votes have already been cast in either absentee or early voting. And if history is any guide, predominantly those votes would be Democratic. So it really is up to Republicans to get as many people out to the polls today to counterbalance what the Democrats probably did in the early voting. So by all indications it's going to be a very tight race.
And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. It's absolutely going to be a very tight race. I mean this is a race that is being determined right now as we speak by who is showing up at the polls. The early voting is a little bit lower than it was of course for the general election. That would be normal in any election that's not a Presidential race.
But this has got so much attention and you have to wonder if the Democrats needed to hit that kind of a number to win these elections. Which neither of them did. They were both behind. And in the jungle runoff, if you combine the Republican vote it would have beat Warnock. And Perdue beat Ossopp but there was an independent eating to the 50 plus 1% which Georgia has a rule. No rule like that in this runoff by the way.
The winner is the winner of each of these races. And I don't think there will be much split ticket kind of voting here because it's just two Republican US senators. The question is today will you make the difference? Will Georgia voters make the difference? Because I think it should be an encouragement to conservative voters. Not discouraging that there were a lot of absentee ballots. Or to say but there's less so I don't need to show up. No this is now your chance if you're a conservative voter to make a difference on election day. It will be whether or not Georgia Republicans and Georgians who also are more independent who think that there should be a check on the party in power. Especially show up today.
And that's it. There were not enough early votes that came in that make it that hard for Republicans to win. But you cannot win if people don't show up. You can't win if they think oh my vote won't count because of some machines. Or my vote there's going to be this and they'll steal the election. Or they're going to steal this.
No. You can only win if you actually show up and vote. There is so much attention on this race and these two races dad. There's no fraud going to go on. Way too much eyeballs on this to try to pull up a fraud. The DOJ is on it. Everybody is on it. They're doubling down on how they're monitoring things.
I will say this. That both sides, both Republicans and Democrats are fully aware of what's at stake. So this is not a situation where you're going to be guessing on how important this is. This two Senate races in the state of Georgia makes Georgia a national race.
Why? Because the control of the United States Senate is literally at stake. The President I thought articulated that very well yesterday. While still angry over what happened to him in the state of Georgia with an election that was. And many people believe this was either stolen or manipulated or whatever phrase you want to use in Georgia. The fact is the President still, Andy, recognized that it is important for the control of the Senate. That is paramount here.
Yes he did. He made that very clear in Dalton, Georgia last night when he spoke. That what we are talking about is control of the Senate so as to prevent the unfettered exercise of power by the Democrats. Who if they lost the, if the Republicans lost the Senate the Democrats would have control of the House, the Senate and the White House.
Which means at least for the next two years it would be unfettered and unrestrained control of what the policies in Washington come out to be Jay. That's why I think everybody's fighting. We're going to talk about this. We're going to talk also about what happens tomorrow. Big day in the United States Senate.
A lot of swirling around. Talked about last night. We'll get into that as well and we'll take your calls. Alright folks, 1-800-68-431. 10, Senator Bill Hagerty, US Senator now. He's taking the oath. He'll be joining us. Went right from his race in Tennessee to Georgia. I mean this has been, this basically went from the Presidential race to these races in Georgia.
The elections never stop because this is the balance of power right here. He'll be joining us live in the next segment of the broadcast. To give us an update on what he saw on the ground in Georgia.
What he's hearing as well as a Senator and what's happening tomorrow. The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress and in the public arena.
And we have an exceptional track record of success. But here's the bottom line, we could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.
That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org.
Where you can learn more about our life changing work. Become a member today, ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected, is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.
It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases. How we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists. The ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later. Play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry. And what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.
Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. Welcome back to Jay Sekulow Live. This is Jordan Sekulow. And folks, we've got a very special guest joining us. Someone who has joined the broadcast a number of times.
But now we can say it's U.S. Senator from Tennessee, Bill Hagerty, has taken the oath. And he's joining us live from Washington, D.C. Senator Hagerty, it's great to have you on the broadcast. Congratulations on taking that oath. And it's an important time, of course, what's happening in Georgia with the two Senate races there. And what it will be like for you in the U.S. Senate and who will be in control. But also what's happening tomorrow.
I know, Dad, you want to go right to that. Yeah, Senator, congratulations. It's Jay and a great campaign and great result. Let me ask you this, Senator, tomorrow there's going to be a number of your colleagues casting a vote to not accept various state slated electors. What's your sense of this? What are you going to do?
And how do you think it plays out? Well, first, Jay and Jordan, I just want to say it's great to be back with you again. And how honored I am to be representing the great state of Tennessee as United States senator. I'm a fourth generation Tennessean. You know, it's a very special honor. And when I was sworn in on Sunday, the gravity of that really took hold. You know, Vice President Pence swore me in.
I was there with my wife and our four children. He's sworn me in back in 2017 to the U.S. Ambassador to Japan.
So it had special meaning to that. We're going to begin in this new role, and as you say, couldn't be more critical than right now in terms of what we're facing. The situation in Georgia, absolutely critical today. I hope every one of your listeners that live in Georgia that reside legally there will be getting out to vote because the control of the Senate hangs in the balance.
I'm sure we'll talk about that. And then to your question, Jay, on the 6th, that's tomorrow, we'll be presented with the slate of Electoral College results. And I have some very deep concerns about this. It's very difficult in good conscience to rubber stamp results that have been tainted. As you know, activists in certain states change the rules in the middle of the game. Without the constitutional authority to do so, they use the pandemic as their excuse to go out and file lawsuits, to cajole election officials, to do whatever they needed to do to rip the authority and lift the power away from the state legislatures.
And again, the U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 1, provides clearly that only elected accountable state legislators are in charge of election rules. Not activist judges, not election officials, not secretaries of state, not settling lawsuits. So what's happened is we've had the process broken through this cycle. These folks have used a pandemic, used a crisis as an excuse to do this. And to stand idly by and let it happen is not something I can in good conscience do. That's why I'm supporting the formation of this commission, to get to the bottom of what happened and to present this back to the legislature, to push our state legislatures to do what their constitutional job is, to correct the situation under their authority in Article II, Section 1.
Senator, I want to follow up on that if I can because there is this also, I think, some misunderstanding out there among well-meaning people that think that what you all are going to do is reject the slate and select a slate. That's not what this proposal is doing. Not at all.
Not at all. Let me be clear, what we're not trying to do, we're not trying to put Congress in charge of state elections. Congress commits that authority to the states.
But the Constitution provides Congress a voice in reviewing the Electoral College votes. And that's why I'm supporting a commission to conduct an emergency audit to dig into what happened in these states where the election laws were unconstitutionally rewritten. Because I don't want these problems, I want these problems to be fixed and presented to state legislators and corrected now. And in the future as well, Joe. We do not want to see this happen in 2020 and we can't let it continue without saying something about it, without doing something about it.
Senator Hagerty, this is Joe. I mean, I believe that if that commission and to correct these problems is so significant, especially to every conservative listening, because or else I think you'll place a lot more states like Georgia where you get funny business from courts and it's not the state legislature and it's activists funneling challenges through courts changing, as you said, elections law and rules of the game in the middle of the game. And this will be their new focus. They know if they could get to where it's a mail-in ballot with no signature verification and no address verification, no voter ID, that it would be very difficult in many states for Republicans to ever win again. Well, Jordan, you're exactly right, and the blueprint for this is right in front of us. As you recall, Nancy Pelosi unveils her playbook to overhaul the entire American electoral procedure, and she used it under the guise of pandemic relief.
If you look at what she proposed there, and again, thank God the Senate stopped this, but what she was talking about was no excuse mail-in voting, mandated universal unsolicited mail ballot distribution across the country, same-day voter registration, no state signature verification for mail-in ballots, get that, requiring drop boxes, basically ballot harvesting, and allowing people to be paid to go out and collect ballots. It is just amazing what they laid out in this federal legislation. I mean, that's their goal, to federalize this.
This is certainly not our goal. We want to put it back to the states that own this responsibility, the legislatures own this responsibility. But again, this playbook was laid out, the Senate stopped it from happening at a federal level, and what we've seen are activists going into certain states and trying to achieve what these goals are, what Nancy Pelosi articulated. You know, I want Senator Jay here again, and one of the things we've been stressing with our audience, we do a big audience in Georgia, and of course the voting's going on right now, is that this is a national election down there. This is not who are the two people that are going to represent the state of Georgia, which of course is an important part of their job, but it's also, and significantly so I think, it's also who is going to control the United States Senate. And you've just been sworn in, but you've been in government service, you know what's at stake. This is very serious, and the implications of this leadership, of who's leading the Senate, is huge.
It's terribly important. If we don't maintain control of the Senate, that will give the Democrats the opportunity to fundamentally change America. That's what Chuck Schumer has proposed that he wants to do. First take Georgia, then change America. But it won't only happen in America, this is going to change our posture around the world. I was most honored to serve as our U.S.
Ambassador to Japan. You know, that's the third largest economy in the world after the United States and China. And there, the world is hungry, is desperate for American leadership. We can't go back to leading from behind. We can't go back to, quote, strategic patience that allowed North Korea to ramp up. And we've got to be in a position to push back on China because they continue to mount their aggression militarily, economically, diplomatically.
It is absolutely critical that we have strong voices in the Senate with a majority to make certain that America continues to stand strong. And if we don't, the Democrats are going to come in and undo the 2017 Tax Act. That was what put the American economy on a path to become the greatest, fastest growing economy in the world. They want to take that down, raise taxes. Every business person knows the last thing you do when you're trying to recover from a recession is raise taxes. This is what the Democrats want to do. Raise taxes, take away our freedom.
That's not where America needs to be right now. Senator, I'd like to go back to the big event tomorrow. Now, it could be a long day. What's your understanding on how the day's going to look once these objections start? Is it a two-hour debate or is it two hours on each objection?
How is this going to play out? An objection requires both a member of the House and a member of the Senate to oppose the objection. And as soon as that happens, the objection itself is supposed to be succinct and clear and brief. But once that objection is posed, both houses break. The House of Representatives will remain in that body because the Senate's going to be over there. The Senate will walk back to Senate chambers, then convene a two-hour debate. And at the end of that debate, there'll be a vote. And the results of that vote, I hope, will be that we will form this commission to get to the bottom of what's happened here. It should not be a partisan issue. I would think that both Democrats and Republicans would want to get to the bottom of unconstitutional activity, would want to get to the bottom of what happened here so we don't have a tainted result. The one thing I think we're trying to tell our audience, though, that this is really an uphill battle because you've got to get all of the Republicans to do this in the Senate to carry this forward and then to have it happen.
And that seems to be a tall task when Senator Lee, Senator Sasse have said no. So I think it's important that you what you're doing, but I just want people to understand it's a tall order. Well, it's important that we step up.
I mean, this is the matter of conscience. And I've been worried and concerned about this since the November election took place. I've never seen a situation like we saw unfold here. Again, using the pandemic as an excuse to go in and in run the Constitution to change election laws mid-game and to basically flood the system with all these ballots that came in overpowering the system, making it extraordinarily difficult to execute it again, exceeding the authority where it should lie.
And that's what the state legislators, the judges, the executive branch officials that did this have violated the Constitution. In my view, we need to get to the bottom of what happened and put this back to state legislatures to fix this. Senator Hagerty, I know our listeners are grateful to you already starting off by taking on this challenge in the U.S. Senate and for going right from your campaign down to Georgia and working on those and getting out the vote even as we speak today. And with our audience, we appreciate you being on as first time as a U.S. Senator. I appreciate that, Senator Hagerty. We know we'll talk to you again soon.
Thank you very much. Thank you, Jake. All right, folks, we will be back, 1-800-684-3110, with your calls and questions. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.
It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, Planned Parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.
Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.
But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.
That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today. ACLJ.org. Alright, welcome back to Jay Sekio Live.
This is Jordan Sekio. I think just having Senator Haggerty on and, you know, he's just taken the oath two days ago to become a U.S. senator, and his first actions, of course, even before he was U.S. senator, was going from Tennessee, going into Georgia, because of the runoff elections there today. And that is, again, these are – I cannot think of another time, especially because you've got two, and the balance of power hangs for the U.S. Senate. And they are runoff, so they are happening outside of the normal election calendar, but right after the general election, you know, a month later. So, I mean, in history, I can't think of two more important U.S. Senate races they could – I mean, one, you have a check on the left. The other way, it's what Chuck Schumer says, you know, change America.
Now, it'd still be tight majorities, but still, very different to being the majority versus the minority, and that's what is up – Georgia voters are doing today. But I also want to talk about what Senator Haggerty explained that he's going to be doing, and a lot of other senators have joined this. It started off with just one or two, and now I think it's up to 13 U.S. senators who are going to sponsor. That doesn't mean that they won't vote for it, but there's actually 13 now sponsors of these objections.
Stan, kind of walk people through. When they put through their objection, what are they objecting to? What's the goal of that objection like the commission to do? Yes, so Jordan, they're going to move through the tally of states in an alphabetical order.
So you're going to start with Alabama and Alaska, and the third one on the list is going to be Arizona. We anticipate, Jordan, that will be the first time that Senator Haggerty and others will step forward to object. What will happen is they will submit in writing an objection. Theoretically here it would be to Arizona's slate of electors that have been opened by the vice President.
They would submit that in writing. Jordan, each objection, like the senator said, only has to have one signature from each chamber on it. So we don't know if all 13 that have said they're going to object are going to object to each one, or if they'll divide them out. We also don't know if there are going to be additional senators that will join that list. But Jordan, either way, once that objection is turned in, as Senator Haggerty said, they will suspend the joint session.
The House members will stay in that chamber. The senators, Jordan, they actually are going to have to walk back across the Capitol complex, probably through the tunnels, using the subway system, back to the Senate chamber, and both chambers will convene up to two hours of debate. Now here's what's going to be interesting. I just want to clarify here. Is that on each objection? It is.
So that should go on all day. About five states, right, then? Is that worth thinking? So there's a little bit of a debate here, but it looks like it's going to be six. I think there's going to be at least one from each chamber that are also going to object on Nevada. Now, look, Jordan, I mean, the way this is gone, who knows? Maybe there's going to be other states that come into play here.
I've heard New Mexico said, but I think the most likely number is six. Here's one thing I did want to get in before we get deeper into the process, though. Every member in both chambers, Jay, can only speak for five minutes. So in the United States Senate, if all 12 or 13 senators that object take up their five minutes, that's about an hour. If the people who oppose the objections decide not to speak, it could move a little bit quicker. But look, this is Washington, D.C. That's not the scenario I'd bet on.
I'd bet on a very long day. Now, Senator Haggerty-Than was talking about a commission that would be set up very quickly. And so you've got this idea of one is not accepting a state's electoral slate, but then this other, would it be a separate vote on the commission if they got those votes for a commission to look at whether or not to accept that and the states to then go back and have to recertify or make that decision? Is that a separate vote than just the Senate not accepting the electoral votes from that state?
It would be. The first order of business, Jordan, would be to whether or not to accept the slate of electors that was in front of them. So both chambers would first have to reject that slate of electors, and that slate of electors would essentially be set aside. Now, there is some difference of opinion between the members who are going to be objecting whether or not they would object, whether or not the commission is set forward. But the biggest group of senators that Bill Haggerty is in, that Ted Cruz is leading, they say that this commission is what they want to happen, and that's why they're objecting.
So they're going to object, and they're going to vote against it, and then they're going to put forward this idea of a commission modeled very much like the one that happened in 1876 and give the states 10 more days to look at it. That's really where the bulk of the momentum is, Jordan, but it would take two separate votes. Okay, but you'd have to carry the House and Senate or just the Senate?
You'd have to carry both. Okay, so I'm going back to reality again. Yeah, I wanted to explain, in best case scenario, it still goes back to states, and most of these states would probably recertify their votes. But, you know, again, who knows?
Who knows? But to get to that point is impossible because the Democrats control the House. Even though Republicans... If you don't think elections have consequences, let me give you an example of where it does, right here. So this is the problem that I see, Andy, and I do think that these are valid and they're constitutionally appropriate. Oh, and it should be done.
I think that what Senator Haggerty is doing is great. I think what we have to realize is that for it to actually impact the election, in other words, to be outcome-determinative, so many things have to line up that seem improbable. You'd have to have, first, the House, a majority of the House, and a majority of the Senate say, we're going to do this, we're going to reject these, which I just don't see that happening in the House. Second, then it would go back to the states, and at least three of the significant states would have to say, we're going to change the slate of electors. Yeah, I think we have to be realistic on the vote in the House and the Senate. Obviously, it's not going to pass the House. The House has control over the Democrats, and they're not going to vote for this commission. And then, again, if you were to have the commission in some form or fashion, and then you were to, as you just said, go back to the states, I don't think it's very likely that the states are going to change the slates of electors that already have been sent to Washington and that will be open and counted by the President of the Senate.
I just don't see that happening. As you say, so many things have to line up, and it's so improbable that with the state of the politics being what it is in the House, that that is going to happen there, and I don't think that the states are going to change enough of their electoral votes that they have certified to make a difference. The President tweeted out earlier today that the vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors. And there's a lot of debate on that constitutionally.
The question really is, and I'll go back to Thanh on this, is it a question of rejecting, or is it a question of questioning? Thus, could he say, I'm going to go back to the states, these six states, and say, I want a recertification, basically? Yeah, well, that's why I think the idea put forward by Senator Cruz has the most traction, because that's what he's saying. That's what Senator Cruz and these other senators like Senator Haggerty are going to object to. But can Mike Pence do that without the vote of the House and Senate? My reading of the Constitution and the Electoral Count Act is that he cannot. I mean, the reading says that he opens the certificates, hands them to the counting tellers, and then the senators object. Now, look, there's disagreement, Jay.
My reading of it is that he cannot. Yeah, there is. By the way, there's lawyers, I know that there's deans of law schools that are arguing this right now. So it's not like they're... Where are they getting it in the language?
I mean, the language is not that vague. It's kind of like the Chief Justice role in the impeachment. It's only about whether or not to accept the questions. Right. You know, and like, is the question right, the decorum right, that kind of thing, and then at the end he counts the votes.
Well, I think that some of these law professors are making the argument. I think Larry Tribe may have made it in 2003, that the vice President has more control than that. But one thing he can't do is he can't say, okay, Donald Trump's the winner.
Right. He can't do that. That he doesn't have the authority to do. And the senators also not doing that either. They're saying they're not going to do that. Yeah, the states... We'll get into more about this in the second half of the broadcast.
This one, people, always, we just want to give you the best information possible. And let me just tell everybody in Georgia, I don't care what side you're on. Vote. Vote. Make an impact. Don't believe any of the polls.
Don't think, oh, less votes came in early voting, that helps Republicans, that hurts Democrats. Just go and vote. Make sure your voice is heard. The balance of power will be up to you, Georgians. We'll be right back.
Second half hour. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work.
Become a member today. ACLJ.org Live from Washington, D.C., Jay Sekulow Live. And now, your host, Jordan Sekulow. Welcome back to Jay Sekulow.
We're taking your phone calls at 1-800-684-3110. So we try to walk you through tomorrow, and we'll get into that more in detail, too, because there's a lot going around, what the vice President can do. Now, we had Senator Hagerty on. He's one of those 13 senators who said they will object, so they're going to join House members. Brand-new senator out of Tennessee, was a former ambassador to Japan, was on the broadcast a lot before, and when he was a candidate.
Now he's a U.S. senator. I will tell you, from his time winning his election in November, it's basically up until his swearing-in yesterday, he spent a lot of time, obviously, for the people of Tennessee, but Georgia as well, raising funds for two of his colleagues who were assisting him. Things flipped around because people did not expect that in Georgia.
And this will be interesting today. Did what happened in Georgia, was it an anomaly in the sense that you had so much early voting and so much money put in by groups like Stacey Abrams that you could tip it by 11,000 votes with the interest in a Presidential election, but then a month later, the money may still flow in, but it's not the amount of time. And we know there are less early votes. So that would typically, again, favor the same-day voting party, the same-day voting party as the Republican Party.
But let me tell you something, folks. Because of what happened in the general election, where David Perdue and the Republicans in the jungle primary, including Loeffler and Collins if they were to combine, would have beat the Democrats, but Donald Trump lost by 11,000 votes. So that is encouragement, though, to Republican voters in Georgia.
They've already won these elections in a sense. They just have to show back up again. Well, that's what you're going to find out today if, in fact, they're going to show up. Let's go, though, let's go more to the Washington scenario right now. We'll go back to the Georgia thing. Because there's a lot of speculation and a ton of specul- Pat, do you want to think about Georgia? Do you think, like, tonight being 3 a.m., do you think we know? You know, CNN and all of them are hedging, saying we're not going to know.
It took 10 days last time. I don't think the Georgia officials can get away with that this time. I do not think so. I don't want to say it. I think late tonight, early this morning, what do you think, Andy? I think we know. I think we're not going to have that kind of shenanigans that happened last time, where we waited and waited and waited and waited until Fulton County and DeKalb County decided to come in.
There's too many people looking at this. They're going to have to vote and make some decision as to who the winner is pretty quickly. Okay, here's what, the Secretary of State of Georgia, because the eyeballs are on this, and they're not going to be able to tell poll watchers to leave while the counting's going on, none of that's going to be stood for.
There's too many lawsuits, too much, this is what he said, take a listen. Do you think that this race will be able to be called tonight? Depends how close it is, but most likely it'll probably be tomorrow morning. It really depends how many absentee ballots. That's why we've been pushing the counties to do early scanning of the ballots so they can just finish up the tabulation tonight.
But you have absentee ballots come in today, and we expect a strong turnout. Yeah, I think that, what do you think, then? I think they're going to try, it may be three o'clock in the morning, but... They better finish, Jay.
Yeah, I think so too. I'll tell you what they better not do. Stop the count so workers can go home and then resume it the next morning. They better stay there until it's done, even if it's early morning, you know, tomorrow. You are 100 percent, that would be, Jordan, a total disaster, if they started that stuff.
Absolutely, of course. I got to tell you, the Secretary of State does not control the counties in terms of doing that. Fulton County decided there was a pipe burst last time. That was not true, it was a toilet that was leaking, and they stopped the vote counting and told everyone to come back. So that is not something the Secretary of State has the power to do.
The counties are the ones who supervise the counting of the vote, and so if a county decides to do something like that, which, under the circumstances, gentlemen, I doubt that's going to happen this time, but it could happen. What do you think, Jordan? I think that, listen, I'm on Newsmax at 7 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow. I would be, I think, troubling for our country if we don't know by then.
I think that's right. I just think they can't take that, they can't do what they did last night. You start pulling that, we're going to stop counting votes now at 2 a.m. and send everybody home.
No, too much mischief. The numbers aren't there, by the way, of early voting, so that's down 400,000. If I'm Georgia, and I'm an elected representative, a Secretary of State or a governor, I make sure, listen, I don't care if it's 4 o'clock in the morning, nobody stops, because mischief starts when things stop.
That's what I think. Back with me. The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena.
And we have an exceptional track record of success. But here's the bottom line, we could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.
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We are taking your phone calls at 1-800-684-3110. So I mean there's two things to focus on here. One is what will happen in the U.S. Senate tomorrow and Congress tomorrow and the U.S. House as well. When in the joint session there are these objections. And of course there's people talking about the vice President's role. I think clearly yesterday on the broadcast the way we read, and I think if you think about long term, do you want a vice President to be able to decide who the next President is?
On their own. And just think for a moment. Do you want that person, because you set a precedent. Let's say you set some precedent like that even though it's never happened before.
And you go along with one of these law professors' law review articles. Then you're setting a precedent for the next Democrat vice President. They get to pick two or is there never going to be a Democrat or no one can ever beat the Republican because there's always going to be a Republican vice President because if Pence stays in then they'll just go from one to the other to the other.
The framework isn't there for where it would be okay to do that and when it's not okay to do that. There is the framework for Congress though. Elections have consequences. You have to have the votes. Congress acting and the vice President of the Senate would have a vote if there was a tie-breaking vote. Congress does have a role to do that, but it does not appear that the votes are there. Obviously, even in the Senate because of some Republicans, but in the House, certainly not because this is not a situation where they didn't get to 270. So they're not voting by state delegation where Republicans do have a majority.
They're voting just by the majority and that's the House Democrats. So I agree with having these debates. I agree with taking the stand. I agree with what Senator Haggerty is doing, Senator Cruz.
I agree with this, but I also want people to be realistic. Yeah, Jordan, I mean it's the very reason that there's something happening tomorrow in Washington, D.C. because Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution and 3 USC 15 of the United States Code, the Electoral Count Act says that Congress has a role in here. It says that the vice President opens the certificates, hands them to the tellers and they're counted. And if a member of the House and the Senate have an objection to the integrity of one of those slates, one or more, they have a constitutional role and an ability to object to them. Now, look, they have the authority there, Jordan, to just reject them outright and to set them aside. That's not what Senator Cruz and Senator Haggerty and others have suggested.
They have suggested, look, there's enough credible allegations out there that we want to take every opportunity we can to rectify those before there's an inauguration. So they want the commission, much like the one in 1876, to look at it for 10 days and then do what, Jordan? Not make a determination on who gets those electoral votes.
Send that information that they find back to the states for them to take another look at it. I don't think there's any ambiguity here, Jordan. If people go to Article 2, Section 1 and they pull up 3 U.S.C. 15 of the United States Code, Congress clearly, Jordan, has this role. It's the entire reason that tomorrow this joint session is going to go through this alphabetical roll call. And again, starting with the third state called Arizona, that's when I expect to get the first objection.
It's clearly laid out. People can go to the Constitution and to the U.S. statute and read it for themselves. I mean, this is, again, I think where there's been so much confusion.
I mean, people are going around and we talked about this idea that if you take a law professor's law review article and you apply it to reality, this view, you'd be setting a new precedent. And does that mean that there would – I mean, I guess you could imagine – If Kamala Harris could say in the next election – Well, if it's Pence, then Democrats would never be able to get in office, not the presidency. Well, if the idea is that the vice President could make the selection of electors, that's just not true.
Yeah, there's no guide rails for that. Well, no, because then Kamala Harris would be – if they came into office in the next election in 2024, so let's say President Trump or another Republican, whoever wins the election, and she just says, I'm not going to accept the electors from these five states. So there's no way that's what the Constitution means. So we should not put a false expectation on Mike Pence. Now, the question is, can Mike Pence, as vice President, say, you know what, there's objections being made, and let's say it doesn't carry, then enough votes for the objections. Can Mike Pence still say, I've got a slate of electors here from Pennsylvania, and I've got the President of the Senate of Pennsylvania telling me, this is ridiculous.
This wasn't done correctly. Could I go – could the vice President then go back and say, I just want these six states to recertify who they want, because I've got these other slates here too. Now, those aren't through the state. Those were separate, but they voted.
Could he do that? That's a different question. But this question of – and I'm not sure he could do that either, but that's a different question. Right, one is still going back to the states. One is throwing out the electoral votes. And the Cruz matter goes back to the states. Right. And I just – that's what I know people are saying, you all are acting like you're giving up.
It's not a question – no one's fought as hard as we have fought on every front on this, on legally viable methods that are based on the Constitution of the United States. You don't want anarchy here, folks. And I know some people are posting like, you know, quasi-anarchy statements. That's not good for the country. That's not good for a constitutional republic. That's not the way it works. The way it works is elections have consequence.
And even elections that had irregularities and fraud have consequences if you can't prove the fraud. But, you know, if you look at it from the courtroom standpoint, there's not one justice on the Supreme Court of the United States, not one, including Alito and Thomas, that were ready to give Texas, for instance, the relief they requested. Those two thought the case should have been heard, which I agree. But they were not saying – they were not – they were clear to say, that's not saying we think the relief requested would be appropriate.
What was that relief? Throw out the vote. So I think part of this is, Andy and then Than, we have to keep a – we got to – that's why the Georgia race is even more important. The race becomes extremely important because it determines the balance of power in Washington. And you've raised a plethora of questions, Jay, that I think are very important and that constitutional scholars are going to be debating and talking about. I agree with you that I don't think it is the job or the task or the constitutional right of the vice President to make a decision as to who the President's going to be. And I think that the idea of a commission is a very reasonable idea that Senator Cruz and his advocates have put up, the idea of sending it ultimately back to the states to relook at the irregularities that the commission may find, and recertify is going to – is very reasonable, and it could occur, but the votes, I don't think, are there.
For that to happen, quite frankly, I don't see that occurring. Yeah, I mean, I think rule of law matters in the United States. And, you know, Ben, we've talked about 1876 a lot. At that point, the Senate had a competing slate of electors in front of them, and that actually led, Jay, to the Electoral Count Act, which spells out in great detail the process that's going to happen. That's federal law right now, and one of the things that it says in there, it says that the votes of the electors whose appointment shall have been certified by the executive of the state. There's not a lot of ambiguity there, Jay. So the only way that a slate of electors could be substituted for another state is if that state's executive – you know, in most cases, that would be the governor – sends an additional slate. Unless the Senate has in front of them a slate of electors that is signed by the executive of the state, it's not in compliance with the Electoral Count Act.
It just isn't. Yeah, I think that's right. Let's go ahead and take Bill's call on Line 1. Hey, Bill, welcome to JCQ Live.
You're on the air. Thank you for taking my call. Yeah, I've got two things to say about this election in Georgia. Number one, considering these people are trying to dissuade others from voting, as far as I'm concerned, I would just go ahead and vote just despite what these people are saying, because that's how I feel about it. They have no right to tell me when to vote and how to vote. And second of all, those people who don't vote and complain about the outcome, I'd just say they have no right to complain because they didn't let their voice be known. Jordan, you know Georgia politics well.
You've worked campaigns there. I mean, what do you expect to happen today? I mean, all my friends that are down there that are pollsters are saying it's just too close to call. The polls are meaningless at this point. Too close to call means who's going to show up in same-day voting, so who's voting right now as we speak to you.
And typically, if you go into this and you look at the mail-in ballots that have come in and the early voting being down from the Presidential numbers a month ago, that means it's whoever shows up today. Usually in Georgia that would favor Republicans. But, you know, I hear too many Republicans in Georgia, at least over those last few weeks, hemming and hawing about, ah, my vote doesn't really matter, it's not going to count.
Bill is right. You know, if you sit on your hands and you don't go vote, we'll all blame you. I actually think you could blame conservatives in Georgia if they don't win these two races. And these people who put out these theories of your vote won't actually get counted and you can't make a difference and this is rigged and all that. No, conservatives around the country would be blaming Georgia voters. There are enough Republicans and independents who would vote for these two Republicans to carry the day in this race, in both these races, without a doubt. The question is, are they going to actually show up today? That's the only question I have as someone who's worked on two statewide races there.
Are they going to show up? All right, folks, again, a huge thank you to our ACLJ donors in December. We had the largest month we've ever had in ACLJ's history, by a lot, by the way. Not just by a little, by a lot. And your support and ongoing support for the ACLJ is critical.
You can still do that, of course, at ACLJ.org. We'll come back, we'll take your calls on the last segment. If you're in Georgia and you haven't voted, go out and vote.
It's going to come down to that. I don't know what the voting has been like today. Has it been heavy turnout or not? I have not heard yet. Yeah, I mean, I think right now heavy turnout, pretty heavy turnout for this.
The question is, you put all those numbers, is it everywhere? Is it statewide? Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected, is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.
It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, the play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.
Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.
But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.
That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today.
ACLJ.org. Alright folks, so there's two things the nation's going to be focused on. One is happening as we speak right now. And that is the balance of the U.S. Senate is up to the voters in Georgia, because you have two races. The Loeffler-Warnock race, the Ossoff-Purdue race. Again, Georgia voters today, and those who voted early, are going to determine the balance of power of the U.S. Senate. Now, it would have to only be if one of those seats would keep the balance of power with Republicans.
But it's unlikely that you're going to have a lot of voters to help. For this Republican, I'm going to go in this race and vote for a Democrat, because both sides have been campaigning together. They've unified their accounts financially. So if you donated to one of these, you've seen that it's donated to kind of both. You're donating to Purdue-Loeffler together, and same with Ossoff and Warnock. So they have combined. So it's different than Presidential, where people vote differently for Presidents than they do for state races and things like that. So I think it's either the Democrats win both or Republicans win both. And I think it's anyone's to win right now.
Yep. YouTube super chat, Carolyn Holt said this, what I love about the ACLJ, as you look at the evidence and give us facts, even if it isn't what I want to hear, I can trust you to tell me I wouldn't trade that. So I appreciate that, Carolyn, more than you know. Because I know what we're saying to some of you is very disappointing. But it's happening tomorrow. So what do you want me to tell you?
I can tell you this. Yes, the Vice President of the United States can say, you know what, I'm picking Donald Trump. But then Kamala Harris, when she's the presiding officer, she could say, I'm going to pick Joe Biden.
Or when Joe Biden was the Vice President, he could have said, you know, I'm not, this is Donald Trump, I'm going to pick Hillary Clinton. It can't be right. That's not the way it works. But what they're proposing is constitutional and valid when it comes to this commission. Whether that goes or not, I don't know.
Let's go ahead and take both. And I think that your bigger question could, even if the votes aren't there for that, does the President of the Senate, who is the Vice President, have the ability to ask those states to recertify? Yeah, so does the presiding officer of the, I think this is the real question. Let's assume the objections don't carry in because, you know, there's a good chance they're not, just based on the voting. Can Mike Pence, as the Vice President, but now sitting as the President of the Senate, but the presiding officer of the certification process, can he send it back to the states, the six contested states, and say, you know, I've got all this contested stuff.
Will you just recertify this for us? Lawyers argue both ways on that. That's a very good question, and I wouldn't be able to say one way or the other without looking at a lot more research than what I know right now, but I would think that the answer would probably be no, I don't think he can do that. I think he's a ministerial actor who simply opens and counts ballots.
Van? According to the Electoral Count Act, if there's a dispute between the two houses, between the House and the Senate, the default is that the certified slate counts. So according to the statute, Jay, he cannot. It would have to be a constitutional analysis that would supersede that. I defer to you on that.
Yeah, and I don't think there's a clear answer. Let's go ahead and take the last couple of calls. Yeah, let's go to Phil in California on Line 4. Phil, welcome to JCQ Live.
Hello, sir. I want to tell you that I am an 84-year-old gentleman who has participated in 15 different Presidential elections, and in every one of them there has been some comment made about fraudulent voting. Sometimes it's dropped after a couple of days, but I've never seen it to the level that there is this year. My two things, is it possible? I understand that the Constitution allows states to choose how they're going to count votes. Right. Maybe it's time for us to rewrite an amendment to the Constitution that says, for federal officials, namely President and vice President, here are the rules that you will use to count votes.
Well, you're correct in this analysis. It would take a constitutional amendment to do that because the election process, the actual process of how you decide this, rests with the states. For instance, your state could pass a law in the legislature signed by the governor that says the Senate majority of your state house will determine who the electors are for President. Because remember, you're voting for electors. You don't have a guaranteed right to vote. That's the way that it's been done now, but there was a long time in our country's history where that wasn't the case.
But that would take, as you just said, Phil, that would take a constitutional amendment. Now, I do think that the Senate, and this will be who controls the Senate, will make this determination. When the Senate's back in session, assuming it's Republican-led, do you think then they're saying, I mean, I spoke to Lindsey Graham, that they're going to have commissions on this. They're going to get on top of this. I think it depends on Georgia tonight, Jay. Yeah.
Honestly. I mean, I think if at least one Republican wins in Georgia, I think this will be at the top of the list for Mitch McConnell. And by the way, that follows the precedent of the commission that was passed in 1876.
Reforms happen to election integrity. I'll tell you this, though, Jay. If Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock win, I'll tell you what will not be on the Senate agenda.
This. It won't be. Yeah, no. Exactly right.
I mean, you're talking about a sea change about to happen. Let's take the last call. All right.
Let's go to Nissi in Ohio on Line 5. Nissi, welcome to JCQO Live. Hi. Can you hear me? Yes. Okay. First, I want to say thank you for what you do. Thank you.
I've been listening for two and a half years. Great. And my comment is an overview, not anything specific to the topics.
Yeah. I wanted to say that the left, their actions are always well planned and well orchestrated. They stick together, right or wrong. And I think conservatives should be, when you're thinking about confronting them and thinking about plans against them, you have to keep that in mind. Stop being surprised when they do go against tradition and they're unlawful in the things that they do because they only care about winning. Well, I 100% agree that Republicans got used to, well, if we outspend and we do grassroots because we didn't even do that before, we can win, and that helped a lot because they didn't even do grassroots. Democrats were the only ones knocking on doors, Republicans, they were kind of this country club party, but it's changed a lot to become a populist party. And I was part of that. The first time ever it was back, Karl Rove came up with the idea, shouldn't we be knocking on doors too?
Shouldn't we be making volunteer phone calls? So it kind of evened out the game. And you start seeing states like Georgia for the first time back in 2002, elect a Republican governor that wasn't forced on them by reconstruction. So those things happen. So Republicans caught up to that game, but what they didn't catch up to yet is right to the line of what you can do legally. In many states you can have ballot harvest.
It sounds like a bad word. In some states it's illegal. I would not tell anybody to do anything illegal in your state, but that you need to figure out how to go right up to the line and not act like you're too good.
Like Niecy said, this idea of IOTRA, it's not traditional, that doesn't sound nice. If it's legal and you can do it and it helps you to get any votes, conservatives should be doing it too. The other side's doing it.
Yeah, they're going right up to the line of everything possible they can do. And it's different by each state, so you have to really commit to a strategy like that. I wasn't in charge of it. We were not in charge of the election litigation here. I mean, it's just the truth. And we were involved in one case at the Supreme Court.
That was it. That case, we still have a stay, amazingly, from Pennsylvania, late arriving ballot issue, but it'll be mooted out once this is all over with. But we did get the stay, it's what we requested. But look, I mean, lawyers have different strategies, they were election lawyers, they filed a lot of lawsuits.
Those lawsuits didn't mature into victories. Now there's this move in the House and we just are laying out for you what it's going to look like tomorrow, so you're not shocked. We're going to be off air when it starts. So we're going to go through this again tomorrow to tell you what's coming, and I'm sure we'll learn more too. Again, thank you for your support of the ACLJ in the month of December and November, the whole year was incredible for us. Thank you.
In the middle of a pandemic, it's really unprecedented. Your support of the ACLJ makes all the difference in all these cases all over the world. We encourage you to continue to support the work of the ACLJ at ACLJ.org and we'll talk to you tomorrow.
Here in Georgia, vote. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you, and if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today, ACLJ.org.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-01-07 15:57:51 / 2024-01-07 16:22:59 / 25
