Trump administration authorizes Biden transition, vows lawsuits will go forward; reaction from constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley.
This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brian president, Trump allowing
Brian President Trump allowing
President Elect Joe Bidens
transition to modify forward
while insisting his election
legal challenges will prevail.
Steve this after the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court
rejected his campaigns. Lawsuits
calling for the dismissal of
more than eight thousand absentee ballots
in Allegheny County
Ainsley here to discuss is
George Washington LAW, Professor
Jonathan Turley,
good morning to you Jonathan,
good morning,
Ainsley. What does this mean
when the GSA chief, Emily Murphy,
tells Joe Biden? He can formally
start the transition process?
Dolls that mean she is
acknowledging that he is going
to be the president.
No,
it means that he has ascertained
as the winner.
These challenges will go
forward.
This has no impact on the
president challenging the
results in various states,
even though those challenges are
not going particularly well.
He can continue along that line
and he says that he will do so.
What this does is allow the
Biden transition team to get not
only federal funding but also
resources to start the process,
including FBI, background checks
and coordinating with these
different agencies,
its the right thing to do
its a responsible move to make
sure that whoever is president,
we will have a government ready
to go in January
in Pennsylvania, the judge
rejected the president.
Yesterday
I looked at his protest about
seven thousand ballots. Signatures
missing
addresses missing
dates, missing
Jonathan. I thought those are
the things that judges stop.
That would be pushed out.
We always heard you make one
mistake: thats the risk with
mail in ballots,
whats going on here.
Well, the problem that the
Trump campaign is facing is
really two fold.
First of all, they are not
making a pass motion to dismiss
stage not getting access to
additional evidence, biggest
problem, the disconnect between
the violations, and in some cases
they have proven that votes were
improperly handled or not
counted and the relief where
they were asking to stop stinks.
That was the problem in the
Pennsylvania earlier case. Judge
said this is too much of a
sticker shock.
You are asking me to he said
these voters made a case that
their votes were in fact
properly rejected.
Instead of asking me to count
their votes.
You are asking me not to count
the other votes.
He says I wont do that. That
seems to be the approach of most
of the courts in these states,
so they are facing this very
uphill battle.
Brian only thing I just say
Jonathan there has got to be
rules.
If you make a mistake, the
smartest person in the world can
make a mistake,
not sign the ballot
not address the ballot,
not put a date on the ballot.
That ballot should be null and
void.
Thats true,
but these judges are also
conveying look. We are not in
this for recreation.
You need to show us that you
have enough ballots at issue
here to change the outcome.
Steve right,
you need to give us a form of
relief that doesnt
disenfranchise everyone else.
The Trump team is still
struggling with that
they say they have evidence that
theyre still going to bring
forward. Once again, as we said
earlier,
they are running out of runway
Steve right.
Jonathan lets talk a little
bit about whats, going on in the
world regarding covid
in the common wealth of
Kentucky there, the governor has
ordered schools to do virtual
classes,
but now the attorney general is
filing the restraining order
against him because of
essentially a religious question
because he is trying to they
are trying to keep the religious
schools open. The attorney
general Danielle Cammeron
tweeted. Earlier this year, we
issued guidance stating that
closing religious schools during
the pandemic would risk
violating the U Dot S constitution
and state law as well
in his latest school closure
order, the guidance. As a result,
we filed a lawsuit new federal
court, challenging the governors
order in person learning at
religious schools.
The ability to provide and
receive religious education is
one of the freedoms protected by
the first amendment.
So who is right?
Well, this is a really
interesting case.
First of all, have you got the
governor and the attorney
general in the state at really
loggerheads
and both have very good
arguments to Mangeght. The
Kentucky governor just recently
won a unanimous decision from
the Kentucky Supreme Court,
which was a huge blow to his
critics,
but the thing to remember about
that is that opinion really
dealt with his ability to issue
pandemic orders.
The court itself said that this
largely focuses on property
rights that are subject to a
lower standard, called the
rationale, interest test or
rational basis test, I should
say,
and what the attorney general is
trying to do- is kick this into a
higher level of scrutiny.
The strict scrutiny standard,
if it does, if he succeeds in
doing that, then the governor is
going to have quite a challenge
on his hands, because the
Kentucky attorney generals
Brief is filled with references
to scientific studies, the
approach of other countries, the
CDC all rejecting the closure of
schools for young children.
So he is actually citing the
science as much as the law,
so its going to depend a lot
on this question of what the
standard of review will be
under strict scrutiny. They
have its a very difficult
standard to satisfy if the.
Transcript generated on 2020-11-24.