PHANTOM NEWS!!!!!!

Doug Logan, Cyber Ninja, says the hand count of #azaudit very closely correlates w/⁦@maricopacounty⁩ pic.twitter.com/pDwyl2UOi7

— Kyung Lah (@KyungLahCNN) September 24, 2021

AND you're going to read/hear a lot of palaver about Trump asserting executive privilege and how that hasn't been litigated and how Trump can block testimony and release of documents, etc., etc., etc. Be ye better informed than that:

For a great expert analysis on how the Biden administration has recognized the exceptional importance of the matters under investigation and the need to meet Congress' compelling interests:

Leading expert @AndyMcCanse's earlier article is a must read:https://t.co/VhK9eoXYoa

— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) September 24, 2021

I won't quote from the article; just read it. The DOJ has strong sway here, not unlike a state AG's opinion would have weight in court (not dispositive, just to be considered seriously). Executive privilege has to be asserted by the sitting President; when it isn't, the privilege has an uphill battle. 

The privilege also attaches to the Presidency.  When the President is acting as a political candidate, there are grounds to deny the protection of executive privilege.  This is doubly true, as the article argues (from the DOJ letter) , where the actions of the President as candidate might exceed what is legally allowed.  As in Trump trying to solicit the aid of the Department of Justice in overturning the election results in several states, and only the votes in the Presidential race.  (I.e., Trump’s problem was not one of voter fraud, but just of the outcome).

There will also be a lot of ignorant discussion in the press of how Biden is threatening the “precedent” of protecting the Presidency.  Again, the issue is not so simple as either/or.

Both of these arguments — extraordinary circumstances and personal capacity — are designed to limit the precedential effect of this executive privilege waiver so that future presidential administrations will be able to protect legitimate executive branch confidentiality interests.

Trump is the outlier, and he must be treated as such. He cannot be allowed to distort the Presidency or the precedent.

And while we’re on the topic of phantom news:

Trump's Texas 'forensic audit' already in chaos as officials admit they don't know what they're doing: report https://t.co/spudSsctTt

— Raw Story (@RawStory) September 25, 2021

The audit was announced late Thursday night in a press release. Since then: crickets. 🦗 No word from the Governor or the SOS. The county’s supposedly affected have heard nothing and aren’t too thrilled with the idea. One can expect lawsuits if it ever happens. Now we wait for the formal demand from the SOS, and whether Abbott adds funding for the audit to the current special session agenda.

But so far, despite some breathless news reports that the audit is already underway, late night press releases that even the staff of the office know nothing about does not mean something is happening. This is the post-Trump era, after all.