Trump Lawyer Heading Up GOP Strategy To Shut Down Voter Rights
Longtime conservative Republican lawyer and Trump adviser Cleta Mitchell is championing a new cause — coordinating GOP-led voter suppression efforts across the U.S.
At the state level, 70-year-old Mitchell is a driving force behind legislation to tighten laws and restrict voter access. Federally, Mitchell is advising GOP lawmakers on how to fight Democratic efforts to expand and protect voter rights. She reportedly says she will use her position working under former Republican Senator Jim DeMint — senior legal fellow at the Conservative Partnership Institute — to “coordinate” conservative voting positions in Washington.
Trump falsely claimed massive fraud occurred throughout the 2020 election, despite recordings and more that have surfaced and exposed his own efforts to influence state results. Mitchell was present on the January phone call where the former President asked Georgia election officials to “find” enough votes for him to win.
Still in regular contact with Trump, Mitchell is championing efforts to roll back time at polling places across the country. To date, over 250 voting restrictions have reportedly been proposed this year by mostly Republican lawmakers, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
(via The Guardian): In response, Democrats have stepped up the push for a massive federal election overhaul bill. That proposal, known as HR1, would effectively neuter state-level voter ID laws, allow anyone to vote by mail if they wanted to and automatically register citizens to vote. Republicans view that as an encroachment on state control over elections and say it is designed to give Democrats an advantage.
“The left is trying to dismantle 100 years of advancement in election administration,” Mitchell said, expressing bafflement at Democrats’ charges that Republicans are trying to suppress votes. “We’re watching two different movies right now.”
Republicans are organized, relentless, determined and appear to be walking in step toward shutting out a large swath of American voters. Despite multiple, repeated audits and losing more than 50 courts cases challenging the 2020 election results, Trump and his supporters are still clinging to lies about fraud and using it as fuel to disenfranchise millions of U.S. voters.
