The Race Against Time: How Congress Could Undo Election Interference
Update #22 | New year, new revelations, and a new path forward for democracy.
If you haven’t read the original post,
I highly recommend reading it first ↓
Update #22
A quick thank you to my readers:
With your support, we’ve just crossed the 1,000 subscriber mark—an exciting milestone after reaching 500 just last week! Sharing this Substack with others is more important than ever as we continue to focus on the critical issues of foreign interference in the 2024 election and the subsequent transfer of power.
Thank you, all, for your kind words and devoted readership. Even though I haven’t been able to respond to all of your emails, I am humbled by the outpouring of support and genuinely value your insights and engagement. Your feedback fuels the work I do here, and it’s a reminder of the importance of staying informed and connected as we navigate these unprecedented times together.
A nation at a crossroads
The year’s end marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing story of the 2024 election—one that is far from finished. As 2024 draws to a close and we step into 2025, it feels as though the pace of events is accelerating.
The tumultuous political landscape that surrounds former President Donald Trump and his supporters has undergone a rapid series of upheavals this holiday season. These interparty conflicts have drawn attention to lingering questions about the 2024 election. Our lingering concerns—about Trump’s un-American intentions, how Elon Musk bought Trump’s ear, and how foreign operatives interfered in the election—are no longer peripheral; they are at the forefront of our political discourse, and the answers will reshape the future of American democracy itself.
The Clock is Ticking
Now entering the final weeks leading up to Trump's official inauguration, the clock is ticking for the U.S. government to take decisive action to safeguard against election interference. With only a few days left before the certification of the vote and the transfer of power, any remaining challenges or legal actions must be pursued swiftly. If anything is to be done about the clear foreign interference or irregularities present in the 2024 election, it must happen now.
But hope is not yet lost! There are new signs of a growing, well-coordinated resistance that will soon be revealed. A number of recent events and impending releases have the potential to upend the process and catalyze resistance against Trump’s inauguration.
Let’s dive into it:
1. Legal experts say Trump ineligible to be President due to insurrection
On December 26, preeminent U.S. policy news publication The Hill printed an important op-ed from Evan Davis, former editor in chief of the Columbia Law Review, and David Schulte, former editor in chief of the Yale Law Journal. It outlines a path forward for Congress to overturn Trump’s election.
I recommend reading it in full, however, here’s a summary of the argument and process for rejecting Trump’s Electoral College votes:
The 14th Amendment, Section 3, of the U.S. Constitution disqualifies anyone who has engaged in insurrection or rebellion from holding office. This includes Donald Trump, whose involvement in inciting the January 6th attack on the Capitol is well-documented. According to the Constitution as written, this disqualification can only be overturned by a two-thirds vote in each House of Congress.
Trump’s involvement in inciting the January 6th insurrection is well-documented:
Trump was impeached for “incitement of insurrection” in January 2021, with bipartisan support for conviction, though it failed to meet the two-thirds threshold.
A Colorado state court found "clear and convincing evidence" that Trump engaged in insurrection, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that only the U.S. Congress could enforce Section 3 disqualification.
The bipartisan House Select Committee inquiry into the January 6th attack on the Capitol concluded that Trump’s actions, including attempting to pressure Vice President Pence to reject electoral votes, amounted to insurrection.
Some argue that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Trump v. Anderson precludes Congress from rejecting electoral votes based on the 14th Amendment. However, the authors counter with three points:
The suggestion for new federal legislation is non-binding dicta, not precedent.
The constitutional authority to count Electoral College votes rests solely with Congress, making it a nonreviewable political question for the courts.
The Electoral Count Act provides the legal mechanism to reject votes under specified grounds, including disqualification due to insurrection.
Under the 1887 Electoral Count Act, members of Congress can object to electoral votes by petitioning with 20% support from each chamber.
If a simple majority of both the House and Senate agree with the objection, the votes are rejected.
If Trump’s votes are disqualified, Kamala Harris would instead be elected president.
This seems like the most straightforward path to undoing Trump’s stolen election, allowing prosecution of him to proceed. However, it will require significant political will that would only be possible if new evidence came to light.
2. Pending: Jack Smith’s final Trump investigation report
In November, CNN reported that Special Counsel Jack Smith plans to release his final report on the federal investigations into Trump before Inauguration Day, January 20. The report is expected to cover key cases, including allegations of election subversion and the mishandling of classified documents, with Attorney General Merrick Garland overseeing its public release.
This report will serve as the historical record of the investigations. Importantly, the cases against Trump were dismissed "without prejudice," allowing them to continue once Trump is no longer protected by that immunity. Both Smith and U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan have emphasized that the presidential immunity protection is only temporary.
If the findings are sufficiently compelling—and I fully anticipate they will be eye-opening, potentially even including information about efforts to steal the 2024 election—they could provide the justification needed to support a challenge to Trump's inauguration.
3. NATO allies openly discuss Elon Musk’s election interference in U.S. & warn about potential interference in upcoming European elections
Trump’s apparent “co-president” and oligarch megadonor, Elon Musk, purchased Twitter (now renamed “X”) in 2022. Since then, experts say Musk and X have been the epicenter of U.S. election misinformation, which consistently aligns with Russian propaganda interests. The European Union has, in fact, called Musk out for the subsequent explosion of Russian-backed disinformation accounts after he bought the social media platform.
After Musk fired the whole team of X employees curbing election misinformation in 2023, leaving his platform completely vulnerable to foreign influence operations, the U.S. was successfully targeted by Russian troll farms to undermine the election through his platform. Poll data shows that pro-Trump misinformation from artificial and often foreign-run social media accounts defined the 2024 election narrative. Trump voters are misinformed on major issues. These narratives, spread willingly by Musk and through his platform, were instrumental in the U.S. 2024 election and the current political climate.
So it’s not particularly surprising that America’s NATO allies are wary of Musk and on high alert about social media-based election interference. Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s former first minister, criticized Musk for interfering in U.S. elections earlier this month while warning about the billionaire’s potential to influence UK elections as well. He said:
[Musk is] apparently sitting in the interviews for chief of staff, for secretaries of state and living in Mar-a-Lago. And if he is trying to emulate that influence in the next UK general election, that should—as I say—ring alarm bells right up and down the country.
Musk has endorsed Britain’s hard-right Reform UK party, and may be making a huge $100 million donation to their coffers. He’s also come under fire for his endorsement of Germany’s neo-Nazi Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Germany recently accused Musk of foreign election interference for the latter.
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Donald Trump didn’t just steal the election, he stole America’s future. And it will stay that way unless we do something about it.
“It is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election,” said Christiane Hoffmann, Germany’s deputy government spokeswoman, on December 30.
The public acknowledgment by U.S. NATO allies that Elon Musk has interfered in the U.S. election carries significant geopolitical implications. It draws parallels to the recent situation in Romania, where the country overturned its election results after evidence of foreign influence via platforms like TikTok. The EU has opened an investigation into TikTok in response.
This parallel suggests that NATO allies are increasingly concerned about the vulnerabilities of democratic processes to external interference, especially with the growing role of tech giants like Musk’s companies.
With NATO's focus on countering Russian influence, these allies may now expect the U.S. to take decisive action to protect not only its own electoral integrity but also the security of the alliance as a whole. By addressing Musk’s potential role in undermining democratic processes, and both his and Trump’s many documented connections to Russia, the U.S. could signal to NATO that it is committed to safeguarding the democratic institutions that are central to the alliance’s unity and security in the face of Russian threats.
4. The ongoing “civil war” within the Republican Party
Over the past few days, an intense inter-party conflict has split Trump’s GOP coalition into two camps: Musk-loving tech bros and Trump-supporting MAGA loyalists. The disagreement has been about recent statements by billionaires Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who have advocated for “H1-B” immigration visas to hire skilled foreign workers. This was opposed by much of Trump’s MAGA movement, who are strictly anti-immigration (or openly racist) and believe in “America First” policies.
Ultimately, Trump weighed in and sided with Musk, much to the chagrin of many of his followers. This isn’t the only example of Trump upsetting his MAGA flock, who have in many cases—over tariffs, public services, deportation, cabinet picks—expressed buyer’s remorse after the election. But it’s yet another erosion of his base of support, right when he may need it most.
Bonus: Intriguing comment from famous Trump critic
On December 29, commentator Eric Garland wrote the following on X:
When I risked my life to write about foreign spies in the 2016 election, I wanted you to know the truth about our democracy. And *now* you will.
It took 8 years for foreign spies and domestic traitors to try to escape the traps we laid. This will be our finest hour.
Eric Garland (not to be confused with Attorney General Merrick Garland) gained prominence for his analysis and commentary during the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Garland was an early critic of the Trump campaign's ties to Russia and its potential implications—and over time, it’s been revealed that he was right on target about Trump from the start.
I can’t speak to the accuracy or relevance of his recent statements, or whether he can be trusted. But I certainly hope he’s right.
More soon.
If we don’t take action to defend democracy, we don’t deserve to keep it.
If you have relevant information to contribute, please email: tinfoilmatt@proton.me
