A case before the United States Supreme Court is the only legal action that seeks an independent investigation into the 2016 election and, if collusion is found to have occurred between the campaign of the Republican candidate for President of the United States and Russia, an order that the election be declared void ab initio.  The case is set for conference on September 25, 2017.  Over one-third of cases filed with the Court fail to make this “cut.”
   Bailey et al. v. United States is docketed, 16-1464.  The case is an original action.  Most cases to appear before the Court are by way of appeal.  Parties litigate at trial courts, take matters up on appeal, and, usually through a petition for writ of certiorari, seek review by this nation’s highest Court.  Bailey is brought before the Court as a Petition for Writ of Mandamus. The Petition asks for independent investigation by a “Special Master” who, under Federal law, has authority to issue subpoenas and obtain any necessary evidence.  The Petition cites treason, among other grounds, as how the relatively few votes needed in “swing” states to grab the Electoral College were flipped. Petitioners have “standing” as voters, and some as voters in those in those swing states.
   An independent investigation by the Executive branch, as I wrote in yesterday’s blog, is impossible.  The President who is being investigated can fire anyone in the Executive branch.  The Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, now at work is part of the Executive branch. The more he uncovers, the more likely his dismissal by the current occupant of the Oval Office becomes.  On that date, a lot of time will have been spent.  The houses of Congress are unwilling to investigate.  Republicans are too vested and Democrats are too timid.
   For those who back the candidate, who lost the popular vote by three million (3,000,000), and consistently say “Stop whining—you lost!”: The election was not a sporting event.  The 2016 election was about the Nation’s and the World’s future. Also, unless someone intended to vote for a person who is a puppet of Vladimir Putin, everyone who cast a vote for President/Vice-President—whether for the Republican candidates, the Democratic Party slate, or the various candidates put forward by an alternative (a/k/a “third”) party—lost her or his right to vote.  As becomes clearer with each day’s revelations, the GOP campaign colluded with persons from Russia to secure the Oval Office for the GOP ticket.
   The Constitution defines treason to include “adhering” to an enemy—in this case  Russia.  As one United States District Court held, over forty (40) years ago:  “Protecting the integrity of elections particularly Presidential contests is essential to a free and democratic society. ... It is difficult to imagine a more damaging blow to the public confidence in the electoral process than the election of a President whose margin of victory was provided by fraudulent registration or voting, ballot-stuffing or other illegal means.” Donohue v. Board of Elections of New York State, 435 F.Supp. 957, 967 (E.D.N.Y. 1976).  An action such as this can be brought if there is no other adequate, specific, legal remedy.” Marbury v Madison, 5 U.S. 137, 150 (1803).
   I am counsel of record for the twelve (12) Petitioners in this case. The Watergate was burglarized by White House “plumbers” the summer before my senior year of high school.  I watched matters play out over the nearly twenty-six months between that break-in and the resignation of President Richard Nixon.  I never thought I would live during a constitutional crisis so grave as occurred during that period.  This crisis is far more grave.
   This effort is not “partisan” for either party.  The effort is to take control of the Oval Office back from a hostile foreign power—Russia.
   In the next days, I shall address issues relevant to the Petition.