Tonight, in trump’s address on prime time, one more item might be checked off the list of prerequisites for dictatorship. There is a fairly high probability that trump will declare “void” the elections that placed Senators Ossoff and Warnock in the U.S. Senate. [FN1] 1/15

A White House spokesperson said trump “would not focus on Georgia’s 2020 elections.” [FN2] Warnock and Ossoff were elected 1/5/1, runoffs. [FN3] In Georgia, trump, in a post-election call to the Secretary of State, said to find the votes trump needed. [FN4] 2/15

trump has built a career on fraud, e.g., claiming Pres Obama’s birth certificate was fake. [FN5] In the aftermath of trump’s loss in 2020, the minions he sent to search out fraud found none. In Georgia the 2020 elections officials were GOP. Now he’s ready to wipe out two 3/15

Democratic Party votes in the Senate. [FN6] After years of the Democratic Party’s persistent monotone that our elections have been clean and spiffy, and rolling back on the defensive, they should go on the offense. Two bases provide the means. 4/15

1) Insurrection clause. The Constitution, Amend XIV, §3 bars from holding office any person who, “having previously taken an oath [] to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion ...” [FN7] That means 5/15

trump cannot hold office. Nor can anyone who aided and abetted the Jan 6 mob at the Capitol.
2) Election interference that placed trump in the Oval Office in 2016 and in 2024. Blumstein, et al v. Pence, et al, 16-907, and Bailey, et al v U.S., 16-1464 were before SCOTUS 6/15

and sought an order to nullify the 2016 election based on Russian interference, a violation of Art. IV, sec. 4, of the Constitution, the Invasion Clause. In Bailey, we argued broader grounds that included fraud and treason. The cases were dismissed, but not on the merits. 7/15

We had the facts on our side. We also had the law: the results of an election obtained by foreign interference or by fraud can be declared void by our courts. [FN9] There is no similar authority for the Pres. But under Johnny Bob & His Corrupt 5, rule of law if not dead is 8/15

at least moribund. Actions of the Taney Court took years to remedy, as did those of the late 1800s that gave rights to corporations, but refused to extend rights to former slaves and their descendants. We prevailed eventually, in those cases. We can do so again. 9/15

Footnotes:
FN1. Will Daughtry, “Ossoff, Warnock release statements amid rumors Trump will delegitimize their 2021 wins,” AccessNorthGa, 7/14/26, accessed 7/16/26.
FN2. Id. 10/15

FN3. Amy Gardner and Erica Werner, "Georgia certifies Ossoff and Warnock victories, paving the way for Democratic control of Senate". The Washington Post, 1/19/21.
FN4. “Read the full transcript and listen to Trump’s audio call with Georgia secretary of state,” CNN, 1/3/21, accessed 7/16/26. 11/15
FN5. Of course trump had decades in business where learned the ropes from Roy Cohn.
FN6. Marco Margaritoff, “GOP Senator Indulges Trump Claims About Rigged 2020 Election: 'I Don't Know,'” HuffPost, 7/16/26. 12/15

FN7. Amend XIV, §3: “No person shall ... hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath ... to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same...” 13/15

FN8. Clarizza Potoy, “'The Election Was Rigged': Peer-Reviewed Study Confirms Tech Algorithms Systematically Pushed Trump to Victory,” International Business Times, 7/10/26, accessed 7/16/26. 14/15

FN9. See, Donahue v. Board of Elections, 435 F.Supp.957 (E.D.N.Y. 1976); also, Milroy, Steven, “Right Without a Remedy?” 10 Geo. Mason L.Rev. 214, 226-27 (2001). 15/15