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Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has asked Attorney General Bill Barr to send federal agents to Pennsylvania to arrest poll workers. He cited no evidence to back his demand.
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In an interview with Fox News on Thursday night, Gingrich discussed one of the Trump campaign’s lawsuits in which the president’s team complained that their poll watchers weren’t allowed to be close enough to observe the ballot counting.
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One court has ruled that candidates’ designated observers must be allowed to watch the vote-counting. Counting has proceeded on that basis.
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“The Philadelphia machine is corrupt. The Atlanta machine is corrupt. The machine in Detroit is corrupt. And they are trying to steal the presidency. And we should not allow them to do that,” Gingrich said.
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There are no legal proceedings that have alleged any poll workers are “corrupt.”
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Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has asked Attorney General Bill Barr to send federal agents to Pennsylvania to arrest poll workers, claiming the state’s voting system is “corrupt.” He cited no evidence to back his claim.
In an interview with Fox News on Thursday night, host Sean Hannity and Gingrich discussed the Trump campaign’s lawsuits in Michigan, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, which came after President-elect Joe Biden took the lead in several battleground states on Wednesday.
According to one lawsuit filed, Trump’s team complained that their poll watchers in Pennsylvania weren’t allowed to be close enough to observe the ballot counting. One court has ruled that candidates’ designated observers must be allowed to watch the vote-counting. Counting has proceeded on that basis.
“Is that a violation of law? And how do you remedy that?” Hannity asked Gingrich, according to the Daily Beast.
“The Philadelphia machine is corrupt. The Atlanta machine is corrupt. The machine in Detroit is corrupt. And they are trying to steal the presidency. And we should not allow them to do that,” Gingrich responded.
In reality, no charges have been brought, and no civil lawsuit has been filed, that suggests any poll workers are “corrupt.”
But Gingrich continued. “First of all, under federal law, we should lock up the people who are breaking the law,” he continued. “You stop somebody from being an observer, you just broke federal law. Do you hide and put up papers so nobody can see what you’re doing? You just broke federal law. You bring in ballots that aren’t real? You just broke federal law.”
When asked by Hannity how to fix such a problem, Gingrich goes on to say that the “first answer” is to look at the attorney general, who “issued an order that federal agents can carry guns in the pursuit of people who are breaking the law.”
The attorney general has not made any such orders.
Watch the moment below:
Gingrich’s comments come after the Trump campaign filed lawsuits in Michigan, Georgia, and Pennsylvania to halt the states’ vote counts. It has also called for a recount in Wisconsin. Here is a list of all the lawsuits and where they stand.
Gingrich was the Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. He was a Republican representative for Georgia’s 6th congressional district serving north Atlanta and nearby areas for 20 years until his resignation in 1999.
Biden surpassed the 270 electoral votes required to win the White House as of Friday afternoon, according to projections by Decision Desk HQ.
In the popular vote, the Democratic nominee won 4 million more votes than Trump as of Friday, a lead that’s likely to grow as states finalize their results in the coming days and weeks.
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