In an exclusive interview with The Political Insider, Jenna Ellis, a top Trump campaign lawyer, revealed what the President might do next and how they intend to protect the integrity of the election.
Ellis, who is a senior legal adviser for the campaign, sat down with our own Brett Smith yesterday evening to discuss the election.
You can watch the entire interview below.
Ellis began by analyzing how the Electoral College actually works, amidst talk in the chattering classes about the candidates “declaring victory” on Election Day.
Winners aren’t actually certified on Election Day. “The Electoral College actually meets in December. So for this year, it’s December 14,” Ellis said.
She explained that state legislatures choose who become the electors, and on December 14, those electors actually cast the votes.
The Associated Press is not calling the presidential race yet because neither candidate has secured the 270 Electoral College votes needed to claim victory. A state-by-state look at how and why AP has — or hasn’t — called U.S. states in the 2020 election. https://t.co/VKTGscSGlO
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 4, 2020
RELATED: Here’s Why We Don’t Know the Election Results – And Why We Might Not For a While
Trump Lawyer Jenna Ellis Says Litigation May Come in States Too Close to Call
Ellis proceeded to hint that there could be litigation in states that are hotly contested.
Currently, there are (at least) six states that are too close to call – Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia, along with the critical swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
Ellis used Pennsylvania as an example and states that the Constitution puts electors in the hands of the state legislature, not Democrat governors or state attorneys general, who she claims “have tried to manipulate the election law according to their advantage.”
“Let’s take Pennsylvania for example,” she told Smith.
“If those 20 electoral college votes matter either way to the outcome then there could potentially be litigation.”
“When we go back to the U.S. constitution, which is the supreme law of the land – we are a nation of rules … not a nation of rulers, and we’re not a democracy, we are a constitutional republic with elements of democracy in our system,” she explained.
Ellis continued, “The constitution says in article 2 that the state legislatures are the ones that select the method of choosing their electors.”
Check out my EXCLUSIVE interview for @TPInsidr with Top Trump Lawyer, @JennaEllisEsq on how the President Will Protect Election Integrity.#Trump2020 https://t.co/ZaSFWIBg3H
— Brett R. Smith ?? (@BrettRSmith76) November 4, 2020
RELATED: Pelosi: House Will Step In And Decide Who Is President If No Clear Winner
Jenna Ellis Is Ready to Fight
Ellis went on to provide a little preview of the argument Trump’s legal team intends to make in regard to election law in tightly contested states – especially those with extended ballot-counting deadlines.
“What (the) Pennsylvania state legislature has done is, they have not acted in the last nine months. They have not changed their election law.”
“What’s happened is that governors, that states attorneys general, that secretaries of state, that clerks have tried to manipulate in Democrat-controlled states and local precincts,” she noted. “They have tried to manipulate the election law according to their advantage.”
“That is unconstitutional because only state legislatures, according to our U.S. Constitution, can do that.”
She didn’t elaborate on what those changes were.
It seems like the President’s legal team is well prepared for the very scenario staring him in the face this morning.
They’re going to have to be if they have a shot at winning this fight.
