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Explainer: ‘Fake electors’ scheme Trump supporters’ tried to overturn 2020 election


A federal indictment of Donald Trump issued on Tuesday included a charge that the Republican then-president and co-conspirators sought slates of phony electors to support his false claims that he won the 2020 election against Democrat Joe Biden.

WHAT ARE ELECTORS?

US presidents are not elected by direct popular vote. Instead, each state appoints electors who select a president under a process specified by the US Constitution.

The winning candidate must receive at least 270 of the 538 total electoral votes.

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Each of the 50 states is assigned a number of electoral votes that match the size of their congressional delegation. California will have 54 electoral votes in the 2024 presidential election, for example, while sparsely populated states like Vermont and Wyoming have three each. The District of Columbia also gets three electors.

Each presidential candidate has their own group of electors in each state, known as a “slate.”

After the election, each state awards its electoral votes to the slate aligned with the winning candidate.

In all but two states, the winner of the popular vote receives all of the state’s electoral votes. Maine and Nebraska award some of their electoral votes on a proportional basis. Both split their votes in the 2020 election.

The electors cast their ballots on behalf of their candidate and send the results to Congress, which counts them up and certifies a winner.

If no candidate secures a majority, the House of Representatives picks the president and the Senate picks the vice president.

In most elections, the winner of the national popular vote has also won the Electoral College vote. But five times, the candidate who lost the popular vote has won the election – most recently in 2016, when Trump won 304 electoral votes even though he got 3 million fewer votes nationwide than Democrat Hillary Clinton.

On July 18, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced criminal charges against 16 people for submitting a phony slate of electors to try to help Trump overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden.

WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE 2020 ELECTION?

According to the congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, Trump and his allies sought to overturn his defeat by convincing Republican-controlled legislatures in battleground states to name their own Trump-friendly electors or refuse to name any electors, even though Biden had won the popular vote in those places.

Law professor John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro, an adviser to Trump’s campaign, wrote legal memos arguing that state legislatures had the authority to choose their own electors, according to the committee’s final report.

Trump and supporters including Rudy Giuliani, his former personal lawyer, urged legislators in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia to take this step, but none did so. (A Georgia prosecutor is investigating attempts to reverse Trump’s defeat in that state.)

Nevertheless, Trump and his allies assembled their own slates of electors in seven states that he lost. Those electors met on Dec. 14, 2020, to cast their votes for Trump – the same day when legitimate electors cast their ballots for Biden.

Those ballots had no legal standing, but Trump and his supporters used them to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to discard the actual results from the states in question when he presided over Congress’s Jan. 6, 2021 session to certify the election outcome.

That would have left Biden short of the needed 270-vote majority, giving Republicans in Congress a chance to declare Trump the victor.

Pence refused to go along with the scheme, saying he did not have the authority to reject electors.

On Jan. 6, Trump held a rally in front of the White House and told the crowd that it would be a “sad day for our country” if Pence did not do as he wished. Thousands of his supporters then attacked the Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to derail the proceedings.

Five people died and more than 140 police were injured. The Capitol suffered millions of dollars in damage.

More than 1,000 people have been charged for crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack.

Read more:

Trump charged for efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss

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Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi meets with CEOs of leading Norwegian companies

H.H. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, has met with a group of CEOs from leading Norwegian companies, as part of their participation in the UAE-Norway Investment Forum, held alongside his official visit to the Kingdom of Norway.

During the meeting, H.H. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed underscored the UAE leadership’s commitment to strengthening economic cooperation with its international partners.

He highlighted that investment in innovation and knowledge is a cornerstone for achieving sustainable development, noting that enhancing collaboration with Norwegian companies across key sectors will open new avenues for mutual economic growth between the two countries.

The UAE-Norway Investment Forum, taking place in Oslo, aimed to highlight available investment opportunities and strengthen trade relations between the UAE and Norway, fostering shared interests and supporting innovation and knowledge-based economic visions.

-wam

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At the Indonesia International Book Fair 2024, TRENDS inaugurates 10th global office, releases four books

As part of its Asian research tour, partnership with Aletihad News Center, and
primary sponsorship of the Indonesia International Book Fair 2024, TRENDS
Research & Advisory inaugurated its office in Jakarta, marking its 10th location
worldwide. It also released four books in Indonesian.
The inauguration event was attended by ambassadors of the UAE, Bahrain, and
Jordan to Indonesia, chairpersons of the UAE and Indonesian Publishers’
Associations, the Director of TRENDS’ Jakarta office, and a group of researchers
and academics.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Mohammed Abdullah Al-Ali, CEO of TRENDS
Research & Advisory, stated that TRENDS’ international offices—set to reach 15
by the end of 2024—aim to enhance the Center’s research efforts and deepen its
role in disseminating knowledge, thus serving as a global knowledge bridge.
He emphasized, “At TRENDS, we believe in the importance of cooperation
between think tanks and prioritize this endeavor. We believe the TRENDS office in
Jakarta will enhance the exchange of knowledge and ideas between think tanks in
Asia and the Middle East, opening new horizons for collaboration in various
fields.”

Four books in Indonesian
As part of the Jakarta office’s inaugural activities, four books were released in
Indonesian, including the 11th and 12th books of the Muslim Brotherhood
Encyclopedia and Global Trends in AI and Automation and the Future of
Competition between Man and Machine: An Analytical Forward-looking Vision.

Hostility to Arab states
The 11th book of the Muslim Brotherhood Encyclopedia, The Concept of the State
According to the Muslim Brotherhood, highlights its hostile stance toward Arab
states since its inception. The group views them as an obstacle to its ascent to
power. It opposed the modern principles upon which these states were built,
considering them incompatible with the group’s unique interpretation of Islam,
which it claimed to embody exclusively.

Exclusion of nonconformists
The 12th book, The Muslim Brotherhood: Rejection of Tolerance and Exclusion of
Nonconformists, examines the Muslim Brotherhood’s stance towards
nonconformists, individuals, and entities. The book reveals the group’s binary view
of the world, categorizing others as allies or adversaries. It ties these relationships
to the Brotherhood’s internal power struggles and self-serving interests.

Global Trends in AI
The third book, Global Trends in AI, explores significant developments in AI and
its impact on various aspects of life, including the economy, society, and
governance. It also offers a comprehensive analysis of technological advancements
in AI, its applications across sectors, the ethical and social challenges it presents,
and its future trajectory.

Automation

The fourth book, Automation and the Future of Competition between Man and
Machine: An Analytical Forward-looking Vision, addresses the growing challenges
faced by the human workforce in the face of widespread automation and AI
applications. The book concludes that while automation presents a significant
challenge to the labor market, it simultaneously creates new opportunities. It
emphasizes the importance of preparing for this shift through skills development,
continuous education, and adopting economic and social policies that support the
workforce.

Prominent pavilion and active presence
The TRENDS’ pavilion at the Indonesia International Book Fair has attracted
numerous visitors, including academic researchers and officials, such as the
ambassadors of the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, and Turkey. Additionally,
chairpersons of Arab and Indonesian publishers’ associations, authors, publishers,
and students visited the pavilion. All were impressed with and praised TRENDS’ diverse, valuable publications. They also commended TRENDS’ active
international presence and ability to address global developments with rigorous
analytical research.
Dr. Mohammed Abdullah Al-Ali honored the esteemed guests, including
ambassadors of the UAE and Bahrain to Indonesia, Wedha Startesti Yudha,
Chairperson of the Indonesia International Book Fair Committee, Arys Hilman
Nugraha, Chairman of the Indonesian Publishers Association, and others,
presenting them with TRENDS’ publications and commemorative shields.
Additionally, he awarded TRENDS’ Research Medal to Ni Made Ayu Martini
Indonesian Deputy Minister of Marketing, Tourism and Creative Economy
It is worth noting that during its current Asian research tour, TRENDS announced
the launch of the TRENDS Research Medal, awarded to individuals who make
significant contributions to the development of scientific research and promote collaboration with TRENDS in strengthening a culture of research across various fields.

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US determined to prevent full-scale war in Middle East, Joe Biden tells UNGA79

US President Joe Biden highlighted the US Administration’s determination to prevent a wider war that engulfs the entire Middle East region, noting that a diplomatic solution “remains the only path to lasting security to allow the residents from both countries to return to their homes on the border safely”.

In remarks he made today before the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA79), the US President said, “Full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest,” adding that a diplomatic solution is still possible.

He also touched on “the rise of violence against innocent Palestinians on the West Bank”, and the need to “set the conditions for a better future”, which he said featured “a two-state solution, where the world — where Israel enjoys security and peace and full recognition and normalised relations with all its neighbours, where Palestinians live in security, dignity, and self-determination in a state of their own”.

President Biden underscored the ceasefire and hostage deal put forth by Qatar and Egypt, which the UN Security Council endorsed. He said, “Now is the time for the parties to finalise its terms, bring the hostages home,” adding that this would help ease the suffering in Gaza, and end the war.

-WAM

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