Collusion Hoax 2020: Postal Edition

 
By David Steinberg

In March, as governors across the country first issued coronavirus restrictions, the Democratic Party began taking steps to make universal vote-by-mail its top priority in 2020. The stated reason for this strategy was to avoid vast voter disenfranchisement as Americans headed to the polls in November. Democrats argued that coronavirus presented an insurmountable obstacle to voters, and requested that the trillion-dollar coronavirus relief bill in March include a federal vote-by-mail mandate. 

Nationwide, Democrats filed an unprecedented number of vote-by-mail lawsuits, further adding to the general impression that voters face an unusually burdensome set of obstacles in the 2020 election.

Yet despite their concerns, Democrats and their lead election attorney—Marc Elias of Perkins-Coie LLC (yes, that Perkins-Coie)—chose to pursue an eight-months-or-less timeline to implement voting by mail nationwide. Even as Elias himself stated USPS would struggle to meet this framework, as the five states with universal vote-by-mail prior to 2020 had all required several years to implement and refine their programs.

While Democrats turned a blind eye to the logistical difficulties of their new priority, Republicans claimed Democrats intended to cause chaos in November with widespread vote-by-mail. They also claimed Democrats intended to blame Trump’s handling of USPS—in particular his refusal to implement vote-by-mail on a scale and timeline (nationally, in eight months or less) that has never been done before—for any ensuing chaos.

These Republican accusations—that Democrats are primarily interested in voting-by-mail because of the fraud and tampering opportunities it presents, and secondarily because it enables Democrats to accuse President Trump of attempting to disenfranchise voters should he fail to go along with their national vote-by-mail agenda—are supported by new information.

It appears Democrats blatantly misrepresented the financial solvency of the USPS in an attempt to accuse President Trump of withholding coronavirus relief funds so that he might steal the election. 

Democratic Party leaders began to allege in March that USPS finances may cause problems with November’s election. They made similar claims in April, May, June, and July.

It is clear, however, that they had access to USPS annual reports and revenue statements showing these claims to be inaccurate as early as April 19.

Preparing the Ground

Marc Elias had a historically notable role in the 2016 presidential election. In April 2016, Elias hired Fusion GPS on behalf of the Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC; this engagement would produce the infamous “Steele dossier” that was at the heart of the Russian collusion hoax. When the Washington Post reported this on October 24, 2017, Times’ reporters Ken Vogel and Maggie Haberman claimed Elias had “lied about it” to them, “vigorously,” “with sanctimony, for a year.” Elias was subpoenaed by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and testified that December.

Today, Elias is the leading election law counsel for Democrats nationally. On March 14, he claimed USPS would suffer “massive delays” in key battleground states. 

 
On March 16, outgoing USPS Postmaster General Megan Brennan—she had announced her impending resignation in October 2019—briefed Congress. Brennan claimed USPS required a massive grant to remain solvent: $25 billion. She projected “a possible 50% decline in mail volume between now and the end of the current fiscal year.”

That day, the Washington Post published a timely opinion piece by Elias. He contended the Postal Service would struggle with vote-by-mail in November, causing an “avalanche of ballots” to arrive at election offices after November 3.

Elias added: “[W]ithout careful, realistic planning, confidence in the system will fall”: