Implausible deniability

by | Feb 20, 2019 | Editor's Blog

Yesterday, Andy Yates, the general consultant for Mark Harris’ campaign in NC-09, testified before the State Board of Elections. He reminded me of Sargent Schultz from the 1960s sitcom Hogan’s Hero, saying essentially “I see nothing. I know nothing.” And when the offense is clearly exposed to the public, he expresses shock and dismay.

Yates was also trying to separate himself from responsibility for Dowless. On the one hand, he told us that McCrae Dowless, the alleged perpetrator of the fraud, was hired by Mark Harris before his firm, Red Dome Group, was retained by the campaign. On the other hand, we know that he hired Dowless to help a bunch of other clients with races in Bladen County. He says that both he and Harris talked to Dowless frequently, but he seemed to put the responsibility for Dowless back on the candidate.  

Yates says he never would have hired Dowless if he suspected any sort of shady activity because his reputation as a consultant was too important. But that doesn’t really add up. Any consultant worth his/her salt would look at the results Dowless delivered in 2016 for Harris’ primary opponent and know something wasn’t right. He almost certainly knew what he was getting, even if he didn’t want to ask how he was getting it. 

The other information that came out yesterday concerned the leaking of early vote totals. It seems elections officials tabulated the early vote totals early and looked at them. We don’t for sure if they were leaked, though that’s been alleged, but just running them is a violation of election law. 

Back in December, GOP Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse and Chair Robin Hayes said if the totals were tabulated early, that would be grounds for a new election. Clearly, somebody got them. Today, they have more stories than a Norton Anthology. After that brief period of candor, both have hunkered down, demanding that Harris be certified. The bar gets ever lower. It’s gone from nobody can prove voter fraud occurred to fraud is ok if you can’t prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that it changed the outcome of the election. They’re a reflection of the Trump GOP where facts don’t matter but winning does.   

Finally, the GOP twitter machine is still screaming into the darkness, “But Dowless used to work for Democrats,” as if that somehow makes them complicit in the work he did for Harris. It’s the same argument they make about white supremacy. Sure, Democrats were the party of white supremacy a hundred years ago but that doesn’t absolve the GOP for embracing it today. Likewise, nothing Democrats did in Bladen County years ago negates  the impropriety that occurred in NC-09 last year. 

Republicans should cut their losses, admit that rampant fraud occurred that tainted the outcome of the election and call for a new election. It’s not like they’d be less competitive in a district like that one. Their denials are implausible and their constantly evolving standards make them look like they have none. Trying to point to the past just highlights how out of touch they are in the present. Their strategy in the NC-09 suggests that integrity is no longer part of the reputation they want to protect.   

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