We are going to keep updating you on this story until it is resolved, as Democrats continue to pursue a brazen scheme to steal a House seat in Iowa. For those just joining the show, Republican Congresswomen Mariennette Miller-Meeks won her race on election night, still won after the recount, and was unanimously declared as the winner by her state, in a bipartisan certification. She was sworn in as a duly-elected member of Congress and has been casting votes as such. Her Democratic opponent, who lost, declined to challenge the outcome in Iowa courts, and has instead pursued a back door path to being installed as the "winner" by a partisan committee controlled by her fellow Democrats. They've done this before. It is completely outrageous, and framing any of this as Republicans "pouncing" is absurd. One might have reasonably assumed that Democratic party leaders blessed this attempted electoral theft on some level, considering that the relevant lower chamber committee recently advanced the process. Politico has now reported that this has all been given a green light from the 'top echelons' of House Democratic leadership:
Democrats say their candidate RITA HART, who lost to GOP Rep. MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS by six votes, has every right to ask the House to resolve one of the closest House races in American history. Congress, they point out, has dealt with 110 such contested election cases over the past 90 years. Only three, however, resulted in the declared winner being ousted and replaced, according to the House Administration Committee. The Iowa case could become the fourth. Rep. ZOE LOFGREN (D-Calif.), who chairs the Administration panel that will adjudicate the first part of this case — and is a longtime ally of Speaker NANCY PELOSI — has said her panel members are keeping an open mind, that nothing is predetermined and that Hart has the burden of proof. But a source close to the process confirmed to Playbook that the effort to oust Miller-Meeks in favor of Hart has been blessed by the top echelons of House Democratic leadership. And the DCCC has brought in — and is paying the legal fees for — top Democratic election lawyer MARC ELIAS, this person said. Elias, who helped fight dozens of Trump’s frivolous election law claims in court this winter, doesn’t wade into any old House race. His presence alone signals that Democratic leaders want to take this all the way and flip the seat into Democrats’ control.
Senior Democrats have reportedly "blessed" the plan to try to steal this election, which they are risibly insisting is not partisan. But the DCCC -- the House Democrats' campaign arm, which helped lose this race in the first place -- is actively intervening to overturn the will of the Second Congressional District's voters. And they're paying an attorney who's been celebrated in the press for fighting alleged GOP "voter suppression," and combatting President Trump's futile post-election electoral challenges, to help Washington Democrats overrule Iowans. When Trump was contesting the election results in several states, Politico notes, Democrats were "adamant about the need to respect state-certified elections. If they side with Hart, the party will be effectively throwing out the decision of local election officials." Imagine that. A follow-up item in Politico also notes that this attempted power grab, which is very unpopular in the district and has been blasted even by local media outlets that endorsed Hart, is giving heartburn to vulnerable House Democrats in battleground states:
Moderate Democrats are raising red flags this morning over their leadership’s efforts to flip Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District seat into their control. Their message is pretty simple: Don’t go there. Rep. DEAN PHILLIPS (D-Minn.), a respected front-liner from the class of 2018, wrote this while retweeting our Playbook item on the matter this morning: “Losing a House election by six votes is painful for Democrats. But overturning it in the House would be even more painful for America. Just because a majority can, does not mean a majority should.” He’s far from alone. Another Democrat in a tough seat texted us this morning with concerns that the blowback in competitive districts next year could be fierce. “Absent overwhelming evidence, it would be insane to overturn the results of the Iowa election,” the member said. “It would be wrong on principle. It would also be political malpractice. While we would gain one seat, we would lose a lot more next year.”
The NRCC has been demanding that House Democrats who whisper to reporters about their opposition to this disgrace come out and say so publicly:
Swing district Democrats have a lot to say ~anonymously~ about @SpeakerPelosi’s scheme to overturn IA-02…
— Calvin Moore (@CalvinMoore_) March 22, 2021
Will anyone other than @RepDeanPhillips actually do it on record?
Or will they keep cowering to avoid upsetting their dear leader, @SpeakerPelosi? #IA02 pic.twitter.com/1VBQKTPPHw
A growing of them are starting to speak out, apparently intent on avoiding a floor vote on this mess. House Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump are also warning Pelosi against moving forward with this anti-democracy scheme. Because of all the anger brewing over this, some observers are astounded that Democratic leaders are allowing it to fester and are predicting that it will ultimately fail due to a lack of political will among the rank-and-file. When will Pelosi read the room and stop the steal? Finally, when I tweeted about this story yesterday, the replies from leftists ranged from incoherent shouting about Trump-related hypocrisy (nope), to bizarre references to Merrick Garland (nope), to general know-nothing raging, to nihilistic justifications entirely bereft of any substantive argument. Cultish tribal politics breaks people's brains.