A consent decree that limited Republican Party’s use of controversial poll-watching and ballot security efforts for more than three decades appears consigned to the scrap heap of history after a federal appeals court rebuffed a move by Democrats that could have led to restoration of the long-running court order. The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals turned down the Democratic National Committee’s attempt to reopen discovery aimed at proving that the Republican National Committee violated the order in 2016 as then-candidate Donald Trump pressed publicly for a crackdown on what he contended was likely election fraud. After the election, Trump famously claimed — without evidence — that millions of illegal immigrants cast ballots in the presidential contest. Despite Trump’s public calls for his supporters to keep a close eye on certain neighborhoods, the three-judge panel unanimously ruled Monday that Democrats had not made a sufficient showing that the depositions they wanted to take were likely to show that the RNC actually responded to Trump’s entreaties.
“Looking at the scope of discovery in its totality and at the individual orders that the DNC challenges, it is clear that the court acted within its broad discretion,” Judge Michael Fisher wrote, joined by Judges Patty Shwartz and Jane Roth.
After POLITICO noted former that RNC spokesperson Sean Spicer spent the night of Trump’s election on a floor at Trump Tower that many RNC staff believed they were banned from due to the decree, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Vazquez allowed the Democrats to depose Spicer, who did a six-month stint as White House press secretary before the flap over his statements in a GQ interview released in November 2017.
However, the judge rejected further requests from Democrats for depositions of RNC Chair Reince Priebus, who went on to become White House chief of staff, and a Trump campaign official said to have been the point person on voter fraud issues, Mike Roman.
Full Article: DNC loses appeal on Republican election tactics – POLITICO.