WEBVTT - Damaging the Electoral Process: Sarah Westwood talks to Armstrong and Getty

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<v Speaker 1>Speaking of politics. It's always a pleasure to welcome Sarah Westwood,

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<v Speaker 1>investigative reporter for The Washington Examiner, to the show. Sarah,

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<v Speaker 1>how are you. I'm great, Thanks for having me. It's

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<v Speaker 1>it's our pleasure. Thanks. I've read a couple of pieces

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<v Speaker 1>that you've written, uh lately. In one in particular, really,

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<v Speaker 1>we around here think it's one of the great under

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<v Speaker 1>discussed stories in America, and that is, uh, people's trust

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<v Speaker 1>in the voting system, people's belief in the fidelity of

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<v Speaker 1>the ballot. And you've written a piece recently about various

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<v Speaker 1>states moving in different directions in terms of who votes.

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<v Speaker 1>How can you give us kind of an overview of

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<v Speaker 1>what's happening? Sure, you know, I think that this was

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<v Speaker 1>a much bigger deal at the federal level last year

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<v Speaker 1>and early this year in January, you know, President Biden

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<v Speaker 1>gave a big speech about voting rights. Kamala Harris was

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<v Speaker 1>focusing intently on this, and it's lost a lot of theme.

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<v Speaker 1>At the national level, there was not enough traction to

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<v Speaker 1>get any sort of meaningful voting reforms through Congress. So

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<v Speaker 1>now you're seeing these fights play out state by states,

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<v Speaker 1>and New York and California in particular, have taken elements

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<v Speaker 1>of what was then the HR one for the People

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<v Speaker 1>Acts with John Lewis Voting Rights Access of legislation that

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<v Speaker 1>had a lot of very um significant structural changes to

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<v Speaker 1>voting laws and tried to implement them on the state level.

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<v Speaker 1>And so you could see a lot of changes in

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<v Speaker 1>this midterm election come November. A lot of states have

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<v Speaker 1>tried and some have even succeeded, in making permanent the

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<v Speaker 1>type of temporary solutions that were put in place to

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<v Speaker 1>accommodate public health concerns during the pandemic, like sending absolutee

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<v Speaker 1>ballots to every voter, which is something that is going

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<v Speaker 1>to be now a permanent feature of California voting right.

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<v Speaker 1>I saw in your article that the Wisconsin Supreme Court

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<v Speaker 1>went in the other direction. Can you tell us about that? Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>this was a significant blow to the left wing agenda

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<v Speaker 1>when it comes to voting. But the wiscon In Supreme

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<v Speaker 1>Court looked out the way the state's law is currently

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<v Speaker 1>written and said that the law as as it send

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<v Speaker 1>does not allow for unattended ballot boxes, which means that

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<v Speaker 1>if precincts want to have ballot drop boxes where someone

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<v Speaker 1>can fill out their absentee ballot at home. Maybe they

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<v Speaker 1>don't want to drop it in the mail for whatever reason,

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<v Speaker 1>they feel more comfortable leaving it at the box. They

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<v Speaker 1>have to have a physical person they're monitoring the drop

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<v Speaker 1>box if they want to have this option for voters.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's a really expensive, logistically challenging way to to

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<v Speaker 1>do drop boxes, while you typically see them being unmanned,

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<v Speaker 1>because that that sort of manpower, full time manpower, Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>it's hard to come by in elections. You also have

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<v Speaker 1>in with constant um a band now from the State

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<v Speaker 1>Supreme Court on what critics call ballot harvesting, which is

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<v Speaker 1>basically where any third party sometimes political operatives can collect

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<v Speaker 1>absentee ballots ostensibly to help people who can't necessarily get

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<v Speaker 1>to the polls. I dropped them off in bulk, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>county clerk's offices or at these drop boxes. That also

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<v Speaker 1>is not compatible with Wisconsin law as it stands. Now.

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<v Speaker 1>Voting rights advocates will say, you know this, this hurts

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<v Speaker 1>elderly people, are disabled people who might not be able

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<v Speaker 1>to get out of the house to submit their absentee ballot.

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<v Speaker 1>But that's why the vote by mail system exists in

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<v Speaker 1>the first place. It existed for people like you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the disabled and the elderly who can't necessarily get to

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<v Speaker 1>the polls, and so that option voting by mail is

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<v Speaker 1>still available to people now that ballot harvesting is banned

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<v Speaker 1>in with consin right. I remember it was a couple

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<v Speaker 1>of election cycles ago that a Republican was booted out

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<v Speaker 1>of Congress and the election had to be reheld in

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<v Speaker 1>North Carolina because the various operatives engaged in ballot harvesting,

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<v Speaker 1>which is illegal. And roughly half the states I think,

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<v Speaker 1>or it's like twenty two to twenty three or something

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<v Speaker 1>like that. Do you happen to know that number, off fan,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't, but that sounds about or or you know,

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<v Speaker 1>give or take a couple of states, right, right, And

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<v Speaker 1>this is clearly editorializing, and you can join in or

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<v Speaker 1>not depending on your your wishes. But um, what we've

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<v Speaker 1>been saying around here is that people ought to be

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<v Speaker 1>able to vote, certainly and mail and voting for old

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<v Speaker 1>folks are disabled or whatever. That's nobody is against that,

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<v Speaker 1>but the idea of one guy showing up with fifteen

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<v Speaker 1>ballots is it's damaging to the credibility of the electoral process,

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<v Speaker 1>even if there are reasonable safeguards in place to make

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<v Speaker 1>sure every one of those votes is legit and and honestly,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't find the safeguards uh strong enough, but just

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<v Speaker 1>that very idea of a guy with a stack of ballots,

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<v Speaker 1>it bothers people, it does. And I think you know

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of these the liberalization of the vote by

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<v Speaker 1>mail ruled in states like Pennsylvania, New York, and California.

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<v Speaker 1>Those were done under the pretext of the pandemic, and

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<v Speaker 1>they were all builled as temporary measures. And now any

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<v Speaker 1>effort to go back to what the pre pandemic stand

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<v Speaker 1>neard was is being decried as voter suppression. And so

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<v Speaker 1>you know, this is sort of a bait and switch

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<v Speaker 1>that a lot of these Democrats did. When it comes

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<v Speaker 1>to the voting law in Texas, for example, a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of the changes that Texas made in their voting reforms

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<v Speaker 1>that they passed last year was just stripping away some

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<v Speaker 1>of those pandemic policies like twenty four hour voting or

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<v Speaker 1>like drive through voting which occurred in sub prefings in

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<v Speaker 1>urban areas. That was attacked by Democrats, as you know,

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<v Speaker 1>taking away people's right to vote, even though at the

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<v Speaker 1>time Democrats insisted that those measures were never meant to

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<v Speaker 1>be temporary. So there is a lot of sort of

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<v Speaker 1>rhetorical deception around this voting issue that's no longer you know,

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<v Speaker 1>in the national spotlight, because again, this is playing out

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<v Speaker 1>in the States, but you know, those fights are still happening.

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<v Speaker 1>Sarah Westwood, investigative reporter for the Washington Examiner, on the

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<v Speaker 1>line in the a couple of minutes we have left,

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<v Speaker 1>you did another piece on the House Republicans indeed take

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<v Speaker 1>the I'm sorry. If Puplicans take the House, which is expected,

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<v Speaker 1>that they are going to launch their own bunch of

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<v Speaker 1>investigations into the Biden administration. I'm not sure how much

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<v Speaker 1>I love this government by investigation that seems to be

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<v Speaker 1>popular these days. But what will they be investigating and

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<v Speaker 1>who's going to do it? Yeah, so we are seeing

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<v Speaker 1>outs Republicans start to lay the groundwork for what those

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<v Speaker 1>investigations are going to look like and what committees are

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<v Speaker 1>going to be the venue for those probes. Even though

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<v Speaker 1>they're not in the majority, they don't have subpoena power

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<v Speaker 1>necessarily the power to set the agenda and call witnesses

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<v Speaker 1>they can't send letters and requests and inquiries, and so

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<v Speaker 1>we're starting to see that. For example, the House Oversight

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<v Speaker 1>Committee uh Congress, and James Cohmer is the ranking member,

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<v Speaker 1>largely expected to be the chairman if Republicans take the

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<v Speaker 1>House in November. He's already started sending request to the

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<v Speaker 1>Treasury Department for what's known as suspicious activity reports, or

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<v Speaker 1>reports that are automatically generated when business transaction internationally. The

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<v Speaker 1>potentially raise red flags all the suspicious activity reports related

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<v Speaker 1>to Hunter Biden. So he's sort of starting to lay

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<v Speaker 1>the groundwork there for what will probably be a pretty

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<v Speaker 1>robust investigation of Hunter Biden's business dealings. The House Administration Committee,

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<v Speaker 1>which you know resees the sort of administrative staff associated

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<v Speaker 1>with Congress, is already sort of gearing up to investigate

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<v Speaker 1>why Capital police didn't have more security on January six,

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<v Speaker 1>why were they caught so flat footed? And you have

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<v Speaker 1>Republicans sending request to the January six Committee asking them

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<v Speaker 1>to preserve all their emails and documents because Republicans are

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<v Speaker 1>gearing up to do a pretty aggressive investigation of the

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<v Speaker 1>investigators of January six to see, you know, was any

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<v Speaker 1>witness coerced or threatened with financial ruin, you know, if

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<v Speaker 1>they didn't testify where people's rights trampled on by this aggressive,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, made for TV investigations. The Republicans really positioning

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<v Speaker 1>themselves to do some some aggressive investigating if they do

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<v Speaker 1>win in November. Well, and I understand the House Judicial

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<v Speaker 1>Theory Committee might be looking at Anthony Fauci. That's right,

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<v Speaker 1>as Congressman Jim Jordan's really interested in the Anthony Fauci

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<v Speaker 1>sort of the space of this unpopular COVID response, the

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<v Speaker 1>Republicans are interested in how and why he shifted so

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<v Speaker 1>dramatically his position on the lab leak theory. This theory

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<v Speaker 1>that COVID nineteen escaped from a virology lab at Wuhan

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<v Speaker 1>and that's how it starts spreading in China, which is

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<v Speaker 1>a pretty now publicly accepted likely possibility for how the

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<v Speaker 1>pandemic began. But Sauci hasn't not really explained why he

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<v Speaker 1>went from totally dismissing this theory too reluctantly embracing it.

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<v Speaker 1>And there are a lot of questions about, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>in i h's funding of grants that contributed to research

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<v Speaker 1>at that virology lab in Wuhan, and so those are

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<v Speaker 1>the sorts of things that Republicans are going to be

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<v Speaker 1>looking into, and you know, that could be pretty uncomfortable

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<v Speaker 1>for for Dr Fauci. Sarah Westwood of the Washington and

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<v Speaker 1>Exam her follow her on Twitter, read her at the

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<v Speaker 1>Washington Examiner dot com. Sarah, Hey, thanks very much for

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<v Speaker 1>the time. Thanks for having me. Armstrong and Jetty