Michigan’s top law enforcement officer blasted the legal efforts of President Donald Trump in the state on Wednesday, saying they include no evidence of misconduct, unfairly attack Black voters and workers in Detroit and will not change the outcome of the election.
Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, did not mince her words in critiquing the president’s multiple lawsuits filed in Michigan. She said there is no evidence to support any of the president’s claims of election misconduct, or the claims are “demonstrably false.”
“Really the themes that we see, that persist, are this: Black people are corrupt, Black people are incompetent and Black people can’t be trusted. That’s the narrative that is continually espoused by the Trump campaign and their allies in these lawsuits,” Nessel said during a press call.
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Nessel noted the lawsuits focus on allegations of misconduct in Detroit, a city that typically votes for Democrats and that has a majority Black population.
Other places in the state that have a majority white population where Democratic nominee Joe Biden earned a higher percentage of the vote this year than Hillary Clinton in 2016, such as Oakland and Kent counties, have not been a focus of Trump lawsuits, Nessel said.
On Wednesday, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit in federal court in the Western District in Michigan. Including more than 100 affidavits, the campaign alleges there was enough wrongdoing involved in counting votes in Detroit that a judge should temporarily prevent the certification of election results in the city and throughout the state.
The lawsuits are part of a national strategy aimed at attacking the credibility of the election, won by Biden. In Michigan, Biden received roughly 146,000 more votes than Trump, according to unofficial election results.
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The affidavits included with the federal lawsuit include allegations that poll challengers were denied access to TCF Center in Detroit, where absentee ballots were counted, and some specific allegations of ballot counting problems. They do not provide evidence of widespread fraud or egregious misconduct.
She also accused the Trump campaign of trying to hunt for favorable courts or judges, a process known as “forum shopping.” The federal lawsuit, filed in the Western District of the state, focuses primarily on allegations involved Detroit. Lansing, the seat of government, is located in the Western District of the state.
“In my view, this is really a brazen case of forum shopping,” Nessel said.
“I will add that forum shopping and judge shopping are my least two-favorite shopping seasons.”
None of the claims in any of the lawsuits are true, Nessel said. But even if some were true, they would not change the result of the election in the state, she said.
She argued that if she tried to file a lawsuit with claims that were “this baseless and this frivolous, I would be sanctioned and I would likely be looking at a loss of licensure.”
While the lawsuits won’t change the election outcome, Nessel said, she believes they will have a long-term negative impact on society’s ability to trust the electoral process.
Election workers across the state are conducting the process of certifying election results, known as canvassing. Barring intervention by a court, results are expected to be certified at the county level on Nov. 17, and on the state level on Nov. 23
Contact Dave Boucher at [email protected] or 313-938-4591. Follow him on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: AG Nessel: Trump’s baseless elections lawsuits essentially say ‘Black people are corrupt’
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