As the Republican National Convention 2020 unfolds with stunning ferocity, mendacity, and fear-mongering, basically offering an Alice Through the Looking Glass Orwellian alternative reality, more and more Republicans, including Presidential appointees, legal experts and Congressmen and elected officials have allied against Trump for his corruption and abuse of the Presidency. These include former Governors John Kasich and Christine Todd Whitman and former Secretary of State Colin Powell who appeared at the Democratic National Convention in support of Joe Biden.

The growing list of administration officials supporting Biden over Trump also includes a former Homeland Security official Myles Taylor, who in a Washington Post op-ed, wrote, “Trump showed vanishingly little interest in subjects of vital national security interest, including cybersecurity, domestic terrorism and malicious foreign interference in U.S. affairs…. Because the commander in chief has diminished America’s influence overseas, today the nation has fewer friends and stronger enemies than when Trump took office…. Trump has also damaged the country in countless ways that don’t directly involve national security but, by stoking hatred and division, make Americans profoundly less safe.

“The president’s bungled response to the coronavirus pandemic is the ultimate example…His first term has been dangerously chaotic. Four more years of this are unthinkable.”

And former Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, in declaring his support for Biden for president, stated, “And so, it is because of my conservatism, and because of my belief in the Constitution, and in the separation of power, and because I am gravely concerned about the conduct and behavior of our current president that I stand here today – proudly and wholeheartedly – to endorse Joe Biden to be our next president of the United States of America. (Watch Senator Flake’s remarks HERE.

Republican Members of Congress Endorse Biden

On the first day of the Republican National Convention, former Republican Members of Congress, including former Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, announced their support for Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris. In a strong rebuke to the current administration, these former members of Congress cited Trump’s corruption, destruction of democracy, blatant disregard for moral decency, and urgent need to get the country back on course as a reason why they support Biden. These former Members of Congress are supporting Joe Biden because they know what’s at stake in this election and that Trump’s failures as President have superseded partisanship.
 
With the support of these Members of Congress, the Biden for President is launching Republicans for Biden, a national effort to engage Republicans who are supporting Biden this fall. The campaign will encourage Republicans to organize their communities for Biden using the Vote Joe app and other relational organizing tools. More information is at joebiden.com/republicans or by texting GOP to 30330.
 
Republicans endorsing Joe Biden include:

• Senator Jeff Flake (AZ)
• Senator Gordon Humphrey (NH)
• Senator John Warner (VA)
• Congressman Steve Bartlett (TX)
• Congressman Bill Clinger (PA)
• Congressman Tom Coleman (MO)
• Congressman Charlie Dent (PA)
• Congressman Charles Djou (HI)
• Congressman Mickey Edwards (OK)
• Congressman Wayne Gilchrest (MD)
• Congressman Jim Greenwood (PA)
• Congressman Bob Inglis (SC)
• Congressman Jim Kolbe (AZ)
• Congressman Steve Kuykendall (CA)
• Congressman Ray LaHood (IL)
• Congressman Jim Leach (IA)
• Congresswoman Susan Molinari (NY)
• Congresswoman Connie Morella (MD)
• Congressman Mike Parker (MS)
• Congressman Jack Quinn (NY)
• Congresswoman Claudine Schneider (RI)
• Congressman Christopher Shays (CT)
• Congressman Peter Smith (VT)
• Congressman Alan Steelman (TX)
• Congressman Jim Walsh (NY)
• Congressman Bill Whitehurst (VA)
• Congressman Dick Zimmer (NJ)

Republican Presidential Appointees, Legal Experts Support Biden

On August 25, as the Republican National Convention was underway, former Republican Presidential Appointees and legal experts came out in support of Joe Biden and against President Trump in light of the corruption and abuse of power that has pervaded the current administration. Trump has used the presidency to enrich himself — spending countless tax dollars at his own properties. Members of his administration have failed to divest themselves from conflicts of interest as promised. And, Trump has weaponized the Executive Branch against its core mission, including using the U.S. Justice Department to protect the president and his friends, over the American people and the rule of law. Trump has welcomed wealthy special interests into the Oval Office and to the highest levels of his administration to develop and guide policy.
 
As President, Biden is dedicated to restoring even-handed justice and the principle that no person is above the law. He would:

• Return basic honesty and integrity to the U.S. Department of Justice and to Executive Branch decision-making;
• Restore ethics in government;
• Rein in Executive Branch financial conflicts of interest;
• Reduce the corrupting influence of money in politics and make it easier for candidates of all backgrounds to run for office.

Republican appointees endorsing Joe Biden include:

• Donald B. Ayer, Former U.S. Deputy Attorney General (H.W. Bush Administration)
• Alan Charles Raul, Former Vice Chairman of the White House Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (W. Bush Administration), General Counsel of the Office of Management and Budget (H.W. Bush Administration), General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (H.W. Bush Administration), and Associate Counsel to the President (Reagan Administration)
• Charles Fried, Former U.S. Solicitor General (Reagan Administration), Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
• Stuart Gerson, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice (H.W. Bush Administration), Debate Prep Advisor to President H.W. Bush, W. Bush Presidential Transition Staff
• Peter Keisler, Former U.S. Acting Attorney General (W. Bush Administration), Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice (W. Bush Administration)
• Paul Rosenweig, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Department of Homeland Security (W. Bush Administration), Privacy and Security Expert
• Robert Shanks, Former U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice (Reagan Administration)
• J.W. Verret, Former Chief Economist and Senior Counsel to the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, Trump Presidential Transition Staff

Meanwhile, an alternate Republican Conservative convention is underway this week of Never Trump groups. A “Convention on Founding Principles,”put on by Evan McMullin and Mindy Finn’s Stand Up Republic and the eclectic think tank, the Niskanen Center, is running as counter-programming to the Republican convention. The event is being live-streamed and available for viewing on Facebook and YouTube.

And the Lincoln Project continues to produce amazing videos, ads, social media campaign. “The Lincoln Project is holding accountable those who would violate their oaths to the Constitution and would put others before Americans.”

The stated mission of the Lincoln Project: Defeat President Trump and Trumpism at the ballot box.

“We do not undertake this task lightly nor from ideological preference. Our many policy differences with national Democrats remain. However, the priority for all patriotic Americans must be a shared fidelity to the Constitution and a commitment to defeat those candidates who have abandoned their constitutional oaths, regardless of party. Electing Democrats who support the Constitution over Republicans who do not is a worthy effort.” (lincolnproject.us)