"Opportunity for fraud" is a new phrase being used for committing fraud on voters by keeping the big lie going for 6 years

 "Opportunity for fraud" is  a new phrase being used for committing fraud on voters by keeping the big lie going for 6  years. and explaining away the lack of evidence, the 2020 election was stolen, Trump's fundamental basis for abusing his power is that the 2020 election was stolen.  It has been his excuse for most domestic acts he has taken to give J6 criminals and election denier icon Tina Peters a get-out-of-jail pass and to federalize elections so the big leader in the White House can more easily control the vote system and the outcome. This is in spite of those charged with seditiion or battering police officers or violating rules protecting ballot integrity have been given due process,  jury trials, pleading guilty, and after appeals upon appeals. Now, a new possible director of national intelligence, former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, for Director of National Intelligence (DNI), is using the term "opportunity for fraud" to describe Trump's relentless search for an event. for which no court has found sufficient evidence so far in six years to change the 2020 outcome. Even Trjmps's own AG said the 2020 election was fraud-free.   Despite this, Trump is obsessed with keeping this lie alive, giving him the tool to rationalize a witch hunt because if there is smoke in the process itself and these isolated examples, there's certainly fire everywhere else.  and then he also has a pitch that puts.  into question any vote tally that does not go his way. For those in MAGA who dismiss the issue of evidence as some lib press and media,  or lib judges, trust the truth in every word coming from Trump, are those who are willing victims or ignorant of the deception of Trump's pitch that" since there is an opportunity for fraud, there is fraud."( In the case of California, it was uttered even before and during the counting was completed.) There is also a willful ignoring of the rigorous measures used to mitigate fraud, or of the lack of evidence that enough was done to overturn the outcome of 2020. 

 Even claiming "an opportunity for fraud" is another way to institutionalize an aura of paranoia, undermine faith in the electoral processes, give more fodder to Trump to fix what is not broken for political gain, and avoid looking like a loser, with such lies and insinuations.   https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2026/06/how-do-you-tell-political-lie-from.html

The term "opportunity for fraud" is used in risk management of the systems proposed or in use by those who evaluate it because it indicates the steps needed to reduce the likelihood of that happening.  The fraud Truad has committed is to ignore and keep followers in the dark about the extreme measures, legitimate practices, and rules already required of compliant election officials to keep such "opportunities" to isolated examples.  There are thousands of county clerks and state election officials who are sworn to such risk management procedures, but the one who violated her oath to follow procedure is Tina Peters, who listened to Trump's speeches to "secure the votes cast". Instead of following the required procedure, she secured the vote tabulators by locking them. up and giving the codes for access to a MAGA loyal volunteer, tried to cover it up, lied, and got convicted by a trial of peers of violation of the state of Colorado criminal law. She appealed, and her conviction was upheld, though the sentence did not take into consideration her First Amendment rights to state her opinion, and Colorado Governor Polis released her from state prison after she had already served half her 9-year sentence. Note: her conviction was not overturned.  

For those who are ignorant of the procedures their clerks use to verify their votes, both in the registration process and in ensuring their ballots are counted, the "opportunity for fraud" needs to be scrutinized, as do the measures taken. States are in control of this per the Constitution, not the federal government.  Being ignorant of that is to fool oneself, and not understanding or learning about it is to be a willing fool. 

The key to having a voter's ballot counted, whatever the process, is that the signature at registration matches the signature on the ballot cast. That is true whether the voter received their ballot by mail, did not request it, requested it, mailed it, dropped it off, was "harvested" by someone else, or turned up in person at a polling place. or showed them their papers or didn't. In most instances, there are both red and blue clerks examining signatures, and if there is a question. The ballot is kept separate and provisional until the voter is given a chance to appeal. That makes "opportunity for fraud" rarely happen in reality. 

This constant drumbeat that there was fraud in 2020, in 2026 November there will also be fraud by libs and into 2028 asell, is in itself a fraud on their MAGA supporters.  There is a high leap between "opportunity for fraud" to actual evidence of fraud itself, and that "opportunity" appeals to either the blind loyal  (if Trump says it happens and will, it did and will) or to the unthinking ignorant who do not know squat about the process elections officials use to keep that risk at a minimum.  One would think that after 6 years, and with no evidence from both red and blue judges that the 2020 election was stolen, and based on isolated examples of those who tried to cheat getting caught, there was enough of this to have changed the outcome of the 2020 election.

A word to the media: Make how the vote counts, and the signature process works a big and ongoing story. Part of the problem is that it is easier to just cite court cases, but voters need a greater understanding of the processes used to mitigate fraud in the process they use.  This is a good one for local and state media since each local or state elections official have their own set  of rules and process.

Toward completing Project 2025; 8 thousand civil service fedral employees just became political appointees

 It was not enough that Trump got away with appointing incompetent cabinet members, placing loyalty to him not only as one criterion but as the most important qualification.  However, I had been puzzled why the architect of Project 2025 had not done this earlier, abusing Schedule F, to make sure those just below cabinet level would also be loyal to DJT. For whatever reason, Russell Vought, not only the theorist but the executioner with the power, as Director of Management and Budget, did it just now. This is mob boss and big city corrupt mayor behavior. 

https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2026/06/trump-moves-about-8000-federal-positions-to-schedule-policy-career/

 Those 8 thousand below the cabinet level and down several layers are the ones who actually get stuff done and who have been protected from being fired because they disagreed with processes, policies, and orders that violated oaths and the rule of law and were science-fact believers.  What it means to those who have a grievance or a favor to ask of a federal bureaucrat, be sure to ben the knee to Trump now and pray your social media accounts have been scrubbed of anything blue..  This is mob boss and big city corrupt mayor behavior that has largely been stopped until now by the reform movement of years past, fueled by the incompetence and corruption of government staffed by political hacks.  

From my February 2, 2026, blog posting on the subject:Trump administration plans to reclassify 50,000 federal workers, making them easier to fire | CNN Politics

Russell Vought and Trump are pulling the Project 2025 schedule F trigger

 Trump tried it before and failed. He is trying it again. In the name of ending the deep state, Project 2025, the blueprint for the authoritarian takeover of the federal government, proposed once again to eliminate civil service protection from political pressure, and instead, to make civil service employees subject to loyalty tests to the President in the Oval Office by reclassifying their positions. Vought was one of the authors of Project 2025, and Trump appointed him to manage the federal government personnel office known as the Office of Management and Budget.

That is the most destabilizing, power-grabbing, corruption-spawning act one can imagine.  Since early in the last century, when the good government reform movement gained steam,  state and local governments have tried to reform corrupt practices of big bosses by removing government bureaucrats from judgment call pressures based on political control. It makes them subject to appointment and removal actions that do not consider job performance and qualifications for their positions.  Appointment to government positions has always been a power play tool for the mayor, the government, and now the presidency, to have as many political positions to fill as they can. It subverts 50 years' worth of good government reforms, and some see it at the Trumpist level, a threat to democracy itself. The Schedule F Threat to Democracy: A Project 2025 Explainer - Kettering Foundation

Bimgo: The best relatable words to describe Trump yet. Mob boss. It lexplains his appeal and danger.

Former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade came up with a word description of Trump that avoids some of the baggage of other words when she was discussing her new book MSNOW this morning: Mob Boss...I have used a mob boss myself as an analogy to what a fascist dictator is like, but perhaps it is time to just call him what he is: a mob boss. https://michigan.law.umich.edu/news/5qs-mcquades-new-book-details-fix-democracy-us.          Mcquade recogizes that defying the rule of law harms us even though it appeals to some.  Bravo Mcquade. You hit the nail on the head, including that it takes away the rule of the people called democracy.  We the people lose the ability to govern ourselves. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ihiH-SSY-vA

Here'i iss my case to brand him with those two words.Given Trump's lifelong modus operandi is mob boss-like, which I too have noted.  

 Calling Trump a fascist just raises the hackles. ;It is too close to  Hitler. and Auschwitz. (Trump is not: his concentration camps full of those of Hispanics do not have ovens.as the end game. On the other hand, he does have his paramilitary ICE and J6 militia thugs he can activate as he has done it. But if you dare cross him, he will get back at you in devastating ways, filing frivolous, unproven criminal charges or primaring you. Fear of his awful power on steroids is his chief weapon. He threatens and makes examples of his targets. to keep his supporters in line.  

Trump feels unchained from the rule of law since he believes he has legal immunity from criminal acts. (Mob bosses spend a lifetime figuring out how to avoid prosecution for criminal acts they know they are committing. The Supreme Court gave Trump a gift: a get-out-of-jail-free pass for a criminal act. The flood of examples of corruption flaunted and in the open, no bid contract his awarded to his cronies, and changes in regulatory laws including IRS scrutiny or rules governing crypto,,  padding his personal pockets in crypto and gifts from foreign powers, his schemes that benefit his kids and loyalists, and punishment meted out to those who only support him 90% not 100% percent of the time,, are like classic mob boss behavior that sticks a third finger into the rule of law.  Loyalty to him is his most treasured value of those deserving his favor and awards, the classic mob boss modus.

However, per many sources often cited in this blog, he may fit a "classic definition" of a fascist,but calling him that is a political unncessary falme thrower . Calling him an autocrat or a wannabe autocrat seems a bit too academic, but still could include the other hackle-raising word "dictator".  Mob boss avoids all of that, but it fits, per McQuade, with a background in prosecution of mob cases.  She makes her case in her book, just released today, which includes guidance on how to stop someone governing like Trump.

While there are stacks and stacks of books and words from his former military aides that call Trump a fascist, perhaps the best text of reference is the Godfather series movies and the Sopranos...Nothing academic or hackle raising there, but for some, a mob boss is a hero figure and may even explain his cult-like followers who excuse his every deed and defiance of laws.

Why Jena Griswold is the most qualified candidate for the Colorado AG

 

I keep hearing from backers of opponents of Jena Griswold, the current Secretary of State, that she is not qualified to be AG, but no specifics. From the right, her weight gain is ridiculed, though I did not think the qualifications to be an AG were to be skinny and young, though young she is...I. What Griswold brings to the AG table is what none of her opponents have: administrative talents to run a large government regulatory and enforcement agency and the knowledge and ability to bring to justice and accountability those who would undermine elections and harm integrity as she did in the Tina Peters case..While her Secretary of State's office has as many as 200 employees engaged in a variety of regulatory and service functions, including Griswold being the chief elections official for the state, , the AG office has about 300 plus attorneys (400 supportive staff) and among them is a whole division on courtroom litigators. I am not sure how many AGs in the past have ever argued cases in a courtroom themselves as their main, or even part-time, jobs. She has a national record on protecting voting integrity and is skilled at handling national media. The AG in the next two years will also face continued attempts by Trump to control Colorado elections and federalize the vote count. Her background and experience, and demonstrated effectiveness, are appropriate to the position and top any I see in her opponents.

Update: 6/8/2026 This election for AG is no time for amateur hour, given the high-profile controversy and national attention surrounding the Tima Peters case. It will require adroit political footwork and strategy as Peters has become the poster child of Trump's case to seize control of the election process from the states, a controversy that will not go away in November 2026. It will be every bit of a MAGA attempt to take over federal control of state-run elections. While it is nice to find non-political candidates in this day and age, some experience will be crucial when dealing with Trump and MAGA. Griswold has earned her spurs in the Tina Peters case and was more than up to the challenge as Secretary of State. The same issue, but with even more power, will land in the next Colorado AG's lap since there will surely be a new Secretary of State in Colorado, red or blue.

 I have been following how she has operated in my frequent blog postings on the subject of local and Tina Peters-type election deniers in county clerk positions, including my own.  I am a former elections official myself in Denver (and before that, as a director of a consumer affairs office with concurrent powers with the AG's office and function, just multi-county wide instead of statewide).) I am also a small business owner, and I have frequently had to file reports with her office. Even that function has gone smoothly.