Ivan Raiklin

Ivan Raiklin is an American political operative and former Army reservist. He is the progenitor of the Pence card, ^{[1] [2] [3]} which he tweeted to President Donald Trump on December 16, 2020 (who in turn retweeted it), which outlined a dubious legal theory to overturn the result of the 2020 US Presidential election due to repeatedly refuted claims of widespread election fraud. This tweet was the precursor of the Eastman memos. The Pence card was one of a series of attempts to overturn the election.

A long-time associate of Michael Flynn, ^[4] Raiklin is a former Lt.-Col. Army reservist, ^[4] having served as a Green Beret, and a former employee of the Defense Intelligence Agency. ^[5] A registered Republican, he failed to gather enough signatures to qualify for the Republican primary of June 12, 2018 for the U.S. Senate to represent Virginia. ^[6] He later sued both the party and the commonwealth over the ballot access denial; ^[7] federal district judge John A. Gibney, Jr. denied the request inasmuch as the suit was brought too late. ^[8]

An EIN Presswire press release, dated June 27, 2024, announced that Raiklin will serve on the board of directors for America's Future, a nonprofit established by Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (Ret.). ^[9]

2024 Presidential Election

Raiklin has been a prominent figure in the election denial movement. ^[10] In the event of Trump winning a second term, the self-proclaimed "Secretary of Retribution" claims that he would use constitutional sheriffs from conservative, rural counties to conduct raids (preferably live-streamed) of Trump's enemies, of which he has a "Deep State Target List" of 350 people. The list has been in circulation in right-wing circles since January 2024. ^[11] The sheriffs would purportedly deputize some 75,000 military veterans whom he claims were forced out of service because they refused to comply with COVID-19 vaccine mandates. ^{[12] [13]}

In October 2024, Raiklin proposed a plan, based on an extreme version of the independent state legislature theory, for Republican-controlled legislatures in Arizona, Georgia, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Wisconsin to pre-emptively declare their states' electors for Trump, regardless of the outcome of the popular vote count. ^[14] The proposal for doing this in North Carolina in particular gained traction with some GOP members of Congress such as Andy Harris, on the basis that the impacts of Hurricane Helene are likely to disproportionately impact GOP voters, and thus affect the results of the 2024 election. The plan would involve having the state's Republican dominated legislature and its Republican Lt. Governor award North Carolina's 16 Electoral College votes to Trump; Raiklin stated that this should only be undertaken in the event that Trump does not win the popular vote in the state. ^[15]

Raiklin addressed an October 2024 Rod of Iron Ministries Freedom Festival, urging attendees to "confront" their state representatives with "evidence of the illegitimate steal" should Trump lose. He told attendees he was planning for a range of scenarios following the election, saying, "I have a plan and strategy for every single component of it. And then January 6 is going to be pretty fun." He added, "We run the elections. We try to play it fair. They steal it, our state legislatures are our final stop to guarantee a checkmate." ^{[16] [17]}

See also

• Nixon's Enemies List
• Master list of Nixon's political opponents
• Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election

References

1. Evon, Dan (December 23, 2020). "Can Veep Play the 'Pence Card' and Reject US Election Results?". Snopes.com. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
2. Levinson, Adam (December 24, 2020). "Why is the so-called 'Pence Card' a canard?". statutesandstories.com. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
3. Alemany, Jacqueline; Brown, Emma; Hamburger, Tom; Swaine, Jon (October 23, 2021). "Ahead of Jan. 6, Willard hotel in downtown D.C. was a Trump team 'command center' for effort to deny Biden the presidency". The Washington Post . Retrieved October 23, 2021.
4. Roston, Aram; Heath, Brad; Shiffman, John; Eisler, Peter (December 15, 2021). "The military-intelligence veterans who helped Trump's campaign of disinformation". Reuters . Retrieved October 28, 2024.
5. Vogt, Adrienne; Sangal, Aditi; Hammond, Elise; Chowdhury, Maureen; Foran, Clare; Macay, Melissa; Wagner, Meg (June 16, 2022). "Live updates: Jan. 6 hearings day 3". CNN .
6. "Ivan Raiklin". Ballotpedia.
7. Richmond, Patrick Wilson (May 1, 2018). "Former Virginia GOP Senate candidate Ivan Raiklin sues over ballot access denial". Richmond Times-Dispatch .
8. Wilson, Patrick (May 9, 2018). "Judge: Former Virginia GOP Senate candidate who sued for ballot access brought case too late". Richmond Times-Dispatch .
9. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/texas-news-station-removes-press-release-praising-trumps-secretary-of-retribution/ar-BB1pP62j
10. Homans, Charles; Berzon, Alexandra (October 27, 2024). "Far-Right Figures Escalate Talk of Retribution and Election Subversion". The New York Times .
11. Peter, Riya (July 11, 2024). "Internet divided as Jamie Raskin sounds alarm on Trump loyalist Ivan Raiklin's 'Deep State target list'". MEAWW News.
12. Manahan, Kevin (July 10, 2024). "Trump's 'Secretary of Retribution' compiles hit list for 'vigilante death warrant': Who's on it?". nj.com .
13. Green, Jordan (July 10, 2024). "Trump's 'secretary of retribution' has a 'target list' of 350 people he wants arrested". Raw Story .
14. https://newrepublic.com/post/187566/donald-trump-ally-cheat-electors-north-carolina
15. Dickenson, Tim (October 22, 2024). "Trump's 'Secretary of Retribution' Unveils Plot to Nab North Carolina's Electoral Votes". Rolling Stone .
16. Homans, Charles; Berzon, Alexandra (October 27, 2024). "Far-Right Figures Escalate Talk of Retribution and Election Subversion". The New York Times .
17. Meyer, Josh (October 24, 2024). "Trump vows to go after his enemies if elected. Meet two enforcers ready to carry that out". USA Today .