Ivan Raiklin

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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.

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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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastman memos</span> Memos outlining debunked legal theories to overturn the 2020 US presidential election

The Eastman memos, also known as the "coup memo", are documents by John Eastman, an American law professor retained by then-President Donald Trump, advancing the fringe legal theory that a U.S. Vice President has unilateral authority to reject certified state electors. This would have the effect of nullifying an election in order to produce an outcome personally desired by the Vice President, such as a result in the Vice President's own party's favor, including retaining himself as Vice President, or if the Vice President is himself the presidential candidate, then to unilaterally make himself president.

The Trump fake electors plot was a scheme to submit illegitimate certificates of ascertainment to falsely claim U.S. president Donald Trump had won the electoral college vote in certain states, following Trump's loss in the 2020 United States presidential election. After the results of the 2020 election determined Trump had lost, the scheme was devised by him, his associates, and Republican Party officials in seven states, and it formed a part of Trump and his associates' attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election. The intent of the scheme was to pass the illegitimate certificates to then-vice president Mike Pence in the hope he would count them, rather than the authentic certificates, and thus overturn Joe Biden's victory. This scheme was defended by a fringe legal theory developed by Trump attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and John Eastman, detailed in the Eastman memos, which claimed a vice president has the constitutional discretion to swap official electors with an alternate slate during the certification process, thus changing the outcome of the electoral college vote and the overall winner of the presidential race. The scheme came to be known as the Pence Card. By June 2024, dozens of Republican state officials and Trump associates had been indicted in four states for their alleged involvement. The federal Smith special counsel investigation is investigating Trump's role in the events. According to testimony Trump was aware of the fake electors scheme, and knew that Eastman's plan for Pence to obstruct the certification of electoral votes was a violation of the Electoral Count Act.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Election denial movement in the United States</span> Conspiracy theory

The election denial movement in the United States is a widespread false belief among many Republicans that elections in the United States are rigged and stolen through election fraud by Democrats. Adherents of the movement are referred to as election deniers. Election fraud conspiracy theories have spread online and through conservative conferences, community events, and door-to-door canvassing. Since the 2020 United States presidential election, many Republican politicians have sought elective office or taken legislative steps to address what they assert is weak election integrity leading to widespread fraudulent elections, though no evidence of systemic election fraud has come to light and many studies have found that it is extremely rare.

Republican Party's efforts to disrupt the 2024 United States presidential election involve a series of coordinated actions intended to influence election outcomes at both federal and state levels. These efforts, which were preceded by Republican efforts to restrict voting following the 2020 presidential election, are characterized by legislative, legal, and administrative strategies that seeked to affect voter access, election oversight, and post-election certification processes. This initiative grew out of widespread claims within certain Republican Party circles about election integrity, many of which trace back to the 2020 United States presidential election and Trump's false claims of a stolen election, including the election denial movement in the United States, despite a lack of substantial evidence supporting these allegations.

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. 1 2 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 .
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