WTF Just Happened Today

Thursday, April 20, 2023

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1/ An arbitration panel ordered the MyPillow Guy to pay $5 million for losing his “Prove Mike Wrong” challenge that there was Chinese interference in the 2020 election. In August 2021, Mike Lindell, the MyPillow Inc. chief executive, claimed he had data showing Chinese interference and offered $5 million to anyone who could prove that the data was not from the 2020 election. Welp, Robert Zeidman, a computer forensics expert and a Nevada Republican who voted twice for Trump, proved that Lindell’s data “unequivocally did not reflect November 2020 election data,” according to the arbitration panel. Zeidman called the ruling “great,” saying “this was obviously manufactured bogus data.” Lindell, meanwhile, claimed the court “made a terribly wrong decision!” (Washington Post / NBC News / CNBC / New York Times / CNN / The Hill / Wall Street Journal)

2/ An attorney who helped Trump in his effort to overturn the 2020 election told top Republican donors that they need to curtail college voting, same-day voter registration, and automatic mailing of ballots to registered voters. “What are these college campus locations?” Mitchell asked during her presentation at a Republican National Committee donor retreat in Nashville. “What is this young people effort that they do? They basically put the polling place next to the student dorm so they just have to roll out of bed, vote, and go back to bed.” Mitchell singled out on campus voting in five states: Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Virginia, and Wisconsin. (Washington Post / Stevens Point Journal)

3/ The Senate Judiciary Committee asked Chief Justice John Roberts to testify on Supreme Court ethics reform. The invitation follows a report that Justice Clarence Thomas accepted but never disclosed over two decades of luxury trips from a Republican billionaire donor. Chair Dick Durbin called on Roberts to appear before the committee on May 2, saying his testimony on ethics issues could “strengthen faith” in the Supreme Court. When asked if he planned to subpoena Roberts if he declines the invitation to testify, Durbin replied: “It takes a majority. I don’t have a majority.” Dianne Feinstein’s health-induced absence from the Judiciary Committee means Democrats don’t have the majority needed to issue a subpoena. (Politico / CNN / CNBC / Bloomberg /