The Memo: Trump plows ahead with efforts to overturn election | TheHill

Sen. Joni ErnstJoni Kay ErnstMore conservatives break with Trump over election claims Peggy Noonan: 'Bogus dispute' by Trump 'doing real damage' Key McConnell ally: Biden should get access to transition resources MORE (R-Iowa), who was reelected on Nov. 3, called suggestions from Powell that the election was fixed “absolutely outrageous” and “offensive.”Sen. Mitt RomneyWillard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyMore conservatives break with Trump over election claims The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Capital One - Pfizer, BioNTech apply for vaccine authorization Peggy Noonan: 'Bogus dispute' by Trump 'doing real damage' MORE (R-Utah) blasted Trump and his team for having “failed to make even a plausible case of widespread fraud.” Referring to the efforts to influence Republican officials at the state level, Romney said it was “difficult to imagine a worse, more undemocratic action by a sitting American president.”John BoltonJohn BoltonTrump's cyber firing stirs outrage Trump seeks to settle scores in final days Bolton fears Trump likely has 'enemies list' with more people to fire MORE, the former national security adviser now estranged from Trump, accused the president of seeking to inflict “the political equivalent of blunt force trauma” on the two Michigan legislators who were journeying to the White House on Friday.A University of Michigan law professor, Samuel Bagenstos, emphasized how far outside the norm Trump’s actions appear to be.“Look, if the president’s goal is to get the state canvassers and Republican legislators in Michigan to disregard a vote that went against him by over 150,000 people, that would just be an incredible subversion of democracy,” he said. Such a high number is a major problem, given that democracies only function when there is a widespread consensus on such basic facts as the outcome of elections.Concerns about the erosion of that consensus are by no means limited to Democrats or liberals.Peggy Noonan, the Wall Street Journal columnist who first became prominent for her work in former President Reagan’s White House, wrote this week that “it is right to worry about the damage being done” by Trump’s rhetoric and action, which she said invited “real and politically pointless ruin.”Sen. Ben SasseBen SasseMore conservatives break with Trump over election claims Peggy Noonan: 'Bogus dispute' by Trump 'doing real damage' Key McConnell ally: Biden should get access to transition resources MORE (R-Neb.) responded to the Giuliani-led Thursday press conference by saying that such events “erode public trust,” adding “we are a nation of laws, not tweets.”Away from Capitol Hill, the verdict of Trump-skeptical conservatives is even more forceful.Trump’s overall actions since the election are “so outrageous even in this moment in time that I think the reality of it fails to sink in with most people,” said John ‘Mac’ Stipanovich, a longtime GOP lawyer in Florida who has worked for former Govs.