Pennsylvania's forensic audit initiative seems to have shifted direction with Jake Corman's statement on Friday. Corman, who is the Senate President Pro Tempore, indicated in a statement released on Aug. 20 that Senator Doug Mastriano is somehow obstructing the process of a forensic audit.
Many are skeptical about Corman's motivations. Conservatives who are pushing for a real forensic audit are not sure whether he truly is behind such an effort, contrary to his recent statement. Corman appeared on Bannon's War Room on Friday. He stated Mastriano has "retreated from the issue now, but we are committed to it," seemingly implying that Mastriano has given up. He also said Mastriano hasn't been doing things with the subpoenas correctly to "withstand legal challenges."
Also, on Friday, Mastriano appeared on Bannon's show, episode 1189. He disputes Corman's perspective, telling a different story. While he acknowledges that the audit is "taking way too long," he states Corman's decision has blindsided him. Mastriano said that Corman didn't even have "the courtesy" to give him a call. Corman removed Mastriano's entire staff shortly after the Bannon interview on Friday.
Mastriano explained that he has worked for "six weeks in good faith with them (the Senate)," and he is:
"No closer to have a voting session of my hearing than [he] was six weeks ago it's important that we all need to know the kinds of games that go on in Harrisburg. I find it disgraceful that they would do this to a Senator, elected with about 70 percent of the vote in this district here an unprecedented move, taking away a hearing session and then behind his back, telling the members the vote is off. That this could happen to any Senator in Pennsylvania is reprehensible."
The decision has confused many, especially since Mastriano led the three-and-a-half-hour hearing in Gettysburg on election integrity on November 24, 2020. Attending the Gettysburg hearing were Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis. It was also the same hearing President Trump teleconferenced in to share his thoughts on the election.
The tweet and Mastriano's statements below explain the quandary counties face if they turn over their machines.
Mastriano's intergovernmental affair committee issued subpoenas because it did not have the full weight of a Senate vote. A Senate vote for a forensic audit would have been a much sturdier advancement of his mission. Even though the Pennsylvania state legislature is a Republican majority, many in the legislature have "conservative" districts that are pink. It seems Republicans in the state are reluctant to wholeheartedly endorse a forensic audit when they know so many in their districts may not support such an initiative—especially if taxpayers in the county will be strapped with the financial burden of buying new machines—as Governor Wolf has stated.
The executive branch is Democrat-run. Even the Supreme Court in Pennsylvania is majority Democrat. Governor Wolf and Acting Secretary of State Veronica Degraffenreid are Democrats and have outwardly railed against forensic audits. In early July, Degraffenreid argued prohibitions of third-party access to voting systems, including ballots.
“Such access by third parties undermines chain of custody requirements and strict access limitations necessary to prevent both intentional and inadvertent tampering with electronic voting systems,” Degraffenreid said. “It also jeopardizes the security and integrity of the systems and will prevent electronic voting system vendors from affirming that the systems continue to meet Commonwealth security standards and U.S. Election Assistance Commission certification.”
As a result of statements on the part of the Governor, the Acting SoS, and other government officials, like undermining statements from Democrat Attorney General Josh Shapiro, counties in the state have refused to turn over their ballots and machines.
While discouraging for those seeking measures on election integrity, a refusal to turn over machines is somewhat understandable given the "threats" and the financial consequences. Goerie.com reported Mastriano responded to Degraffenreid's directive:
“This threat implied that any county who participates in forensic investigation and allows access to electronic voting systems to ‘third party entities not directly involved in the conduct of elections will have their machines automatically decertified and retired before the next election.” Mastriano said.
“Even worse,” he said, “the counties would be forced to pay for new voting system equipment and prevented from seeking reimbursement from the State Department.”
Mastriano replied on Friday to Corman's decision to pull the audit from him and his staff. He reiterates his belief that the effect of Wolf's threats "to all 67 counties" deterred counties from cooperating because decertification would leave "taxpayers on the hook" for the replacement of the machines.
Thecentersquare.com reported, "Pennsylvania's Fulton County hired an election integrity law firm this week after the state decertified its voting machines following a third-party audit conducted earlier this year."
Incidentally, this also happened in Maricopa County as a result of the forensic audit because of executive branch decisions. Secretary of State Hobbs' May 20 letter claimed that the audited machines were now jeopardized. She decommissioned the existing machines and ordered the county to buy all new election equipment, even though there was zero evidence of tampering with the equipment or chain of custody issues.
UncoverDC spoke with Rick Crump on Monday. Crump's organization, Kinetic Faith, has been working on a number of liberty-loving fronts behind the scenes in Pennsylvania. Kinetic Faith is an organization that teaches citizens how to strategically position themselves in battle—whether it is against school boards or, in this case, to demand election integrity.
Crump's team had been working closely with Mastriano for several months. However, the process began to break down, possibly because of the internal political tug-of-war in the legislature.
Crump's organization is agnostic in terms of who they will work with. He aims to ensure that an audit occurs according to what he calls their scorecard of terms. He and other patriots in the state will continue to work with whoever is willing to agree to their terms for a forensic audit. The "scorecard" written for Senator Argall is below:
Scorecard of Minimum Terms/Kinetic Faith
Many Pennsylvanians have voiced they want an Arizona-style, full forensic audit of the 2020 election. A large crowd supported the forensic audit effort with the Audit the Vote Rally in Scottland, PA. Many prominent figures attended the rally, including Mastriano and Arizona Senator Wendy Rogers, who believe removing Mastriano is a big mistake.
Election data analyst Seth Keshel—who has been working for weeks on a map of the states showing where citizens should focus their election integrity efforts—says the number of excess Biden votes in Pennsylvania was 504,000. Excess votes recorded for Biden for the entire election, according to Keshel, numbered over 8 million. According to the Navarro Report, Biden's victory margin in the state was 81,660.
Seth Keshel/States Excess Biden Votes/yournews.com
