Jim de Bree | A Message to Garcia

Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor
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The following is a copy of a letter to Rep. Mike Garcia:

I am writing to express my deep concerns about your actions in connection with the congressional count of the Electoral College ballots.

On Jan. 3 you took the oath of office in which you swore to uphold and defend the Constitution. Article VI, Clause 3 of the Constitution states that you shall be bound by that oath to support the Constitution in the performance of your duties as our congressional representative. 

On Jan. 6, when the ballots to the Electoral College were counted, you voted to reject the electoral votes of two states ostensibly to fulfill your “duty to protect the rights of the men and women of California’s 25th District.” In the press release on your website, you state:

“After examining the evidence, I firmly believe that there were constitutional missteps by multiple states according to Article 2, Section 1, Clause 2, and Article 1, Section 4 of the United States Constitution. The Constitution makes it clear, only state legislatures can set state election law. States, like the two states I objected to, violated the law when officials outside of the state legislature changed state election laws without the state legislature’s approval. My vote was not about politics, but about protecting the rights of the American people that are granted in the Constitution.”

Since the election, President Donald Trump and his legal team have presented numerous baseless claims about the election to the American people. Once again, Mr. Trump has proved that narratives do not need to be true in order to be effective with his base. However, the courts have objectively viewed the purported evidence presented by Mr. Trump’s attorneys in at least 54 cases. In substantially all of those cases, the courts have thoroughly debunked the claims of election irregularities. 

In a final attempt to challenge the Electoral College results you have joined with six/seven senators and numerous House members in supporting a claim made by Sen. Ted Cruz that the votes in Arizona and Pennsylvania were not “regularly given” under the requirements set forth in the Electoral Count Act and 3 U.S. Code § 15. However, none of the members of Congress, including you, have provided a legal basis supporting the position that “constitutional missteps” actually occurred. The absence of such basis makes it clear that your vote was not really about “protecting the rights of the people,” but rather was an ill-conceived attempt to pander to your political base. If your concerns were truly as you say, you would have provided a legal basis backed by appropriate evidence to ensure the perceived problem was resolved. 

In response to the objection for which you voted, Sen. Mitch McConnell stated, “If this election were overturned by mere allegations from the losing side, our democracy would enter a death spiral; we would never see the whole nation accept an election again.”

To paraphrase McConnell, your actions tear at the fabric of our democracy and undermine the Constitution.

With your vote, you have placed partisanship above citizenship and have failed to uphold and defend the provisions of Article VI, Clause 3 of the Constitution. Doing so is a violation of the oath of office you took only three days earlier. 

As a former Republican, I had hoped that you would be a consensus builder who works to solve problems rather than engaging in divisive partisan behavior. Unfortunately, you have chosen the latter.

Jim de Bree

Valencia

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