So did these same people âcollectâ signatures to place Scott on the ballot?
The threatening call to Terry was a nice touch. Before that, he might have been able to blame all of this on over-eager staffers, and thrown them under the bus. But no. This genius had to pick up the phone and turn into a cartoon villain.
Despite this, his similarly âotherwise abledâ constituents will re-elect him.
With his staffersâ deceit being shown to be true in court⊠and the evidence of his threatening phone call, how is he still allowed to stay on the ballot?
Thank you for the coverage as it has been difficult to find up-to-date newspaper reports. One report said Taylor was ordered to court, another that he was going to âbreak his silenceâ, then, he didnât have to testify. No peeps from him that I can find. All very confusing. And, canât figure where it goes from here. Will charges be brought against him and his staff? Iâm interested as I recently moved here and would love to see this guy GONE.
Taylor another prime example of how complete the corruption is in the Republican Party. Lindsey Graham is another example, it looks as though all Graham needed was for Trump to make him his golfing partner to give Trump his soul.
OT âŠbut More shenanigans
Nation Building anyone?
Trump Administration Discussed Coup Plans With Rebel Venezuelan Officers
. The White House declined to answer detailed questions about talks with rebellious officers.
By Ernesto Londoño and Nicholas Casey
Sept. 8, 2018
The Trump administration held secret meetings with rebellious military officers from Venezuela over the last year to discuss their plans to overthrow President NicolĂĄs Maduro, according to American officials and a former Venezuelan military commander who participated in the talks.
Establishing a clandestine channel with coup plotters in Venezuela was a big gamble for Washington, given its long history of covert intervention across Latin America. Many in the region still deeply resent the United States for backing previous rebellions, coups and plots in countries like Cuba, Nicaragua, Brazil and Chile, and for turning a blind eye to the abuses military regimes committed during the Cold War.
The White House, which declined to answer detailed questions about the talks, said in a statement that it was important to engage in âdialogue with all Venezuelans who demonstrate a desire for democracyâ in order to âbring positive change to a country that has suffered so much under Maduro.â
But one of the Venezuelan military commanders involved in the secret talks was hardly an ideal figure to help restore democracy: He is on the American governmentâs own sanctions list of corrupt officials in Venezuela.
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He and other members of the Venezuelan security apparatus have been accused by Washington of a wide range of serious crimes, including torturing critics, jailing hundreds of political prisoners, wounding thousands of civilians, trafficking drugs and collaborating with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States.
American officials eventually decided not to help the plotters, and the coup plans stalled. But the Trump administrationâs willingness to meet several times with mutinous officers intent on toppling a president in the hemisphere could backfire politically.
Most Latin American leaders agree that Venezuelaâs president, Mr. Maduro, is an increasingly authoritarian ruler who has effectively ruined his countryâs economy, leading to extreme shortages of food and medicine. The collapse has set off an exodus of desperate Venezuelans who are spilling over borders, overwhelming their neighbors.
Even so, Mr. Maduro has long justified his grip on Venezuela by claiming that Washington imperialists are actively trying to depose him, and the secret talks could provide him with ammunition to chip away at the regionâs nearly united stance against him
So another country members of this administration shouldnât visit any time soon?
Good question. Iâve now read that a trial would not be scheduled until after the election. So, yet another potential criminal is allowed to run for office and possibly win. Makes no sense to me but maybe something will change and an investigation will happen to cast him in worse light before the election.
I read that Taylor is keeping a low profile. I think they mean hiding and not exactly how campaigns are run.
Why then are they calling Trump an original? Heâs imitating Nixon, and now Reagan?
Itâs my humble opinion that the âDuke of the Weekâ ⊠nay âDuke of the Yearâ should go to Donald J. Trump Esq. for his many excesses and over the top shenanigans that sadly are far too numerous to list here. Yes, I am calling shenanigans on him.
Partyâs nominee doesnât need signatures.
In some states you can use signatures to get in the primary ballot.
But this is the general election, and thereâs no primary for independents.
Si did he need to collect signatures to get on The GOP primary ballot or was he nominated at a party convention or what?
Scott Taylor is a one term GOP Representative from the 2nd District in Virginia.
Scottâs staff was helping to collect signatures to put Brown on the ballot as an Independent. She ran as a Dem in the primary but did not win, Luria (D) did. So, because the race is supposed to be tight the staff (support by Taylor?) is helping to put Brown on the ballot as an Independent to split the vote to put Taylor on top.
Way too man forgeries on the petitions so Brown is off the ballot now, Taylorâs not talking, weâll see if anything happens to him before the election.
I finally did my homework and went to Ballotopedia. In order to run in a primary on Virginia a candidate has to file a petition with the requisite number of signatures. For US Representative, that number is 1000 signatures. So this means that when Scott Taylor filed to run he had to have 1000 valid signatures. Collecting 1,000 signatures is easy but most politicians everywhere turn in more so they have a margin of error. The signatures are then checked by a board and sometimes by the candidateâs opponent. Because these steps or so routine I was wondering how closely the signatures for Taylors own campaign had been checked before the cheating on collecting the signatures for Braun was discovered.
The process for Independents is a little different: They have to have the same number of signatures but it gets them on the general ballot. Your exposition of what happened. Ther in Braunâs race was very clear.
I think the judge forced the wrong candidate off the ballot. Arenât there laws regarding this kind of deceit of the electorate? And shouldnât the responsible party be the one punished?
I think it is safe to say that this incident is typical of the congressmanâs past traffic court, bankruptc(ies) court, and other questionable history. Has he matured into a more responsible person and a champion for the people? It appears not. Illegally assisting Shaun Brown running as an independent in an election against him was a big mistake. It would have diverted black voters away from his democratic challenger, Commander Elaine Luria. Right out of the Trump playbook.
Virginia is a primary state: remember Brat v. Cantor? Used to be parties made all the rules for their primaries, at least in the South, but the end of the white primary after it was ruled unconstitutional in 1944 led to statesâ undertaking rule-making for primaries again. Each state can have its own system (jungle primaries, majority required w/runoffs if necessary, plurality required w/o runoff, closed primaries, open primaries where voters declare their affiliation by casting a primary ballot in a pertyâs primary [Texasâ system], open primaries with no declaration and no runoff [Vermont did this when I lived there], or, indeed, nomination by state or district conventions, caucuses⊠But Iâve never heard of an incumbent not getting on a primary ballot without a substantial number of signatures. But my ignorance may be just that.