‘Cataclysmic’: Trump’s ‘October ambush’ at the Supreme Court flagged by legal expert

A legal expert warned that a motion filed by the Trump administration in the Supreme Court could become an “October ambush.”

Former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman wrote in a Friday piece that he sees the “elements of a potential perfect storm” that could lead to President Donald Trump blocking mail-in voting before the November midterms.

Litman’s concerns stem from a Trump Executive Order signed in late March that would create federal voter rolls by directing the Department of Homeland Security to compile state-by-state lists of citizens deemed eligible to vote. It would also direct the U.S. Postal Service to refuse to send a mail-in ballot to any voter who doesn’t appear on the list, Litman wrote.

The executive order was blocked by a federal judge’s injunction in June, which was upheld by an appellate court in July. However, on Monday, the Trump administration filed an emergency motion asking the Supreme Court to step in and lift the lower court’s order.

“It would be an October ambush, if not quite an October surprise,” Litman wrote. “Many commentators have explained why such a maneuver — which Trump tries to justify on the tired canard of widespread voting by non-citizens — would be revolutionary and cataclysmic.”

Litman noted, “There never has been a federal citizenship roster, much less one assembled and policed by the executive branch.” If the Supreme Court lifts the lower court’s injunction blocking Trump’s order, “all indications are that the upshot would be the disenfranchisement of millions of eligible voters, and of course, disproportionately Democratic.”

Because the Trump administration filed an emergency motion, it’s only asking the Supreme Court for “a provisional decision” lifting the injunction, not for a final ruling, Litman added.