- AS WE MENTIONED EARLIER, THE DEADLINE FOR THE 72 COUNTY
RECOUNT IS MONDAY, DECEMBER 12 AT 8:00 P.M.
THE ELECTIONS COMMISSION PLANS TO CERTIFY THOSE RESULTS IN
SHORT ORDER.
THE NEXT DAY IN FACT, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13.
THE RECOUNT WAS CALLED FOR AND IS BEING PAID FOR BY THE JILL
STEIN CAMPAIGN.
MATTHEW BRINCKERHOFF IS LEAD COUNSEL FOR THE JILL STEIN
CAMPAIGN RECOUNT EFFORT.
HE JOINS US BY PHONE FROM NEW YORK CITY AND THANKS VERY MUCH
FOR BEING HERE. - MY PLEASURE.
- FIRST, WHAT'S YOUR REACTION TO THE LAWSUIT FILED ON THE PART
OF PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP SUPPORTERS TO STOP THIS RECOUNT?
- I DON'T THINK IT REALLY HAS ANY MERIT AND IT WON'T BE
SUCCESSFUL AND I CAN'T SAY I'M COMPLETELY SURPRISED ALTHOUGH I
AM DISAPPOINTED.
I WOULD LIKE TO THINK ALL PEOPLE, IRRESPECTIVE OF WHAT
PARTY THEY MIGHT SUPPORT OR WHAT CANDIDATE THEY MIGHT SUPPORT,
WOULD SUPPORT A PROCESS WHERE WE CAN VERIFY AND ENSURE THE
INTEGRITY OF THE VOTE AND MAKE SURE THAT THERE HASN'T BEEN ANY
KIND OF OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE OR MANIPULATION.
- SO WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR LEGAL RESPONSE TO THIS?
- WELL, WE ARE PREPARING PAPERS AND WILL BE INTERVENING
BECAUSE WE ARE NOT A PARTY TO THE LAWSUIT.
BASICALLY, IT'S A COUPLE OF PACS OR SUPER PACS, PERHAPS, I'M NOT
EVEN SURE, WHO HAVE FILED THE CASE TO SEEK AN INJUNCTION TO
STOP THE RECOUNTING OF THE VOTE, WHICH IS RATHER ANTIDEMOCRATIC,
I MIGHT ADD.
BUT, IN ANY EVENT, WE WILL INTERVENE AND CERTAINLY DEFEND
ALONGSIDE THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE, WHO WILL BE DEFENDING
THE WISCONSIN ELECTIONS COMMISSION, WHO'S JUST FOLLOWING
THE STATUTES THAT ARE LAID OUT IN WISCONSIN LAW AS PASSED BY
THE LEGISLATURE.
- FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, HOW IS THE RECOUNT GOING IN WISCONSIN?
- I MEAN, CERTAINLY THE REPORTS THAT I'VE BEEN GETTING ARE --
YOU KNOW, I HAVEN'T SEEN ANYTHING PARTICULARLY NOTABLE OR
UNUSUAL.
NO RECOUNT GOES PERFECTLY SMOOTHLY, SO I CERTAINLY AM
AWARE OF VARIOUS SMALLER KINDS OF ITEMS THAT HAVE COME UP.
BUT I'VE BEEN VERY IMPRESSED AS SOMEBODY WHO DOES NOT LIVE IN
WISCONSIN WITH JUST THE HARD WORK AND THE PROFESSIONALISM OF
EVERYBODY WITHIN THE ELECTION COMMISSION AND THE WORK THAT
THEY'RE DOING.
- WELL, THANK YOU ON THEIR BEHALF.
EVERYONE, IT SEEMS, EXPERTS, CANDIDATES, ELECTION OFFICIALS
SAY THAT THIS RECOUNT IS NOT LIKELY AT ALL TO CHANGE THE
OUTCOME OF THE ELECTION.
WHY THEN DID JILL STEIN EMBARK ON IT?
- WELL, IF THERE HAS BEEN NO OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE, I THINK
THE LIKELIHOOD OF THERE BEING A 11,000 VOTE SHIFT, WHICH IS WHAT
WOULD HAVE TO HAPPEN FOR THERE TO BE A CHANGE IN THE OUTCOME,
IS PROBABLY STATISTICALLY UNLIKELY.
BUT THE BASIS FOR THIS CAMPAIGN EFFORT BY THE STEIN CAMPAIGN IN
MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS IS REALLY -- STARTS FROM THE UNPRECEDENTED
ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT LEADING UP TO THE
ELECTION OF SUCCESSFUL BREACHES BY FOREIGN IP ADDRESSES HACKING
INTO THE DNC, HACKING INTO THE CAMPAIGN CHAIR PODESTA'S EMAIL,
HACKING INTO THE ILLINOIS ELECTIONS OFFICIAL WEBSITE AND
TAKING VOTER DATA, DOING THE SAME THING IN ARIZONA.
THERE HAS BEEN A CONCERTED EFFORT BY SOPHISTICATED CYBER
ATTACKERS ATTEMPTING TO INFLUENCE THE OUTCOME OF OUR
ELECTION.
AND THE ONLY WAY TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THAT HAS HAPPENED
IN ANY WAY THAT IS RELIABLE IS TO COUNT THE HAND RECORD.
THAT IS THE FAILSAFE THAT WISCONSIN FORTUNATELY FOR THE
MOST PART HAS, SOME OTHER STATES LIKE MICHIGAN HAVE.
UNFORTUNATELY, SOME OTHER STATES DON'T.
- DO YOU HAVE SPECIFIC EVIDENCE THAT VOTER RESULTS WERE HACKED
OR ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES COMPROMISED IN WISCONSIN?
- I GUESS THERE'S TWO ANSWERS TO THAT.
ONE IS IT'S A BIT OF A CATCH-22, RIGHT?
THE ONLY WAY TO GET THAT EVIDENCE IS TO EXAMINE THE
RECORD TO SEE IF THERE'S SOME KIND OF DIVERGENCE.
BUT THE OTHER ANSWER -- AND IT'S AN IMPORTANT ONE -- IS THAT
THERE WAS A STUDY DONE BY A STATISTICIAN AT THE UNIVERSITY
OF MICHIGAN THAT WAS PUBLISHED JUST A FEW DAYS AGO WHERE HE DID
A VERY SOPHISTICATED ANALYSIS THAT IS ACTUALLY BASED ON THE
FINAL DIGIT IN THE NUMBERS AT THE WARD LEVEL IN WISCONSIN ON
ALL OF THE COUNTS AND ASSUMES THAT BASED ON PROBABILITY THE
MEAN OF THAT NUMBER SHOULD ALWAYS BE 4.5.
I HOPE THIS ISN'T TOO TECHNICAL.
BUT IN THE END, THE END RESULT WAS HE IDENTIFIED ANOMALIES THAT
ARE INDICATIVE OF THERE BEING MANIPULATION OF THE VOTE IN
WISCONSIN IN THE SMALLER WARDS.
AND SO THERE IS, YES, ABSOLUTELY HARD, ACTUAL EVIDENCE OF A
STATISTICAL SORT BASED ON THIS ANALYSIS.
- GIVEN THAT NOT ALL OF THE RECOUNTING WILL BE DONE BY HAND
IN WISCONSIN, CAN THE STEIN CAMPAIGN EVER BE SATISFIED OF
THE VERACITY OF THE OUTCOME?
- I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY THAT WAS OUR PREFERENCE.
AS YOU KNOW, WE WENT TO COURT TO TRY TO CONVINCE A JUDGE TO ORDER
THAT IT ALL BE DONE BY HAND.
APPROXIMATELY 49 COUNTIES ARE DOING THE RECOUNT ENTIRELY BY
HAND.
ANOTHER TEN OR SO ARE MACHINE.
AND THEN THE REST ARE A MIX.
SO AN AWFUL LOT OF THE VOTE, WELL PAST A MAJORITY OF THE
VOTE, WILL BE RECOUNTED BY HAND.
AND ALTHOUGH OUR PREFERENCE WOULD BE FOR A FULL RECOUNT, AS
I SAID, IT WILL CREATE -- IF THERE WAS HACKING OF THE SORT
THAT WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT OR INTERFERENCE OF ANY SORT, WE'RE
VERY HOPEFUL THAT IT WOULD BE REVEALED BASED ON THE RECOUNT
THAT WE HAVE SOUGHT AND THAT IS BEING DONE.
- WITH JUST ABOUT A MINUTE LEFT, DONALD TRUMP HIMSELF CALLS
THIS A, QUOTE, SCAM BY THE GREEN PARTY FOR AN ELECTION THAT HAS
ALREADY BEEN CONCEDED AND SAYS THAT THE RECOUNT WAS A WAY FOR
STEIN TO FILL HER COFFERS WITH MONEY.
WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO THAT?
- WELL, ALL THE MONEY THAT'S BEEN RAISED THUS FAR, $3.5
MILLION HAS ALREADY BEEN PAID TO THE STATE OF WISCONSIN TO PAY
FOR THE RECOUNT WHICH THE CAMPAIGN IS RESPONSIBLE FOR.
THIS IS JUST ONE OF A WHOLE SERIES OF COUNTLESS,
IRRESPONSIBLE COMMENTS AND TWEETS BY PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP.
YOU KNOW, HE'S ALSO SAID THAT THERE'S WIDESPREAD VOTER FRAUD.
SO IF THERE'S WIDESPREAD VOTER FRAUD, THEN EVERYBODY, INCLUDING
HIM, SHOULD BE SUPPORTING VERIFICATION.
SO I DON'T TAKE IT SERIOUSLY.
I DON'T TAKE ALMOST ANYTHING HE SAYS VERY SERIOUSLY,
TO BE HONEST.
- WE NEED TO LEAVE IT THERE.
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US, MATTHEW BRINCKERHOFF.
- THANK YOU.