Is David Shafer Flipping on Trump?
The erstwhile GAGOP Chairman’s new profile pic is a banger, as the kids say.
The least they could have done was provide some better lighting.
As those indicted by Fulton County DA Fani Willis turn themselves in with varying degrees of fresh legal arguments scattered amongst them, several media outlets have picked up on a court filing by David Shafer wherein he is apparently turning on Trump directly in a effort to save his own skin.
In a court filing that is essentially an effort to get Shafer’s case moved to federal court, his attorneys write, “Mr. Shafer and the other Republican Electors in the 2020 election acted at the direction of the incumbent President and other federal officials.”
CNN took that and ran with it, posting the headline, “Republican state chairman blames Trump.” A Salon ran a story with the headline, “‘Could be devastating’: Indicted ex-GOP chair ‘explicitly’ throws Trump under the bus in new filing.”
But is there anything actually new in the filing? Has David Shafer actually turned on Trump as the media is seemingly trying spin into a new, ratings and click grabbing narrative?
Simply put, no.
This has been Shafer’s story all along; The President’s attorneys advised him and the alternate electors that by presenting themselves as the actual electors they preserved a potential legal remedy if a court found that the Georgia election would need to be thrown out. Anyone that hasn’t heard that before might read the latest filings by Shafer’s attorneys and see some sort of split or division, but I am having a hard time seeing anything new there.
What is new, maybe, is that this is an argument that Shafer, and by extension the others indicted in this case, were acting at the behest of a federal official. If a judge buys that argument, which remains to be seen, it could mean that Shafer’s case could be moved to federal court.
I am not an attorney, but I have been watching attorneys long enough to know that they will try everything they can to get the best set of advantages for their client. This maneuver is no different, but the media must fill their airtime and their columns with something, so presenting it as a new development while simultaneously presenting the narrative that the house of cards is about to fall achieves their true mission: to keep you tuned into the events as they unfold.
Not to mention that the other GOP hopefuls will be on a debate stage tonight and here we are again, with Trump sucking the media attention straight out of the atmosphere and placing it directly on himself. Those candidates deserve better from the media, but the media cannot help themselves. Trump provides them revenue opportunities that the others cannot deliver by comparison.
Is it possible that Shafer would turn on Trump if presented the right deal? I’d be willing to bet a lunch at Waffle House on it. But whether that will happen also remains to be seen.
