Hi, welcome to "Full Frontal."
I'm Thursday night's Samantha Bee.
And also, [TRUMPET BLOWING] welcome to 2022!
Yay!
What a relief to finally have the shit show that
was last year behind us so we can dive right into the shit
show that this year already is.
I'm half expecting Betty White to come
back to life just so 2022 can take her from us again.
Well, it's still only January.
One thing we know will keep going
this year is Republican's sweaty obsession
with the 2020 election.
Just last week, Ghost of Cirrhosis Future Steve Bannon
falsely claimed Trump's rally in Arizona
would prompt the state to decertify Biden's victory.
But somehow, that was still more normal than what
Trump actually said.
The left is now rationing life-saving
therapeutics based on race.
In fact, in New York state if you're white,
you have to go to the back of the line.
If you're white, you don't get the vaccine.
But if you're Shaun White, you do get the vaccine
because you're sick.
To be fair, there are a few good reasons to rehash what happened
in and after the 2020 election.
First of all, there's that whole insurrection that
still needs to be addressed.
And as Congress's January 6 committee continues its quest
to make every Trump ally dodged subpoenas
like they're in the matrix, we're
learning just how batshit some of the GOP's schemes
to end democracy actually were.
REPORTER 1: At issue is a scheme involving
seven states where Joe Biden beat
Donald Trump in the 2020 vote.
What happened?
After the election as they should,
those states sent certificates to Washington signed
by the official electors.
But small groups of self-proclaimed Republican
electors in all those states went
rogue sending their own documents
to DC saying Trump won.
JOY REID: In addition to Michigan and Arizona,
Republicans did this in Georgia, New Mexico, Nevada,
Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
We also have tracked down some footage of the proverbial crime
being committed.
This, for example, is footage of the meeting
where Georgia Republicans filled out their
forged electoral document.
And they wouldn't have gotten away with it too if they
didn't use so much clip art.
Of course, if you, like many of us,
had your eyes "Clockwork Orange" open during the aftermath
of the election, you might know that Republicans
have been talking about alternate electors
since the very beginning.
In fact, as early as March of 2021,
watchdog group American Oversight
had already gotten a hold of the phony electoral certificates.
We just didn't notice because in March of 2021,
we were all too busy celebrating the end of the pandemic
with 100-person gum swapping parties.
I didn't get COVID, but somebody did
give me a stick of juicy fruit.
And that is almost as bad.
Thankfully as the January 6 committee ramps
up its investigation, it's bringing
this story and others to light.
Unfortunately for false electors,
like Arizona State Representative Jake Hoffman,
that light also ain't too bright.
The reporter from "The Arizona Republic"
caught up with one of the people who signed onto this document
in Arizona.
You would need to ask the party chair that question.
So as I said, you can go ahead and ask the party
chair the logistics of it.
You're welcome to talk to them about the logistics.
Listen, man, I get it.
Sometimes you just put the car in cruise control,
close your eyes, and let go, and let God.
But as silly as dumb dog dorks like Jake Hoffman are,
they appear to be part of an organized effort by Republicans
to overturn the election in any way possible.
Trump sycophants, like "Yellowjackets'" addict
body Stephen Miller and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows,
encouraged lawmakers to send alternate slates of electors
to Congress while Right Wing Lawyer
John Eastman authored a six-step plan to overturn the election.
Believe it or not, step one, dance like nobody's watching.
But then it went downhill when step two was race war.
Meanwhile, one false elector in Michigan
may have actually worked directly with a Trump lawyer,
claiming that he received a phone call from an attorney
on Trump's behalf advising him on what to do,
which was actually kind of exciting for Trump's lawyer
since he rarely gets to talk to someone
without using the phrase, Do you have proof she said she was 18?
One attorney even admitted there had been discussions about how
to get fake Trump electors in "the right place
at the right time."
Although, I'm not sure why it was so
hard to figure out the answer--
a trash compactor whenevs.
Fake Michigan electors even discussed
trying to get inside the Capitol on the day the real electors
were meeting there to vote.
Like a parent who's just now watching "Euphoria,"
you're probably thinking to yourself,
isn't this all illegal?
To which the answer is, probably, or at least
it should be.
It could violate state and federal laws, like mail fraud
and forgery of public records, although, at least
the fake electors from two states
did have the foresight to try to cover their own asses.
RACHEL MADDOW: In New Mexico and Pennsylvania,
the Republicans instead inserted some language
saying that ultimately someday, they
might be the real electors.
That may have saved the Republicans who
signed that document from potential criminal prosecution
for forgery or another state crime.
Come on.
If you're trying to [BLEEP] up America, at least go all in.
If Channing Tatum hesitated when he tried to bring the White
House down in "White House Down,"
do you think he would have ever succeeded in bringing
the White House down?
But unlike the false electors in Pennsylvania and New Mexico,
Trump supporters in the five other states
still kind of sort of probably did a fraud.
On the plus side, the Michigan attorney general
has asked federal prosecutors to investigate the fake GOP
electors in her state.
And at the same time, the January 6 committee
is continuing to find more evidence of the efforts
to subvert the election.
The January 5 committee, on the other hand,
is facing a public relations nightmare
for forgetting Bradley Cooper's birthday this year.
Come on, guys.
That's the only notable thing about January 5.
Do your job, or we'll find someone who can.
To be clear, these false electors
were never going to fool officials
any more than Wile E. Coyote was going to fool the Roadrunner.
This was basically just a really stupid publicity stunt
by some trees and curious idiots who couldn't accept being
the [BLEEP] losers they are.
But that still doesn't change the fact
that Trump and his supporters tried
to steal the election while accusing Democrats
of themselves doing the same.
It's clear that Trump pressured people at the state level
to help him.
It doesn't matter if the fraud was committed by groups
of people who look like the magicians
from "Arrested Development."
The only question we should really be asking
is, will anyone be held accountable?
I mean, yeah, they should be because they tried to overthrow
the [BLEEP] government.
But this is America where the only people who
get held accountable are the ones
appearing on "Red Table Talk."
Yes, it's true that I went on for the reason you think.
I also slept with men who are not Will Smith.
At the end of the day, all we can
hope for is that the January 6 committee's findings
actually lead to actual consequences.
But barring that, we can hope they at least
do a better job than those brain dead idiots
on the January 5 committee.
Happy belated, Brad.
Please let me meet you.
We'll be right back.
Please.
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