How Kelly Loeffler's firm facilitated an Enron-like scandal

[View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter]( December 9, 2020 Despite the lack of an officially projected winner on Election Day, Joe Biden's eventual victory was not unexpected. It didn't defy any odds. If anything, Republicans guaranteed that Biden's lead in vote totals would increase as that week went on: [GOP-controlled state legislatures]( in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin refused to count mail-in ballots before Election Day. And it's no surprise that those late-counted ballots heavily favored Biden, given that Donald Trump campaigned on the false notion that efforts to expand mail voting were a huge conspiracy to steal the election through fraud, rather than a way to allow people to exercise their civic duties safely amid a pandemic. The White House is keeping up the ruse. Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany [told Fox News]( that the odds of Biden coming back from Trump's lead on election night were "one in a quadrillion to the fourth power." Sounds real scientific. Today, Trump [tweeted]( that on November 3, the "bookies"—known for their accuracy—had his odds of winning at 97 percent. How ever could Biden have won, if not through Democrats' fraud? Even if there weren't a completely logical reason for the way events played out, stranger things have happened. How did the Cleveland Cavaliers [overcome a 3-1 series deficit]( to defeat the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA finals? How did Dave Wottle overcome tendinitis in his knees to [kick his way]( from the back of the pack to an unforeseen Olympic gold medal in the 800 meter race in 1972? And how in the world did the New England Patriots turn around a 28–3 Atlanta Falcons lead in the third quarter of Super Bowl LI in a comeback so bizarre that columnists cited it as [proof]( we live in a simulation? (I've been told the Buffalo Bills' 1993 [comeback]( over the Houston Oilers was more impressive, but I'm a New Englander, so you know where my allegiances lie.) Stunning, seemingly physics-defying comebacks happen in the sports world all the time. Even if Biden's win were surprising, the time has long passed for Trump to learn to take the L. —Abigail Weinberg [DSCC]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [How Kelly Loeffler’s Firm Facilitated an Enron-Like Scandal]( Intercontinental Exchange provided a platform for "excessive speculation" that cost Georgians millions of dollars. BY DAVID CORN [Trending] [Georgia didn’t turn blue overnight. Just ask the state's newest member of Congress Nikema Williams.]( BY JAMILAH KING [Michigan's attorney general blasts lawsuit seeking to overturn results in swing states]( BY AJ VICENS [Landlords have filed more than 150,000 eviction notices already. By January it will get much worse.]( BY SARAH KLEINER [Why is Donald Trump so obsessed with flat stimulus checks?]( BY KEVIN DRUM [DSCC]( [The Mother Jones Podcast] [Special Feature]( [Georgia's Runoff Elections Are Usually Disasters for Democrats. This Time Is Different.]( Organizing against voter suppression and high turnout in November are giving Democrats hope. [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( [Recharge] SOME GOOD NEWS, FOR ONCE [In a Historic Vote, Colorado Has Officially Decided to Reintroduce Wolves to the State]( While it may have sounded like good news, it was alarming for wolf advocates: In late October, the Trump administration announced the “successful recovery of the gray wolf,” and in doing so [formally delisted]( the species in the lower 48 states from the Endangered Species Act. Environmental activists [called]( the action “premature and reckless,” “political theater,” and “illegal,” arguing the wolf [hasn’t fully recovered]( in all regions. But now, environmentalists have a reason to celebrate: On Tuesday, after weeks of vote-counting and certification, nearly 51 percent of Coloradans [officially passed]( Proposition 114. The first-of-its-kind measure instructs the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to develop a plan to reintroduce gray wolves in the state by the end of 2023. (It was such a close race that several major outlets hadn’t called the vote even weeks after the 2020 election.) While wolves have been re-established in areas including, most famously, [Yellowstone National Park](, this is the [first time]( a reintroduction plan has been mandated by voters, not the government. Gray wolves, [according to]( the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, once roamed across much of North America. But as settlers moved West, hunters wiped out their primary food source—bison and elk, for example—and wolves “naturally turned to a new food resource in the developing frontier: livestock.” Wolves were then considered pests and were “systematically eradicated” in Colorado and elsewhere “by shooting, trapping and poisoning,” according to the commission. By the 1940s, gray wolf populations in Colorado had been wiped out. Proponents of reintroducing wolves argue that doing so will “restore the balance of nature,” which has long been a popular idea among voters. As biologist Ethan Linck [wrote]( for High Country News in March: According to a recent poll of 900 demographically representative likely voters, two-thirds supported “restoring wolves in Colorado,” echoing similar polls over the past 25 years. Yet state wildlife officials have been reluctant to comply, wary of the toxic politics surrounding reintroduction in the Northern Rockies. In response, activists seized an unprecedented strategy. A coalition of nonprofit groups in Colorado, led by the recently formed Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, spent 2019 tirelessly gathering support to pose the question to voters directly through a 2020 ballot initiative. They succeeded, delivering more than 200,000 signatures to the Colorado secretary of State. Initiative 107 was officially ratified in January and will be voted on this November. Beyond wildlife officials concerned about “toxic politics,” opponents of Proposition 114 and wolf reintroduction broadly say that as populations in other states recover, gray wolf sightings in Colorado [indicate]( the animals are migrating to the state on their own; they also argue that major conservation decisions should be left to wildlife officials, not voters. “Wolf reintroduction may or may not be a good Colorado. But we think that’s for the experts to decide,” the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel [wrote]( in a June editorial opposing the proposition. “Other states have made that determination based on the judgment of federal and state wildlife managers. Why should Colorado be any different?” Still, wolf advocates say the species is far from recovered in Colorado and see their fight as a necessary, if imperfect step to getting there. “We’re not excluding experts, we’re simply telling them, get it done!” Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund president Rob Edward told Linck in March. “Figure it out! Don’t keep machinating about it for another five decades. Get it done!” Now, it seems, they have no choice but to listen. Barring any legal challenges, the Trump administration rule will [go into effect]( on January 4. And without a [reversal by President-elect Joe Biden’s administration](, protecting the species will largely be left to the states. For Colorado especially, that task just became even more urgent. —Jackie Flynn Mogensen Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755