RNC Asks Court To Keep Recount Plan For 2020 Secret

POLITICO

Josh Gerstein

September 9, 2018

The Republican National Committee is pressing to keep secret a memo detailing how the Trump campaign could respond if President Donald Trump’s reelection bid in 2020 turns out to be a squeaker.

Last week, RNC lawyers asked a federal judge in New Jersey to order that the so-called recount memo, drafted in 2016, be kept under wraps until after the 2020 election because of the role it could play in that contest.

“The RNC requests protection of the document under seal only until after the conclusion of the next presidential election on November 3, 2020,” RNC attorneys Bobby Burchfield and Matt Leland wrote. “The memorandum was circulated during the 2016 election, but contains several plans that are likely to be used in or may bear upon future elections. This includes the election for President of the United States in 2020.”

The document was turned over to the Democratic National Committee as part of long-running litigation over the GOP’s alleged use of so-called “ballot security” measures to discourage minority voting.