Going where no leftist journalist will tread, I fired up the interwebs and dug around in the swamps of Democrat stronghold cities. It only took three licks of the lollipop to identify a significant case TWO significant cases in the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia.

Let’s jump into former Democratic Congressman, “Abscam” participant, and political operative Ozzie Meyer’s world for a few minutes. The Trump DOJ via US Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Mr. William McSwain announced election fraud charges on July 23, 2020 accusing Meyers of

“…conspiring to violate voting rights by fraudulently stuffing the ballot boxes for specific Democratic candidates in the 2014, 2015, and 2016 Pennsylvania primary elections, bribery of an election official, falsification of records, voting more than once in federal elections, and obstruction of justice.”

It was covered briefly in the national media due to the US Attorney’s press conference -- with a traditional lack of reference to the guilty party’s political affiliation because he was a Democrat in a Democratic City, with a Democratic Primary and fraud against Democrat votes. The US DOJ press release further states

“After receiving payments ranging from between $300 to $5,000 per election from Myers, Demuro [Ed: the election judge, also indicted, see below] would add fraudulent votes on the voting machine – also known as ‘ringing up’ votes – for Myers’ [sic] clients and preferred candidates, thereby diluting the value of ballots cast by actual voters. At Myers’ [sic] direction, Demuro would add these fraudulent votes to the totals during Election Day, and then would later falsely certify that the voting machine results were accurate.”

McSwain also brought charges against Domenick DeMuro, the Election Judge in 39th Ward, 26th Division referenced above. McSwain commented on May 21, 2020 (emphasis added):

 “Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy. If even one vote is fraudulently rung up, the integrity of that election is compromised. I want the public to know that this investigation is active and ongoing, and my Office is taking every possible step that we can to ensure the integrity of the upcoming primary and general elections in the nine counties of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.”

Note that McSwain has zero tolerance for voter fraud against election integrity.

Multiple years of primaries with regular and provable election interference in Philadelphia of all places. And all during the Trump era in Democrat primaries over multiple years. One of the prosecuting attorneys for DOJ in Philly is (was?) none other than Richard C. Pilger, the now former Director of Elections Crimes Branch, Criminal Division, Public Integrity Section, U.S. Department of Justice. Currently, the DOJ has not indicated Mr. Pilger’s status on these cases. Keeping in mind this instance of two collaborators, let me remind you that Pilger resigned his position in protest last week, but remains with the DOJ in an ironically positioned Public Integrity role.

Pilger, as one of the chief officials for DOJ election fraud, never found any vote fraud according to DOJ records until McSwain came along with the two Philly cases. Pilger found election fraud in the form of illegally moving money around in campaigns and the like, but over a decade and never any vote fraud until McSwain and the two 2020 cases. AG Barr asked Pilger and career attorneys to examine allegations of voting irregularities before states move to certify the November 2020 election results. In a letter to colleagues, Pilger implied he had heartache with his integrity were he to follow Barr’s direction and that he enjoyed working to “…aggressively and diligently enforce federal criminal election law, policy and practice without partisan fear or favor.”

William Barr, caricature by Donkey Hotey  CC BY 2.0 license

Apparently Barr was a bridge too far for Pilger since, based on his own words and those he edited in DOJ’s Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses (Eighth Edition, December 2017) guidance book, pages 84-85, the DOJ is to engage in election offenses after the fact. Is it odd that someone who is actively prosecuting a former Democrat Congressman in Philadelphia, provably “ringing up” fraudulent votes, resigns because AG Barr asks him to investigate fraudulent voting while it is fresh and as unspoiled as possible? Given Pilger’s investment in that 2017 DOJ guidance document and what it says, there is actually a basis in principle.

Remember, Pilger’s resignation was a protest that Barr wasn’t going to follow rules that Pilger himself had issued and had his baby deemed ugly by Barr, who framed it as “…a passive and delayed enforcement approach.” In Pilger’s view, Barr’s direction to investigate reports of fraud before an election was certified threw out four decades of non-interference policy. In Pilger’s passive world, the DOJ is non-partisan only if they are investigating after the election is certified, fraudulent or not. A few dozen US Attorneys also joined Pilger in #resistance with their own tantrum of a letter to Barr, much to the glee of the media. Pilger seems better suited for a slower paced world where crimes of little to no consequence land on his desk, months or years after the fact.

In contrast to Poor Passive Pilger, let’s take a look out in the field at our US Attorney William McSwain. Mr. McSwain was nominated to the US Attorney position by President Trump in December 2017, confirmed in April 2018 and arrived from a highly regarded Philadelphia law firm. He was formerly an Assistant US Attorney in the same Eastern District from 2003-2006. He is a Yale BA/Harvard Law grad and former USMC infantry officer. A couple of his private practice cases included successfully defending the local Boy Scouts against the City of Philadelphia’s eviction from a City lease if the group did not reject the ban on gays. The City lost and paid $877,000 in attorney’s fees. He also successfully defended the continuing presence of the Ten Commandments at the Chester County Courthouse. Feeling good about him yet? I know I am.

His very direct and very clear statements on election fraud stand in contrast to Pilger, who despite a national role, had the proverbial voice of a mouse prior to resigning his position. McSwain seems a strategy and tactics master, having very publically denounced a number of radical left wing policies under the guise of criminal reform put in place by Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner (D – ProCriminalAntiCop) last year that have led to higher crime in Philly. McSwain seems to be telling the Philadelphia populace in his District that they are getting their Democratic policies good and hard, and that it doesn’t have to be this way. McSwain has levied federal charges where DA Krasner sought to undercharge or ignore serious violations of the law. I like this method where US Attorneys can blunt the ill-conceived policies of the leftist DA’s with federal charges as merited. Perhaps McSwain will be able to continue serving the interests of the United States as applicable in Philadelphia.

So we have a bit of contrast between a US Attorney identifying and prosecuting actual Democratic vote fraud in the Philadelphia area, and a now former Election Fraud chief whose non-partisan approach would have waited for elections to be certified. AG Barr has made clear that where US Attorneys smell smoke, they can and should be seeking out the fire in an era where digital fraud knows and relies upon an outdated passive DOJ policy.

With US Attorneys like William McSwain who are uncovering and leading the prosecution of provable vote fraud in Democratic strongholds and challenging radical and potentially unconstitutional policies of a leftist Philadelphia DA, there continue to be bright spots as Joe Biden’s admitted fraud machine drags us closer to his dark winter. I hope we hear more from Mr. McSwain in the weeks ahead about other instances uncovered in Philadelphia, and long into whatever path the future holds for him.