Veteran political strategist Roger Stone has voiced concerns about the effect of an executive order signed by President Joe Biden, which he claims could be utilized by Democrats to stop the certification of former President Donald Trump in the event that he wins the 2024 presidential election.
The Biden administration recently renewed Executive Order 13848. Initially issued by Trump in 2018, Stone warned that the EO could be used as a possible tool to challenge election results.
Biden extended the order, officially titled the "National Emergency with Respect to Foreign Interference in or Undermining Public Confidence in United States Elections," on Sept. 9.
The White House claims this is a means of tackling continuing threats of foreign interference in the American electoral system.
Biden in his press statement repeated that although no foreign power has directly changed vote counts, the risk of foreign influence remains a serious concern because of the spread of digital and internet-based communication.
"The ability of persons located, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States to interfere in or undermine public confidence in United States elections… continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to national security and foreign policy," Biden said in the statement.
Biden could claim "foreign interference" as a reason to block Trump from claiming victory
Stone argues that the order could be employed as an instrument for the Democrats to challenge or nullify Trump's victory under the claim that "foreign interference" has muddied the results of the election, and thus certification needs to be stopped.
Under EO 13848, the president is given wider powers to enforce sanctions on people or entities discovered to be involved in foreign election interference.
While the focus has historically been on foreign actors, Stone's comments indicate that the order could be applied more widely to question domestic outcomes under the pretense of election integrity.
Stone's remarks have triggered debate among Trump supporters, some of whom are worried that the renewal of the order could lead to disputed election results.
Furthermore, many Democrats have already indicated that they may not be willing to certify the election results in the event that Trump wins.
House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) has indicated that he would only accept a Trump victory if he believes Trump "won a free, fair and honest election." He added that he "definitely" does not believe Trump would use "free, fair and honest means" to secure victory.
"[Trump] is doing whatever he can to try to interfere with the process, whether we're talking about manipulating electoral college counts in Nebraska or manipulating the vote count in Georgia or imposing other kinds of impediments," said Raskin. In 2017, he was one of a handful of Democrats who objected to Trump electors.
"Democrats don't engage in election fraud and election fabrication," claimed Raskin.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), who voted to object electors to former President George W. Bush in 2005, said she believes Trump is "planning" some "shenanigans" to unfairly secure victory in November.
"We would have to, in any election … make sure that all the rules have been followed," she said.
House Rules Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), who also objected to Trump electors in 2017, said Democrats would only certify a Trump victory "assuming everything goes the way we expect it to."
"We have to see how it all happens," he added.
Watch the video below featuring Roger Stone speaking to Alex Jones regarding the possibility that the Democrats could use EO 13848 to refuse to certify a Trump victory.
