Is the RNC printer jam a cover-up?
Around 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, the Republican National Convention's Rules Committee announced a recess until 1 p.m. due to a "paper jam." Now some are claiming that the alleged technical issues are all a giant cover-up to allow chairman Reince Priebus to speak with Sen. Mike Lee.
A whole lot of attention falls on this backroom conversation because a small number of Republicans are still hoping to get to the stage where a floor fight knocks Trump from being the nominee. Most people think this isn't possible, but if the Stop Trump folks are able to get 28 delegates on the Rules Committee to agree, they can send a minority report forward to the full convention for a vote. That would lead to chaos on the convention floor, and loosen what had looked like Trump's iron grasp on the nomination.
Lee, who is on the committee with his wife, has not said how he plans to vote and the Stop Trump people are feeling good that he'll side with them. Because there are somewhere between 20 and 30 people who would support the minority report, Lee's vote is potentially huge.
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Other sources claim that anti-Trump leaders like Kendal Unruh, the Colorado delegate fighting to allow delegates to vote according with their conscience, are also a part of the recess meeting. "It's unclear whether anti-Trump representatives will agree to the deal. The incentive is unclear, as they are assured of a vote on their amendments anyway — and, in the eyes of their allies, their best chance at success may be wearing down their fellow delegates with a long, drawn-out meeting," National Review writes.
But the fact that these meetings are taking place during the printer jam recess is a mighty big coincidence, printer truthers agree. Jeva Lange
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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