Reasonable Inference
Prior to the 2020 election, progressive coalitions coordinated by AFL-CIO senior adviser Mike Podhorzer conducted extensive scenario-planning through weekly Zoom sessions from April 2020 through Election Day, modeling contested-election outcomes including late-night ballot-counting surges in Detroit. Leaked Zoom call recordings show ShutDown DC and allied organizations separately conducting “election meltdown simulations” that included urban ballot-counting center scenarios. On Election Night, Podhorzer’s network mobilized reinforcements to the TCF Center within 45 minutes of a reported surge of Republican challengers. A written document entitled “Tactics to Distract GOP Challengers” was reported by credentialed Republican challengers as observed on the TCF counting floor; this document has not been independently confirmed in publicly available primary sources outside sworn affidavits. Reasonable Inference: the pre-election planning network’s documented preparation for exactly these scenarios is consistent with the coordinated tactics observed at TCF, but direct linkage to the Tactics document remains unproven.
Citations
Time magazine reported that Mike Podhorzer, AFL-CIO senior adviser, convened a 2½-hour weekly Zoom network from April 2020 through Election Day that coordinated a coalition of progressive organizations across the political universe to prepare for contested-election scenarios. Time, “The Secret Bipartisan Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election” (Feb. 4, 2021)
Leaked Zoom call recordings show ShutDown DC, the Sunrise Movement, and allied organizations conducting Election Day scenario planning and “meltdown simulations,” including scenarios modeled on disrupting urban vote-counting centers. Fox News, “DC Protesters Organized via Zoom for Months” (Nov. 3, 2020); Just The News, “Leaked Zoom Calls Show Extensive Preparation for Organized Protests”
The Time article describes Art Reyes III of We the People Michigan receiving texts at 10 p.m. on Election Night that “a busload of Republican election observers had arrived at the TCF Center” and immediately mobilizing reinforcements from his progressive network. This confirms pre-election preparation for Election Night deployment to TCF. Time, “The Secret Bipartisan Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election” (Feb. 4, 2021)
The Transition Integrity Project, a bipartisan coalition of over 100 former officials and academics, conducted scenario-planning exercises in June 2020 that modeled contested election scenarios including disruption of urban ballot-counting operations. See Time, “The Secret Bipartisan Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election” (Feb. 4, 2021). The ‘Tactics to Distract GOP Challengers’ document, observed on the TCF counting floor by credentialed Republican challengers under oath, is referenced in the Costantino v. Detroit court record. See Costantino v. Detroit Index of Exhibits (OSU electioncases.org, Nov. 17, 2020)
The “Tactics to Distract GOP Challengers” document was reported as physically observed on the TCF Center counting floor on Election Night by credentialed Republican challengers. This document has not been independently confirmed in publicly available primary-source records external to sworn affidavits; no copy has been published. The Costantino court record constitutes the closest independently accessible source. See Costantino v. Detroit Index of Exhibits (OSU electioncases.org)
MCL 168.765a (Michigan law governing absentee vote counting boards and observer access). Republican challenger testimony regarding the TCF Center environment appears in the Costantino court record. See Costantino v. Detroit Index of Exhibits (OSU electioncases.org); Reuters, “Michigan Still Counting Votes, Angry Poll Watchers Barred in Detroit, Trump Sues” (Nov. 5, 2020) at https://www.reuters.com/world/us/michigan-still-counting-votes-angry-poll-watchers-barred-detroit-trump-sues-2020-11-05/
Reasonable Inference: the fact that pre-election scenario planning by progressive coalitions anticipated contested urban ballot-counting conditions (documented in public reporting) is consistent with the TCF Center events, but no document directly proves that the “Tactics to Distract GOP Challengers” document was produced as part of those scenario-planning exercises.
See “Election Simulation” featuring Zoom calls of progressive organizations conducting “wargaming” simulations in preparation of 2020 election, https://electioncrimebureau.com/pre-2020-election-plans-to-destroy-livelihoods-of-trump-supporters/