This is the first in what we anticipate to be a series of articles covering the ongoing controversy in Pennsylvania concerning Democratic efforts to overturn the result of the U.S. Senatorial election. We will provide updates as developments warrant.

One of the first things you learn as a U.S. Army officer is this – if you attack and seize control of an enemy position you immediately prepare for a counterattack. You don’t take a smoke break or a nap. You don’t sit around talking smack.

The other guys are coming back. You better be ready for them when they do.

Apparently, no one in the Pennsylvania GOP ever learned that lesson.

Republican Dave McCormick ran for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania in the last election. Major news outlets declared him the winner some time ago. His opponent, Democrat Bob Casey is not conceding, however, and the Democratic Party has now launched a major effort to undo the results of this free and fair election.

Over the last week, three separate Pennsylvania counties, Bucks, Centre, and Montgomery plus the city of Philadelphia began to count illegal ballots and add them to Casey’s total. Nobody disputes that the ballots were initially not counted because of legal defects. At least one Bucks County official admitted on video that they knew the ballots were illegal and that they were going to count them anyway. The news coverage of these actions has portrayed them as the work of hyper-partisan rogue Democratic officials acting out of anger over Trump’s win.

That is not what is going on here at all. These actions are part of a cold, calculated plan to overturn McCormick’s victory and keep Democratic Senator Casey in office.

In Pennsylvania, if the difference in the vote totals in an election is less than 0.5% a recount is launched at taxpayer expense. The initial count of votes had McCormick up by more than that, and therefore no automatic recount would take place. So, the Democrats carefully selected three heavily Blue counties and began to add illegal votes for Casey to the vote totals until they got the difference in votes between the two candidates to slightly less than 0.5% thereby triggering a recount. The Pennsylvania GOP has filed a lawsuit challenging the counting of the illegal ballots, but it is too late. The recount has already been ordered.

That was step one. It kept the state from announcing final election results in the race. It bought time for the Democrats.

Enter Mark Elias. Elias is probably the most prominent election lawyer in the country and is often referred to as a practitioner of the “dark arts.” His specialty is overturning election results and installing Democratic candidates in races they lost. Elias is now in Pennsylvania. If you want to know what he plans on doing all you have to do is to look at what he did in Minnesota when Al Franken ran for U.S. Senate.

In that race, Elias focused on the large number of provisional ballots that had not been counted because of legal defects. He then went judge shopping and found a partisan judge who would allow those illegal votes to be counted. When he was done, he had succeeded in adding a sufficient number of votes to Franken’s total to change the election results. Franken, who had lost the race, was seated in the U.S. Senate and declared the victor.

Elias is getting ready to do exactly the same thing in Pennsylvania. There will be a recount, but it will be one that is done pursuant to different rules than were used initially. There are reportedly 87,000 votes that Elias may succeed in getting added to the totals. If enough of those break for Casey, he will win.

Elias is going to change the rules in the middle of the game.

Already the number of counties declaring they will count illegal ballots has expanded. Monroe County has now joined the pack. Others may follow shortly.

Republicans all over the country are busy celebrating Trump’s victory. Every would-be government official worth his salt is angling for a job in the new administration. The MAGA faithful coast to coast can hardly contain themselves thinking of RFK, Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services or Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense. A reckoning is coming, and a whole lot of people are going to lose their jobs. Some may end up going to jail.

Unfortunately, amidst all this celebration people have skipped a step. A President can appoint anyone he wants to his Cabinet. Those appointees still have to be approved by the Senate. The balance of power in the Senate, therefore, becomes everything. If you can’t get the men and women you need through that body you may find your dreams of cleaning house in D.C. stillborn.

The Republicans may have forgotten that in their euphoria over Trump’s win. The Democrats have not. They are well down the road to changing the balance of power in the Senate and throwing up a series of roadblocks to Trump’s agenda before he even takes office. They are counterattacking in Pennsylvania, and the GOP seems woefully unprepared.