Kenneth Tiven
Just how angry President Donald Trump is with losing his presidential reelection was made clear Saturday in his own words when he spent an hour threatening the Georgia Secretary of State with vague assertions that would go away if only he would recalculate the state’s election count. The legal term is importuning: soliciting someone to commit a crime, which this call clearly seems to do. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says, “Mr. President, the challenge that you have is the data you have is wrong.” Ryan Germany, his lawyer tells Trump your charges are wrong.
“I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Mr. Trump implored in the call, a recording of which was obtained by The Washington Post. Excerpts from the audio were published on its website Sunday and played extensively on cable news channels, excepting apparently Fox News Channel and its website.
When Raffensperger said, “we believe that we do have an accurate election.” Mr. Trump responded: “No, no, no, you don’t, you don’t have, you don’t have, not even close. You guys, you’re off by hundreds of thousands of votes.”
Then the president suggested that Mr. Raffensperger could be prosecuted criminally.
“You know what they did and you’re not reporting it,” the president said. “You know, that’s a criminal — that’s a criminal offense. And you know, you can’t let that happen. That’s a big risk to you and to Ryan, your lawyer. That’s a big risk.”
Trump has tweeted and stated repeatedly that he lost only because of fraud. Despite the failure to win any of dozens of court cases he continues to push this narrative which polling suggests many of his stalwarts believe. All of this takes place as the Congress meets Wednesday for the pro forma confirmation of the Electoral College votes. In both house of Congress some Republicans plan to object, while others are critising their colleagues by name for foolishness. Questioning the validity of state certified electors is radical political theater, more a protest than a prayer. And yet, until the January 20 Inauguration there is a clear nervousness among Democrats and millions of Americans regarding Trump’s behavior in the final weeks of his tenure.
Trump, apparently aware that the audio tape was in media hands, tweeted on Sunday morning with a claim that “was unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as the ‘ballots under table’ scam, ballot destruction, out of state ‘voters’, dead voters, and more. He has no clue!”
A lifelong Republican, Mr. Raffensperger responded, “Respectfully, President Trump: What you’re saying is not true. The truth will come out.”
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