Picking the right title for this post is so difficult that I decided to punt to my readers.
WaPo is reporting that it has a recording of a phone conversation between President Trump, along with his chief of staff and lawyers, and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R-GA) and his office’s general counsel, in which Trump attempted to pressure Raffensperger into “finding” votes for Trump:
President Trump urged fellow Republican Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, to “find” enough votes to overturn his defeat in an extraordinary one-hour phone call Saturday that election experts said raised legal questions.
The Washington Post obtained a recording of the conversation in which Trump alternately berated Raffensperger, tried to flatter him, begged him to act and threatened him with vague criminal consequences if the secretary of state refused to pursue his false claims, at one point warning that Raffensperger was taking “a big risk.”
Throughout the call, Raffensperger and his office’s general counsel rejected Trump’s assertions, explaining that the president is relying on debunked conspiracy theories and that President-elect Joe Biden’s 11,779-vote victory in Georgia was fair and accurate. …
At another point, Trump said: “So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”
The fact that he wants to “find” a specific number of votes pushes this from a request for a recount into a push for corruption. I have no patience for anyone who argues otherwise.
It’s not surprising that such a conversation took place. President Obama and his Administration were well known for their scrupulous adherence to law; President Trump and his Administration will be known to history for its flouting of law.
But this conversation is definitely, in my mind, against Georgia law, as interference in an election has previously been reported to be a felony.
The question becomes what to do about it? I don’t know if it’s legal or practical for the newly sworn in Congress to pursue impeachment charges, but that’s how I’d be inclined to proceed. Remember, conviction on such charges not only immediately would remove Trump from office, but it would bar him from future election to all political offices.
It wouldn’t have a chance to succeed, but those GOP members of Congress who voted against the charges in the House, and against conviction in the Senate, would have their names remembered to history as backing one of the most incompetent, foulest, and power-hungry men to ever pollute the Oval Office. That can then be used against them in future elections, and in many districts might provide the needed boost to eliminate politicos who do not have even a basic understanding of how the United States functions.
And that’s how appalling Trump’s frantic grasping for power has become.
