These are the eight plots Trump pursued:
November 2020:
- Filed a case against the election results
- An attempt has been made to install fake electors
- Contact state officials to overturn the vote
December and January 2020
- Appealed to Congress to overturn the vote
- Pressed Pence not to certify the election count
- Asking the Judiciary to interfere in the voting process
- Considered using the military to confiscate voting machines
- Sabotage the voter certification process by inciting mobs to stop polling
When each plot failed, Trump, his attorneys and allies made subsequent attempts to overturn the election. The lawsuits allege massive fraud, but Trump’s legal team has presented no evidence. The claims were thrown out of court and that part of the coup attempt ended within 1 month. The next game was the fake voter scheme promoted by Trump cabinet member Rick Perry. The scheme involved Trump supporters posing as voters in swing states where Trump lost. This process takes place between the date of election results and the date of certification of results by the Electoral College. Trump and his aides announced to the public that an alternate slate of electors existed and that these votes would be submitted to Congress and declare Trump the winner. The plot was ludicrous, patently illegal and unsuccessful. This plot is under investigation by the special counsel.
States were later pressured to declare election fraud which resulted in the election being stolen from Trump. State after state has upheld the legitimacy of implementing electoral protocols and laws. The clearest example of Trump’s attempt to steal the election was Georgia Secretary of State Brad Rathensberger “finding me 11,780,000 more votes than I needed to win.” “The overthrow of politicians by vote is the definition of a coup,” Melber summed up. The post-election attack was to ask state legislatures to throw out Biden’s votes and reward Trump. Trump personally pressured state officials in Arizona, Georgia and Michigan to claim election fraud in their states. Many of Trump’s aides and attorneys, however, have been jailed or are under criminal investigation for doing his illegal bidding. Fortunately these states were loyal to the Constitution.
A desperate Trump resorted to his military ploy to seize voting machines and legitimize voter results. His team of Crockett allies and attorneys included: Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, and General Michael Flynn. It turns out that even the corrupt Giuliani told Trump that if he ordered the military to do something illegal, they would all go to jail. Once that plan fell through, Trump was left with one desperate move: summon his rabid, white nationalist, anarchist, MAGA crowd to march on the Capitol on January 6th, the day the Electoral College votes will be counted and his re-election lost. Each stage of the final Trump coup plot clearly had one goal: to steal the election and be reinstated as president despite not being elected by the American people. Gaslighting tactics were used to confuse and provoke the rebels. When Trump tried to steal the election from the day he lost in November, he referred to Biden’s legitimate victory by “stealing.”
On January 6, Trump watched the uprising on TV at the White House, when police were beaten and the Capitol physically desecrated by white nationalist militia groups. In his speech at the Ellipse, he called on Mike Pence to “do the right thing” and return electoral votes to the states and not certify Biden’s victory. He roused armed crowds and vowed to “march with them to stop the theft.” Rioters called for Mike Pence to be hanged and Speaker Nancy Pelosi would be attacked if found. And eight are under investigation for their part in the plot to join Kim Jong Un’s club.
Ari Melber outlines what happened between November 7th and the days of the rebellion. A first-year law student would be able to argue a case against the government to charge and convict Trump of his crimes. However, is soft-spoken Attorney General Merrick Garland strong enough to protect our Constitution? Let’s hope Special Counsel Jack Smith, because Melber explains what happened and it’s time to bring Trump and all his associates to justice for their crimes.
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