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A tape, again. Exactly a year ago, Donald Trump had the impeachment proceedings on his neck, which had started with a controversial phone call between the US president and his Ukrainian counterpart. A few months later, in the middle of the election campaign, investigative journalist Bob Woodward released interview tapes that made Trump’s crown policy look bad. And now the New Year has started in Washington with another tape recording, on which Trump can be heard. The outrage about it: almost as big as the first two times.
The recording was published by Washington Post, first in excerpts, then in all its disturbing length. It shows how Trump, in an hour-long phone call on Saturday, urged, implored and even threatened the Georgia Interior Minister to change the long-established election result. “I want to get 11,780 votes,” Trump told Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who, in his capacity, is also the state’s top election supervisor. Trump’s Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, had won the Georgia election by 11,779 votes. Raffensperger, who voted for Trump twice, certified the result after two recounts along with the Republican governor of Georgia.
Trump does not provide evidence for his adventurous claims
Authorities found no evidence of the massive electoral fraud alleged by Trump, as in any other state. Trump believes that cannot be true. Raffensperger should take another look at the matter, the president urges by phone: “There is nothing wrong with saying you have recalculated.” If the interior minister does that, he will be “really respected,” flatters Trump.
Raffensperger doesn’t get involved. Trump’s data is not accurate, but the official data has been confirmed by the courts, he responded to the president. Trump takes a different tone: a threatening one. “You know what was done and do not report it,” accuses Raffensperger, referring to his theories about electoral fraud. “You know, this is a crime. You must not allow that to happen. It is a great risk to you and your attorney. A great risk.” When the recording was released, the conclusions were quickly drawn: “Donald Trump speaks like a mob boss, and not even a particularly smart mob boss,” said constitutional attorney Neal Katyal of MSNBC television.
It is not entirely clear what exactly Trump expected from the call, which also included several of his lawyers and his chief of staff, Mark Meadows. The conversation took place at a time when the Georgia Interior Minister could not have changed the result that had already been certified.
What is certain, however, is that Trump’s behavior has caused unrest in wide circles. Vice President-designate Kamala Harris spoke of “abuse of power.” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the spokeswoman for the left wing of the Democrats, called for another impeachment case against the outgoing president. Conservative politicians and commentators also criticized Trump. Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger called his remarks “absolutely disgraceful.” In several US media, lawyers have spoken who believe that Trump could have committed a crime with his behavior, because he wanted to induce electoral fraud himself. However, an indictment is unlikely.
The truth is that the episode increases the pressure on Republicans to distance themselves from Trump’s increasingly erratic behavior. Several prominent representatives have recently done so. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in Congress, warned her colleagues not to block the formal announcement of the election result in parliament next Wednesday. The maneuver encouraged by Trump has no political chance of success, but it would allow the president and his allies to further fuel their unfounded allegations of fraud.
Finally, the truth is that Washington remains nervous about what more Trump could do in the last days of his term. Also on Sunday, all the surviving former US defense ministers published a joint letter calling on the Trump administration not to involve the military in electoral arguments: “That would lead us into dangerous and lawless territory.” That too: unprecedented.
