President Trump has intensified efforts to overturn the election, raising a series of radical measures in recent days, including military intervention, seizing voting machines and a 13th-hour appeal to the Supreme Court.
On Sunday, Trump said in a radio interview that he had spoken with Sen.-elect Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) about challenging the electoral vote count when the House and Senate convene on Jan. 6 to formally affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory...Trump’s conversation with Tuberville is part of a much broader effort by the defeated president to invalidate the election. He is increasingly reaching out to allies like Giuliani and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro for ideas and searching his Twitter feed for information to promote, according to Trump advisers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Sources who have gotten used to Trump’s eruptions over four years sound scared by what’s transpired in the past week when I’ve talked to them. https://t.co/oICndCsXIw
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) December 19, 2020
In total, the president talked to at least 31 Republicans, encompassing mostly local and state officials from four critical battleground states he lost — Michigan, Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania. The contacts included at least 12 personal phone calls to 11 individuals, and at least four White House meetings with 20 Republican state lawmakers, party leaders and attorneys general, all people he hoped to win over to his side. Trump also spoke by phone about his efforts with numerous House Republicans and at least three current or incoming Senate Republicans.
And it all occurred in parallel to his campaign’s quixotic efforts to launch recounts and file lawsuits demanding ballots be tossed.
Trump’s efforts to cling to power are unprecedented in American history. While political parties have fought over the results of presidential elections before, no incumbent president has ever made such expansive and individualized pleas to the officials who oversee certification of the election results. Trump even used his presidential perch to compel officials to talk with him, summoning state officials to the White House on a few-hours notice and insisting that his outreach was simply part of his presidential duties.
A great summary of the judicial response to Trump's election complaints. I've excerpted the parts focusing on Repub judges. Show this to those whining "but court losses were only on technicalities, no judge had the courage to look at merits!" Nonsense:https://t.co/GeZn7vOFfN pic.twitter.com/A6dHnhlcVa
— Bo Gardiner 🌎 (@Bo_Gardiner) December 13, 2020
Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was also at the White House meeting, where Trump reportedly asked him about invoking martial law. https://t.co/TsQnX7jlbf
— USA TODAY Politics (@usatodayDC) December 20, 2020
Arizona GOP chair’s hashtag calls for Trump to “cross the Rubicon.”
— Michael Squires (@mgsquires) December 20, 2020
Julius Caesar’s decision to defy the Roman Senate and cross the Rubicon with his armies precipitated the Roman Civil War and ultimately the transition from a republic to an empire. pic.twitter.com/gZHcxoSuFQ
