Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photo AP
Two weeks ago, Donald Trump was indicted on four criminal charges by a federal grand jury in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Earlier this week, he was indicted again by a Georgia grand jury on 13 state charges related to the same alleged conspiracy to keep Joe Biden out of the White House.
But perhaps these federal and state grand juries (as well as numerous outside experts, current Republican officials, and former members of the Trump administration) spoke too soon. Hours after the Georgia indictment, Trump announced on Truth Social that he will be holding a press conference on Monday to unveil an “Irrefutable REPORT” about the 2020 presidential election fraud that took place in Georgia:
This raises a few questions. First, how has Trump obtained proof of election fraud that went unnoticed by the U.S. House’s select committee on January 6, as well as by multiple state and federal investigators? Trump didn’t say who’s behind his report, but according to the New York Times, it’s Liz Harrington, a Trump communications aide who completely buys his election-fraud claims:
The report in question, according to people familiar with the matter, is a document of more than 100 pages that was compiled at least in part by Liz Harrington, a Trump communications aide who is often described as among the true believers in his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him through widespread fraud.
The document focuses on what detractors of the election have insisted are widespread voting anomalies in Georgia during that campaign, the people said. It has been in the works for many weeks, according to one of the people familiar with the matter.
Second, why didn’t Trump share this information before he was hit with state and federal indictments related to his election-fraud claims? He’s yet to address this directly, but the answer is right there in unnecessary capital letters: It’s “Large, Complex, and Detailed.” At 100-plus pages, the Trump report will probably be significantly shorter than the 752-page House January 6 report and the combined page count of the two election-related indictments Trump is currently facing — though Trump’s post makes it sound like Harrington is frantically adding pages as we speak.
Third, is this event even happening? Maybe not! The Times notes that Bedminster is supposed to be closed on Monday:
It is also unclear whether Mr. Trump’s promised news conference will go forward on Monday, when the club is expected to be closed and holding only private events.
So at 11 a.m. on Monday, we will get (a) nothing, (b) bombshell evidence that the 2020 election actually was stolen, or (c) the same old election lies compiled into a new document. I guess we’ll just have to tune in! (But the answer is obviously [c].)
Trump Plans Press Conference to Spread More Election Lies - New York Magazine
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment