

These are the eight plots Trump pursued to steal the election:
November 2020:
- Filed baseless lawsuits opposing the election results
- Tried to install fake electors
- Contacted state officials to overturn votes
December and January 2020
- Appealed to Congress to overturn the votes
- Pressured Pence not to certify the electoral count
- Asked The Department of Justice to interfere in the voting process
- Considered using the military to seize the voting machines
- Attempted to sabotage Congressional certification of Biden’s win by inciting the mob to attack the Capitol
When each plot failed, Trump, his attorneys, and allies exercised another plot to overturn the election. The lawsuits were the first chapter of the coup attempt. Trump declared rampant fraud occurred but his legal team presented no evidence. The claims were thrown out of court and within 1 month that part of the coup attempt was over. Next in play was the fake elector scheme encouraged by Trump cabinet member Rick Perry. The scheme involved getting Trump supporters to pose as electors in swing states where Trump lost. This occurred between the date of the election results in November and the date of the certification of the electoral college results. Trump and his allies publicly announced that alternate slates of electors existed and these votes would be submitted to Congress. Trump would then be declared the winner. The plot was ridiculous, obviously illegal and failed. This plot remains under investigation by the special counsel. Trump and many of his surrogates face the potential for criminal charges for their actions.

Next came the pressure campaign for states to announce election fraud and declare Trump the winner. Despite the pressure, state after state defended the legitimacy of their execution of election protocol and adherence to the law. The most blatant example of Trump’s attempt to steal the election on the state level was the call he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Rathensberger when he asked him to “find me 11,780,000 votes which is one more than I need to win.” In his summary, Melber says “getting politicians to overthrow the vote is the definition of a coup.”
A desperate Trump went to his military plot to seize voting machines and delegitimize the voter results. His team of crooked allies and attorneys were: Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, and General Michael Flynn. As it turns out even the corrupt Giuliani told Trump they would all end up in prison if he ordered the military to commit an illegal act. Once that plan collapsed, Trump had one desperate move left:
To summon his armed, white nationalist, anarchist, MAGA mob to the Capitol on January 6th, the electoral college vote would be counted and his re-election loss would be final. Each stage of Trump’s coup plot had one goal: to steal the election and to reinstate Trump as president despite not him being elected by the American people. Trump used gaslighting to confuse and incite the insurrectionists. As the defeated ex-president tried to steal the election, he referred to the legitimate win by Biden as”the steal.”

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Author: rebeccasperber