Donald Trump/self-coup

About

As predicted by many observers, especially towards the end of his time in office, Trump and his team developed plans to ensure he stayed in office regardless of the outcome of the 2020 election, which he ultimately lost to Joe Biden.

The most visible of these efforts was the January 6 insurrection – an attempt to take over the US Capitol building by force, disrupt the legitimate electoral process and have Trump declared the winner of the election even though he clearly lost, and possibly kill or injure members of Congress who opposed Trump remaining in power (Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence were specifically targeted). Although this attempt failed, it should be understood as part of a larger effort by followers of Trumpism to disable the democratic process in the US and replace it with a more authoritarian system.

Key Events

events are oldest to newest; articles are newest to oldest

• 2020.11.04 Trump tries to claim victory, despite more than sufficient uncounted mail-in ballots to change the outcome (which they soon did)
  • (2020-11-04) CNBC: Trump tries to claim victory even as ballots are being counted in several states – NBC has not made a call
• 2020.11.05 Trump tweets "STOP THE COUNT!" in an effort to feed the "stolen election" narrative.
  • (2022.11.05) Vox: Trump's desperate "STOP THE COUNT!" tweet, briefly explained «Trump’s real position, of course, is that only votes cast for him should be counted. His followers are on the same page, and that’s why groups of them chanted “Stop the vote!” outside government buildings in Michigan — a state where Trump led during the early part of the count on Tuesday evening, only to be surpassed by Biden as more ballots were tallied on Wednesday — while others chanted “Count the vote!” in Arizona, where Trump is trailing.»
• 2020.12.14 Republicans file fake elector documents in several states in an attempt to incorrectly have those states vote for Trump instead of Biden; this plan appears to have originated with Rudy Guiliani, with assistance from Mark Meadows.
  • (2022.05.17) DKos: Bunk electors for Trump sued; State had sit-down on Jan. 6 with Trump activists «So-called alternate electors in Wisconsin for former President Donald Trump have been slapped with a lawsuit demanding $2.4 million in damages as two legitimate electors for the state now allege the Trump activists were part of a destructive civil conspiracy that “laid the groundwork” for the violence of Jan. 6. / The hefty sum is not the only prize the plaintiffs, Khary Penebaker, Mary Arnold, and Bonnie Joseph are after, however. Crucially, they say, they also want the court to disqualify the bunk electors from ever serving in their positions again.»
  • (2022.05.11) DKos: Report: Prosecutors are now interviewing 'Trump electors' in Georgia
  • (2022.01.31) DKos: Pro-Trump 'alternate elector' explains why he signed false records: Jim Lamon, now a candidate for an Arizona seat in the US Senate, said that «"Republican electors put forth a valid document" and that their certification as Republican electors was expressly made so that if the election certification were overturned, "there would be no excuse not to recognize those electors."»
  • (2022.01.27) DKos: Sidney Powell's fingerprints are on false claims of election fraud and fake slates of electors
  • (2022.01.27) DKos: Michigan Referral Cites Possible Fraud To Justify Draft Trump Executive Order «The [especially] interesting part is the 4th paragraph of the letter. It notes that the December 16 draft executive order to have the military seize all election machines relied heavily on a “debunked report” regarding Dominion voting machines. The question is who prepared that report, and for what purpose.»
  • (2022.01.25) DKos: GOP's fake elector certifications were fit to submit, and got caught in the rigging: mainly useful for the source-links it contains
  • (2022.01.22) DKos: Update** Video evidence the Trump Campaign was behind fake, "alternate" electors scheme: Stephen Miller stated, in a 2021-12-14 interview on Fox News, that «an alternate slate of electors in the contested states is going to vote and we’re going to send those results up to Congress.»
  • (2022.01.19) Rachel Maddow: Fake Trump Elector Scheme Draws The Attention Of More State Attorneys General
  • (2022.01.18) Rachel Maddow: Mike Pence Script Change Seems To Address Fake Trump Elector Scheme (video, 6:41)
  • (2022.01.11) Rachel Maddow: Republicans In At Least Three States Filed Forged Elector Letters
• 2020.12.16 Trump drafts, but never signs, an executive order that would have directed the defense secretary to seize voting machines
  • (2022.02.02) Daily Beast: And Now Jan. 6 Riot Panel Is Investigating Trump Plan to Seize Voting Machines, Too «the Times reports that the Capitol riot panel is investigating the extent of Trump's direct involvement in the planned seizure of voting machines. Committee member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said: "We want to fully flesh out the facts: How close did this come to being operationalized? What kind of pushback did they receive? Who was a part of this particular scheme? We want to answer all those questions."»
  • (2022.01.23) DKos: Analyst says draft executive order Trump considered could have led to 'coup d'état' «Terrorism analyst Malcolm Nance told MSNBC if Trump had issued the executive order, it would've been "immediately dismissed" by every officer in the armed forces because it is an "unlawful order." The bigger problem, he said, is what would've happened if National Guard units from states in favor of Trump were ordered by their governors to do what the armed forces couldn’t. "This is literally the definition of a Latin American or Sub-Saharan African style coup d'état," Nance said.»
  • (2022.01.22) Politico: Read the never-issued Trump order that would have seized voting machines, along with a draft of a next-day speech that he never gave. «In the year since the riot, Trump’s recent characterization of the attack has veered wildly from that sentiment in the draft remarks. The former president has described the 2020 election as “the insurrection” and Jan. 6, 2021, as “the Protest.”»
• 2021.01.02 Trump phones Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, urging him to illegally "find votes" sufficient to declare Biden the loser (which he wasn't). Raffensperger declines to act on this request.
  • (2021.01.03)
    • CNN: In call, Trump demands Georgia officials 'find' votes to tilt election
    • CNN: Read the full transcript and listen to Trump's audio call with Georgia secretary of state
• 2021.01.05 Trump self-coup strategy document circulated by Mark Meadows
• 2021.01.06 January 6 insurrection
• 2022.08.19 a federal judge rejects Senator Lindsey Graham's request to delay testimony regarding Trump's "find votes" fraud attempt in Georgia
  • AP: Graham effort to delay testimony in election probe rejected

Links

• 2022-09-01 Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court justice, urged lawmakers to overturn Biden’s win in Wisconsin «...Thomas worked behind the scenes to overturn the results of the 2020 election in at least two states, according to the Washington Post...» «...also reportedly reached out to nearly 30 GOP lawmakers in Arizona after the 2020 election, looking for their help in keeping former president Donald Trump in office.»
• 2022-04-20 DKos: New report identifies another strand in Ginni Thomas' web of efforts to overturn the 2020 election
• 2022-04-19 ABC: Legal challenge to bar GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from ballot can continue, judge rules
• 2022-04-18 DKos: Sitting senator shown to have colluded in coup attempt. Sunday shows yawn: Mike Lee
• 2022-04-15
  • CNN: READ: Mark Meadows' texts with Mike Lee and Chip Roy
    • DKos: Texts show they were all for Trump overturning the election – until a lack of evidence got in the way
• 2022-02-01 DKos: Fani Willis: 'I am conducting a criminal investigation of former President Donald J. Trump'
• 2022-01-31
  • AJC: Fulton DA seeks FBI’s aid as Trump probe advances «Trump on Saturday described investigators in Georgia, New York and Washington as "radical," "vicious" and "racist" and called for major protests if prosecutors "do anything wrong or illegal."» It's clear by now that Trump has his own non-reality-based idea of what is "legal", unfortunately.
  • DKos: Trump is trying to incite violence against prosecutors investigating him. One has turned to the FBI «"These prosecutors are vicious, horrible people. They're racists and they're very sick—they're mentally sick,” Trump said, referring to multiple investigations he faces. “They're going after me without any protection of my rights from the Supreme Court or most other courts. In reality, they're not after me, they're after you."» Trump also carefully fails to understand how prosecution works or how grand juries work.
• 2022-01-23 Salon: Former Trump aide Boris Epshteyn admits to fake elector scheme on national TV «Epshteyn went on to claim that "everything that was done was done legally, by the Trump legal team, according to the rules, and under the leadership of (Trump lawyer) Rudy Giuliani."»
• 2022-01-13 Rachel Maddow: Fake Elector Struggles To Explain Role In Scheme To Submit False Election Papers (video, 3:52) The title is too charitable; Jake Hoffman insists that "you would need to ask the Party chair" how he was invited to sign the fake elector documents, even though the question is about his own direct experience.
• 2022-01-12 Rachel Maddow: Similarities Suggest Coordination In Fake Elector Letters From Republicans In Five States (video, 12:17)
• 2022-01-11 Rachel Maddow: Republicans In At Least Three States Filed Forged Elector Letters
• 2021-12-31 Newsweek: Mark Meadows Worked on Creating Fake Electoral College To Overturn Election Results
• 2020-11-04 CNBC: Trump tries to claim victory even as ballots are being counted in several states – NBC has not made a call
• 2020-11-02 Trump’s possible election night plan: Claim victory before enough votes are counted «The president has spent months depicting mail-in votes, which will take time to count, as fraudulent.»
• 2020-11-01
  • Axs: Scoop: Trump's plan to declare premature victory «President Trump has told confidants he'll declare victory on Tuesday night if it looks like he's "ahead," according to three sources familiar with his private comments. That's even if the Electoral College outcome still hinges on large numbers of uncounted votes in key states like Pennsylvania.»
    • TH: Trump plans to declare victory if he takes election night lead: Axios
    • BI: Trump has a plan to declare victory on election night: Axios report$