Trump’s Odds of Escaping Criminal Charges in Georgia Do Not Look Good

One of the most infuriating qualities about former president Donald J. Trump is his habit of lying about everything all the time. Another is his total disregard for human life. But probably the number one most enraging thing about him is his lifelong habit of escaping any and all consequences for being what the U.S. penal code section 219(a)(5)(a) defines as “a corrupt motherfucker.” Whether it was attempting to extort Ukraine, lying to the public about COVID-19, reportedly not paying his bills, or allegedly raping a woman in a department store—which he of course denies—the man has somehow consistently avoided any and all repercussions, save for a financial settlement here and a financial settlement there. On the other hand, his luck on that front may be running out!

In addition to facing dozens of lawsuits, the 45th president is also the subject of three separate criminal investigations, one of which seemingly got a boost this week. That probe is the one being conducted by Fulton County, Georgia, regarding the infamous phone call Trump made to Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, in which the then president pressured Raffensperger to “find” him the votes to win the state in the 2020 election. Presumably, prosecutors are extremely interested in a new book out today by Raffensperger, Integrity Counts, in which he says in no uncertain terms that Trump threatened him while demanding he magically come up with 11,780 votes necessary to beat Joe Biden.

One section of the book the district attorney’s office may be paying close attention to recounts the January 2, 2021, phone call between the president, Raffensperger, Raffensperger’s general counsel, Ryan Germany, and assorted other parties. According to a copy of Raffensperger’s book obtained by the Hive, it goes like this:

President Trump: I think you’re going to find that they are shredding ballots because they have to get rid of the ballots because the ballots are unsigned. The ballots are corrupt, and they’re brand new, and they don’t have seals, and there’s a whole thing with the ballots. But the ballots are corrupt.

And you are going to find that they are—which is totally illegal—it is more illegal for you than it is for them, because, you know what they did and you’re not reporting it. That’s a criminal, that’s a criminal offense. And you can’t let that happen. That’s a big risk to you and to Ryan, your lawyer. And that’s a big risk.

Observation: Now President Trump is using what he believes is the power of his position to threaten Ryan and me with prosecution if we don’t do what he tells us to do. It was nothing but an attempt at manipulation.

President Trump: But they are shredding ballots, in my opinion, based on what I’ve heard. And they are removing machinery, and they’re moving it as fast as they can. Both of which are criminal fines. And you can’t let it happen, and you are letting it happen. You know, I mean, I’m notifying you that you’re letting it happen…. So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state.

Observation: The president now is directly telling us what he wants—the exact number of votes he needs to win Georgia.

President Trump: And flipping the state is a great testament to our country because, you know, this is…it’s a testament that they can admit to a mistake or whatever you want to call it. If it was a mistake, I don’t know. A lot of people think it wasn’t a mistake. It was much more criminal than that. But it’s a big problem in Georgia, and it’s not a problem that’s going away. I mean, you know, it’s not a problem that’s going away.

And later:

President Trump: Well, you better check on the ballots because they are shredding ballots, Ryan. I’m just telling you, Ryan. They’re shredding ballots. And you should look at that very carefully. Because that’s so illegal. You know, you may not even believe it because it’s so bad. But they’re shredding ballots because they think we’re going to eventually get there…Because we’ll eventually get into Fulton. In my opinion, it’s never too late…. So, that’s the story. Look, we need only 11,000 votes. We have far more than that as it stands now. We’ll have more and more. And…do you have provisional ballots at all, Brad? Provisional ballots?

Brad Raffensperger: Provisional ballots are allowed by state law.

President Trump: Sure, but I mean, are they counted, or did you just hold them back, because they, you know, in other words, how many provisional ballots do you have in the state?

Brad Raffensperger: We’ll get you that number.

President Trump: Because most of them are made out to the name Trump. Because these are people that were scammed when they came in. And we have thousands of people that have testified or that want to testify. When they came in, they were proudly going to vote on November 3. And they were told, “I’m sorry, you’ve already been voted for, you’ve already voted.” The women, men started screaming, “No. I proudly voted till November 3.” They said, “I’m sorry, but you’ve already been voted for, and you have a ballot.” And these people are beside themselves. So they went out, and they filled in a provisional ballot, putting the name Trump on it…. I don’t know. Look, Brad. I got to get…I have to find 12,000 votes, and I have them times a lot. And therefore I won the state. That’s before we go to the next step, which is in the process of right now. You know, and I watched you this morning, and you said, well, there was no criminality.

But I mean all of this stuff is very dangerous stuff. When you talk about no criminality, I think it’s very dangerous for you to say that.

Observation: I felt then—and still believe today—that this was a threat. Others obviously thought so, too, because some of Trump’s more radical followers have responded as if it was their duty to carry out this threat.

In September the Brookings Institution, a D.C. think tank, released a 109-page report that analyzed publicly available evidence concerning Trump’s and his allies’ efforts to pressure Georgia officials to “change the lawful outcome of the election.” They concluded that the ex-president could be charged with multiple crimes, including “criminal solicitation to commit election fraud; intentional interference with performance of election duties; conspiracy to commit election fraud; criminal solicitation; and state RICO violations,” in addition to violations of more than a dozen other Georgia state statutes. “We conclude that Trump’s post-election conduct in Georgia leaves him at substantial risk of possible state charges predicated on multiple crimes,” the report stated. Obviously, one of the least-helpful things Trump has going for him, from an evidence standpoint, is his phone call to Raffensperger.

Last month, Raffensperger told NBC News he would “gladly participate” in an interview with the Fulton County district attorney about Trump pressuring election officials over the 2020 results. “I did my job. I followed the law,” he said. As for Trump, he is currently hard at work preemptively claiming that the Virginia gubernatorial election, which is taking place right now, was rife with fraud.

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Meanwhile, in other Crazytown news…

A conservative White House correspondent has warned her followers that the COVID-19 vaccines allow you to be tracked by the devil. Yes:

Newsmax White House correspondent Emerald Robinson on Monday night tweeted out the utterly batshit claim that COVID-19 vaccines contain a “bioluminescent marker” named after Lucifer “so that you can be tracked.” Twitter has since taken down Robinson’s post, replacing it with a note stating the tweet violated the social platform’s rules. Robinson, who has a long history of making provocative and outrageous statements on social media, reacted to another Twitter user’s post that the “Moderna vaccine DOES contain Luciferase.” That user also attached a clip featuring a Wikipedia description of the enzyme, which notes that “the name is derived from the Latin word lucifer, meaning ‘lightbearer’” and the enzyme produces bioluminescence.

“Dear Christians: the vaccines contain a bioluminescent marker called LUCIFERASE so that you can be tracked. Read the last book of the New Testament to see how this ends,” Robinson wrote, apparently in all seriousness, on Monday night.” As the Daily Beast notes, the bible reference in question describes a war between the Archangel Michael and “fallen angels” led by the devil, i.e. Lucifer. The book also says that “no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”

Anyway, out here in reality, the COVID-19 vaccines neither allow one to be tracked by the devil, nor do they actually contain luciferase.

While the enzyme was used in COVID-19 research to help researchers track how viruses interact with cells, luciferase is not an ingredient in the actual vaccines. Furthermore, the enzyme has nothing to do with Satan or the devil, as its name merely references the Latin term for light.

Robinson’s Monday tweet follows a claim she made in September 2020 that “the new vaccines will rewrite your DNA.” Which is not dissimilar to the claim made by the man Ron DeSantis has nominated to be Florida’s surgeon general, for those of you worried that this brand of crazy is exclusive to right-wing media pundits.

Anyone have $48,000 to spare?

The House’s proudest anti-masker could use the cash.

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