Exclusive | "I just want to find 11,780 votes": In extraordinary hour-long call, Trump pressures Georgia secretary of state to recalculate the vote in his favor https://t.co/NTT3hTvcrR
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 3, 2021
Exclusive: The Post has published Trump's full phone call with Georgia election officials. Listen to the audio and read the transcript here. https://t.co/QOzHKzyMYK
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 3, 2021
The recording details that Raffensperger and representatives of the secretary of state's office continued to patiently knock down some of the more inflammatory claims made by Trump and other top Republicans who allege hundreds of thousands of votes were illegally counted.
— NPR (@NPR) January 3, 2021
Incredible audio of Pres Trump bullying and threatening Georgia's secretary of state in a phone call Saturday, ordering him to recalculate votes to give the election to Trump. It's a historical documentation of a president trying to steal an election. https://t.co/EdmwfuPevo
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) January 3, 2021
I'm no lawyer but the fact Trump asked Raffensperger to "recalculate" and deliver him just the exact number of votes he needs to win shows corrupt intent. I'm sure a prosecutor could do wonders with this. And is it unreasonable for the House to do a quick impeachment this week?
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) January 3, 2021
Do people understand what it means for the future of US democracy if Trump walks out of office and into a life of great fame and fortune? And that's before you even consider the totally plausible possibility of a successful 2024 presidential campaign. Moving on is not an option.
— Will Stancil (@whstancil) January 3, 2021
In any other conceivable moment in US history, this tape would result in the leadership of both parties demanding the immediate resignation of the President of the United States.https://t.co/X72wqHCHhx
— Carl Bernstein (@carlbernstein) January 3, 2021
This Trump audio is far worse and more incriminating than anything from Watergate. It's not up for debate-it is legally, ethically, morally worse. Any politician who doesn't recognize this, or who intends to thwart the Constitution this week, has failed to uphold their oath.
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) January 3, 2021
Nixon hated the Washington Post for its aggressive coverage. On his secret tapes in September 1972, he told aides threateningly that “the Post is going to have damnable, damnable problems. . . They have a television station … and they’re going to have to get it renewed.”
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) January 3, 2021
I wrote about this at the start of Trump's presidency and it remains true: Iran-Contra was a huge, often-overlooked scandal, and might be a better model for how we understand public reaction to Trump's wrongdoing. https://t.co/8uVJDpUQlZ https://t.co/qWw200odUn
— Nicole Hemmer (@pastpunditry) January 3, 2021
What's most terrifying is that Trump has once again made subtext into text and yet little may change. A majority of House Rs and a number of leading presidential contenders will still likely reject the peaceful transfer of power this week.
— Brendan Nyhan (@BrendanNyhan) January 3, 2021
Here’s the harsh reality for Americans who’ve long believed we lived in the greatest democracy on earth: if Raffensberger wasn’t Sec of State in GA and/or if GOP controlled both chambers of Congress, there’s more than a high chance that Biden wouldn’t be president come Jan 20th.
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) January 3, 2021
That’s not the lawless part, honey
— Molly Jong-Fast🏡 (@MollyJongFast) January 3, 2021
Legal question for twitter lawyers. If a lawyer participates in conspiracy to commit a crime are all attorney client protections waived?
— Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart) January 3, 2021
Is it too much to hope that the criminal interference with the election result by the malevolent but hapless Trump will chasten the GOP sabotage of certification on Wednesday? At the very least it now makes them look ridiculous.
— Simon Schama (@simon_schama) January 3, 2021
Unless there are portions of the tape that somehow negate criminal intent, "I just want to find 11,780 votes" and his threats against Raffensperger and his counsel violate 52 U.S. Code § 20511. His best defense would be insanity.https://t.co/ZAtRgiRQmz
— Michael R. Bromwich (@mrbromwich) January 3, 2021
Threatening Raffensperger with criminal consequences is also arguably extortion. Title 18 Section 875 of the U.S. Codehttps://t.co/MBhq6r4OWB
— Jennifer 'Stop Trump and GOP Sedition' Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) January 3, 2021
Wow. All 10 living former defense secretaries write in the Washington Post.
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) January 3, 2021
Carter, Cheney, Cohen, Esper, Gates, Hagel, Mattis, Panetta, Perry, Rumsfeld:
"The time for questioning the results has passed."https://t.co/dSBaLbHB2z
Pence just left the Hill after a two-hour meeting in his office that included an appearance by the Senate parliamentarian, per our Hill team. Trump’s been vocal privately that he expects the VP to play a role in the GOP disruption when Congress meets to certify Biden’s win.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) January 3, 2021
Trump is expected to give Rep. Devin Nunes the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, according to someone familiar with the plans. https://t.co/C2qVjttU1K
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 3, 2021
***
JOHNSON FLAILS AS COVID WORSENS
Superb demolition job here. The prime minister was lying through his teeth on #Marr this morning. He couldn’t accurately identify a single new benefit gained from leaving the EU because there aren’t any. https://t.co/lcGHldOhri
— Jonathan Lis (@jonlis1) January 3, 2021
Ignore what Boris Johnson says – the British public has never given its consent to this damaging Brexit deal @Femi_Sorry https://t.co/BT2CpTDicU
— Independent Voices (@IndyVoices) January 3, 2021
This is frightening https://t.co/5obD0tHret
— Kevin Maguire (@Kevin_Maguire) January 3, 2021
Terrifying #COVID19 surges across London, England & Wales. Whether it's driven by the new mutant form of #SARSCoV2 or not is almost irrelevant — the UK is in the grips of catastrophic COVID spread. The #BorisJohnson govt is running out of tactical options short of 100% lockdown. https://t.co/Tb8ma6HLlk
— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) January 3, 2021
THREAD – Covid-19 in England.
— Christina Pagel (@chrischirp) January 3, 2021
Things are going from very bad to much worse.
Here is where we are in 9 tweets. 1/9
Ofsted cancelled their own school inspections in order to not put their staff at risk. Think about that. https://t.co/th2MtUprtz
— George Buskell (@GBuskell) January 3, 2021
Killer opening in @thesundaytimes by @tnewtondunn pic.twitter.com/TWqiXIRtbg
— Aasmah Mir (@AasmahMir) January 3, 2021
British judge set to rule on extradition of WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange to U.S. https://t.co/f54xvkIgcb
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 3, 2021
The Overnight Note 