Could Trump possibly have yet another federal case brewing against him?
That may be the case after several key Trump surrogates were charged this week in an Arizona election case.
Talking Points…
- Arizona 2020 election
- New charges announced
- Analysis
Early and absentee voting were a curse for Donald Trump and Republicans during the 2020 election cycle. Like many other states, Donald Trump thought he had won Arizona when election day results were being counted. Donald Trump crushed Joe Biden on election day, winning the state 66-32%, giving him a net +34 on election day, but as we all know, there were a lot more votes to count than just the votes that were cast on election day.
Arizona was considered one of the key battleground states during this election, and with that large of a gap, Donald Trump surely felt like his lead was safe, just as he did in PA (+32) and Georgia (+34), among other states. As absentee and early voting started to be counted, Trump saw his lead slip away, point by point. When the early and absentee day votes were counted, Biden beat Trump, 52-47%, for a net +5 in early and absentee voting.
Since COVID was in play, unfortunately for Trump, there were far more early and absentee votes being cast in most states than people showing up on election day. When all was said and done, Biden had eaten up his massive deficit and passed Trump, 49.36% to 49.06%, which equates to about 10,500 votes. This made Biden the first Democrat to win the state since Bill Clinton in 1996 and only the second time since Harry Truman’s election in 1948.
Trump and his surrogates immediately claimed that the election had been rigged, which was investigated by the Arizona Senate, where Republicans held a majority. When the investigation was completed, the report found no widespread irregularities as Trump had claimed, and it actually extended Joe Biden’s lead by 360 votes.
Needless to say, Trump and his surrogates were not satisfied with that result, and Trump and his allies continued to levy attacks that the election had been rigged for Biden and that Trump had really won. The state then became the focus of Trump and his surrogates to try to overturn the state’s election results.
On Wednesday, it was announced that several of Trump’s allies had been charged for their efforts to have the election results overturned. Among the names were former New York Mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Guiliani, former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former state GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward, and state Sens. Jacob Hoffman and Anthony Kern are now all facing felony charges related to the “fake electors” plot in the state.
As of yet, Donald Trump has not been named, but he is believed to be referred to in the indictment as “unindicted coconspirator 1” in the charging documents. So, at least for now, Trump is not expected to be charged in this case. Others who are expected to be charged are Jenna Ellis, John Eastman, Christina Bobb, Boris Epshteyn, and Michael Roman.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, stated:
“A state grand jury made up of everyday regular Arizonans, has now handed down felony indictments for all 11 Republican electors as well as several others connected to this scheme.
“These are serious indictments, but this is the first hurdle the state must pass in our constitutional criminal justice system. We intend to prove these crimes were committed beyond a reasonable doubt.”
This case is eerily similar to the Georgia case, with Trump somehow avoiding charges in this case. Regardless, it is not a good look for the GOP this deep into the election cycle. Democrats and the media will be jumping all over this to hit Trump and Republicans for plotting to overturn the results of another state election, which is likely to cost Trump and Republicans a few points in overall polling.
The other concern here is how this could impact the Trump administration if he were to win this election. There is a huge wake of ruined careers and personal fortunes behind Trump from the 2020 election, so we really have to start asking who Trump can get to work for him with this kind of history from his last administration, as well as how it will impact the future careers of people like Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who I believe would be the ideal choice for Trump’s VP.
