Presidential Fraud

President Donald Trump's inner mob boss is upping his game -- shaking down state officials to steal an election, spitballing a possible coup and stoking violent citizen unrest, while threatening the stability of the American Republic like never before.

This dead horse has been beaten; but, again, this is the kind of stuff ruthless autocrats desperately pull to prolong their power to abuse.

Outside of obscuring his criminal facilitation of Covid-19's death march across America that has killed more than 350,000 Americans, Trump's "election fraud" claims, of course, are his next biggest and corrosive con job.

It's the same old story of Trump projecting his crimes on the other guy, or the other party, as a means to obfuscate his ceaseless, destructive malfeasance.

If anyone should be investigated for fraud in connection with November's presidential election results, it's Trump and his band of abetting congressional Republican loyalists who, on Wednesday, plan to object to Congress' certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

Today's release of Trump's Saturday recorded phone conversation where the President pressures Georgia officials to "find 11,780 votes" in his favor, demonstrates again, unequivocally, that Trump is not only the genuine fraud, but a palpable threat to American democracy as he entertains any means -- a coup, perhaps -- to stay in power, while egging on his bamboozled base towards violent protests in Washington, DC. this Wednesday.

Even at this late date in Trump's presidency, with just weeks to go, Congress can't ignore the fact that Trump's attempt to strong-arm Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to swing the Peach state's vote the President's way, smacks of text book election tampering.

A censure or reprimand in the least is in order, but with such a partisan-divided Congress, unlikely.

In the meantime, a related question still begs -- why did Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell repeatedly block, for months, the passing of Democrats' election-security bill, #TheSafeAct, designed to ensure a secure election?

Further, why are Trump and his loyalists doggedly attacking "Dominion" voting machines, which are no where near as controversial as the predominate Election Systems & Software, LLC (ES&S) voting machines employed throughout the nation this past November?

Could it be part of Trump's distracting long game ploy?

Consider: For years, ES&S voting machines were the subject of scrutiny for their vulnerabilities -- involving "bugs," remote access to the internet and disappeared votes. ES&S, the company, also has demonstrable ties to the Republican party.

Jennifer Cohn, attorney, researcher and writer, who has painstakingly documented ES&S's checkered past, describes ES&S as "America's largest and arguably most corrupt voting machine vendor."

This past September, a software "bug" was discovered in ES&S systems in Texas that in theory could have "enabled ES&S or others to install unauthorized software," writes Cohn.

Inexplicably, the Texas Secretary of State waited until December to post the September report about the bug and it remains unclear how, or if, the issue was ever resolved before the Nov. 8 election, reports Cohn.

As Cohn points out: "The GOP’s cherry picking (focusing on Dominion) is dangerous because it could give ES&S even more corrupt control over U.S. elections than it currently has."

After reading Cohn's exhaustively researched and documented report, one can't help speculate whether Trump's phony election fraud claims and unfounded attacks against Dominon were planned from the get-go, in the event he lost - to solidify an ES&S monopoly.

Or take it a step further. Did Trump actually believe the fix was in -- particularly in swing states which used ES&S voting machines -- but the American people, which turned out in record numbers, spoiled the steal?

It's a possibility crying out for consideration.