FIND ME THE VOTES

The full story behind Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to fix the vote in Georgia.

The spur for Fani Willis to file charges against Trump, write veteran journalists Isikoff and Klaidman, was Trump’s call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, with Trump’s much-aired plea, “Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break.” Willis, a county prosecutor, has been accused of reaching beyond her bailiwick, but one end of that recorded call happened in her county, the other in Florida—and though Florida requires that both parties to a call consent to its being recorded, that requirement is waived in the case of law enforcement. Isikoff and Klaidman reveal that Trump was fixated on Georgia, which he fervently believed he should have won, overlooking the increasing blueness of the state’s most populous counties. He was seemingly obsessed with the thought that two Black election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, had miscounted the vote to deliver the state to Biden. As Freeman later remarked, “Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you?” Trump’s “laser-focus” on Georgia yielded much illegal activity from his administration and followers, including a plot to plant a slate of false electors, but also threats of violence against election workers and officials. One recipient was Raffensperger, who was oddly reluctant all the same to participate in Willis’ case, having “made it clear from the start that if he was going to talk, he wanted a grand jury subpoena first.” In many respects, Isikoff and Klaidman make Willis’ case for her, though it awaits a courtroom airing, and they document beyond reasonable doubt the desperate efforts of Trump and company to subvert the democratic process.

A prime source for those following the chain of trials awaiting the disgraced former president.