Audio of Steve Bannon explaining the plan
It says that Trump told three advisers before Election Day that, if he had an early lead in the vote count on election night due to slower counting of mail-in ballots—which were expected to favor Biden—he would “simply declare victory before all the ballots were counted and any winner was projected.”
Smith’s filing also cites audio from October 31, 2020, first revealed by Mother Jones. In it, Trump strategist Steve Bannon said that on election night, “Trump is gonna declare victory. But that doesn’t mean he’s the winner. He’s just gonna say he’s the winner.” Trump “did exactly that” on election night, the brief notes, claiming that he should have won but was a victim of voter fraud.
Smith’s brief reveals that shortly after the election, a Trump aide gave the president an “honest assessment” that his fraud claims would fail in court. “The details don’t matter,” Trump responded.
I get a little too angry when I hear the Bannon audio, he talks about making trump a dictator. We came so close to losing it all.
It’s uncomfortable, but I think everyone in the US (and people internationally interested in US politics) need to hear it. This was Trump’s plan in 2020 and is his plan again in 2024.
We still might.
We’re still a whole lot closer than I would like to be.
From a different source:
- “Make them riot!”
“In the immediate post-election period, while the defendant [Trump] claimed fraud without proof, his private operatives sought to create chaos, rather than seek clarity, at polling places where states were continuing to tabulate votes,” the motion states.
P5, who is described as “a Campaign employee, agent, and co-conspirator of Trump,” responded to a colleague’s mention of the “Brooks Brothers riot” (a group of Republican operatives who attempted to disrupt the 2000 vote count in Florida, given this moniker because many of the participants were young men in preppy, navy blue suits) and suggested similar unrest might occur at a location in Detroit, Michigan where votes were being counted.
According to the motion, P5 replied “Make them riot” and “Do it!!!”, voicing support for disrupting the vote counting.
