Raffensperger on line 2

Following up on my the adjacent post, I want to add a few comments to draw out facets of the phone call that have been shortchanged — i.e., suppressed — by the mainstream media.

• The fact that the call was secretly recorded is scurrilous. As is apparent at a couple of points, the call was for the purposes of settlement of the pending Trump lawsuit. Who secretly records settlement discussions?

• The Trump team contends that there were more illegal votes included in the Georgia certified election results than the number of voters separating Biden from Trump. Secretary Raffensperger et al. failed to respond to specific questions and to provide information or reports or records demonstrating that the numbers of illegal votes identified by the Trump team are incorrect. They just say it. They offer no evidence.

• At the end of the call Trump local counsel Kurt Hilbert stated: “We would like to sit down with your office, and we can do it through purposes of compromise and just like this phone call, just to deal with that limited category of votes….” Hilbert reiterated the request, seeking Raffensperger et al. “to sit down with us in a compromise and settlements proceeding and actually go through the registered voter IDs and the registrations.”

• Although Secretary of State general counsel Ryan Germany agreed to set up such a meeting, there has been no further response other than the release of the recording of the conversation by Raffensperger or someone acting on his behalf. It is reasonable to infer that Raffensperger doesn’t want the meeting to happen.

• Cleta Mitchell, by the way, is a volunteer lending President Trump a hand by acting essentially as a liaison in the litigation. She is not not an attorney of record. The left media crowd on Twitter is now conducting a vile campaign against Cleta and her firm. These people are ignorant thugs.

• The election contest was filed one month ago and no judge has yet been appointed to hear the case.

• Marc Caputo summarizes the background of the recording and the leak in Politico Playbook this morning. Caputo’s comments channel Raffensperger’s spin. Caputo reports on the release of the recording:

Raffensperger’s team kept quiet about the [Saturday] call and the recording and waited. The president made the next move, claiming on Sunday morning via Twitter that Raffensperger was “unwilling, or unable, to answer” questions about his baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. “Respectfully, President Trump: What you’re saying is not true,” Raffensperger replied at 10:27 a.m. “The truth will come out.” It wasn’t an empty promise.

But Trump’s summary was accurate. That’s my take.

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