This American election never ends.
And becomes more and more surreal.
Donald Trump picked up his phone on Saturday to clearly ask a senior Republican official to "find" the necessary ballots to reverse his defeat in the state of Georgia, during a staggering call broadcast by the Washington Post on Sunday.
The American president, who still refuses to concede his defeat in the presidential election of November 3, tried, during a long telephone conversation, to rally Brad Raffensperger, the elected Republican in charge of the elections in this state, to his cause, by alternating pressures and coaxing.
"The people of Georgia are angry […] There is no harm in saying that you have recalculated," he told her in particular, according to a recording of the discussion made without his knowledge and made public by the Washington Post, then other media.
"It's going to be very expensive in many ways"
"All I want is to find 11,780 ballots [...] because we have won this state," he said, while Democrat Joe Biden's victory in Georgia with a difference of around 12,000 votes was was confirmed by a recount and audits.
Citing “rumors” of fraud, Donald Trump judged, in a voice choked with emotion, “unjust that the election was stolen from us”.
And the billionaire to shout at himself short of arguments.
"It will be very expensive in many aspects" he threatens subtly before asking the magistrate to recalculate once again the votes "with people who want to find answers".
"You know what they did and you don't talk about it: it's a crime, you can't let it happen, it's a big risk for you," he added, threatening .
Brad Raffensberger, who was accompanied by a state lawyer, did not give in.
"We think our numbers are good," he soberly retorted the President of the United States vehemently on the other end of the phone.
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The broadcast of the recording, which the White House declined to comment, immediately sent shockwaves in Washington.
"Trump's contempt for democracy is exposed," said elected Democrat Adam Schiff, deeming his pressures "potentially reprehensible".
Her colleague Debbie Wasserman Schultz denounced the act of a "desperate and corrupt president".
"It's overwhelming," for his part tweeted Republican elected official Adam Kinzinger, calling on members of his party not to follow the president in his challenge to the results.
“You can't do this with a clear conscience,” he told them.
This is absolutely appalling.
To every member of Congress considering objecting to the election results, you cannot- in light of this- do so with a clean conscience.
#RestoreOurGOP https://t.co/5UzrK4G0Jn
- Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) January 3, 2021
Legally questionable
Trump's hour-long conversation with Raffensperger placed him in legally questionable territory, according to legal experts consulted by the "WaPo".
By urging the Secretary of State to “find” votes and deploy investigators who “want to find answers,” Mr. Trump appears to be encouraging him to falsify the election result in Georgia.
But above all, experts have said that Donald Trump's clearer transgression is moral.
Edward B. Foley, professor of law at Ohio State University, says the legal issues are obscure and would be left to the discretion of prosecutors who might want to investigate.
But he also stressed that the call was "inappropriate and despicable" and that it should spark outrage.
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Donald Trump embarked on a crusade in November to deny the victory of Joe Biden but suffered systematic failures before the courts and with local elected officials, including Republicans, who held out against his pressures.
The electoral college declared the victory to the Democrat on December 14 with 306 voters against 232 for the incumbent president, a score which must be certified Wednesday in Congress for the swearing-in of the 46th President of the United States on January 20.