Fulton County, Gabbard Hold Key to Trump’s Attempt to Rig the Midterms

It seems pretty obvious at this point that the FBI’s seizure of Fulton County ballots from the 2020 election will play a major role in Donald Trump’s efforts to rig the midterms. For the president, it’s a twofer: Whatever his sycophants claim to find will not only allow him to claim victory in an election he lost, but it will also serve as a justification to manipulate the outcome of the next one.

What is less clear yet is how exactly Trump hopes to accomplish this.

After all, the 2020 result in Georgia has arguably been scrutinized more than that in any other state. Multiple lawsuits and audits have not turned up any evidence that the election was “stolen,” as the president claims.

In addition, it was administered by a GOP governor and a Republican secretary of state. The latter has since also conducted an audit showing that, contrary to what Trump and others in his party are saying, the number of noncitizens on the voter rolls is negligible.

With that avenue seemingly closed, perhaps the focus will be on other issues, such as the security of voting machines or the security of voter rolls.

While they are not usually part of Trump’s grievances, those are legitimate concerns.

Loyal WhoWhatWhy readers will be familiar with our award-winning coverage of the 2018 midterms in the Peach State that uncovered various problems, for example that machines were left unguarded and easily accessible to the public, and the vulnerability of the state’s voter registration list.

One indication that voting machines may be the focus is not only the (puzzling) presence of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard at the raid, but also that various members of the administration, including Trump, are offering contradictory explanations for why she was there.

Gabbard, who is not exactly a beacon of honesty, said in a letter to Congress that her presence was requested by the president.

That contradicts what Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a couple of interviews. Trump’s former personal lawyer suggested Gabbard’s presence was just some kind of coincidence.

“First of all, she wasn’t at the search. She was in the area where the search took place,” Blanche, who is hardly more trustworthy than Gabbard, said on Fox News before adding that she is “not part of this investigation.”

Then there is Trump, who claimed that he wasn’t involved in the raid at all and that he doesn’t know why his director of national intelligence was there. Obviously, we know that isn’t true… not only because the president is a compulsive liar but also because we know that he called Gabbard’s phone to speak with the FBI agents involved in the raid.

Then, on Thursday, Trump changed his tune and said that Gabbard was there at Attorney General Pam Bondi’s insistence.

Here is the thing to keep in mind when you are dealing with a bunch of liars: When they are flailing about like that, the thing they are lying about is probably important.

Gabbard’s involvement in all of this clearly is, which makes sense: What better reason could there be for the Trump administration to realize the president’s wish of federalizing the election than claiming that there are threats to national security?

Also, keep in mind that one of the conspiracy theories swirling around in the MAGAverse is that Venezuela was somehow involved in “stealing” the 2020 election.

Well, now the administration has former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in custody… and all kinds of leverage to get him to admit to whatever they want.

For example, if he says that his government was somehow involved in hacking the 2020 election along with China, Italian spy satellites, the Swiss, Merrill Lynch, and the Easter Bunny, maybe he’ll receive the same kind of treatment Ghislaine Maxwell got when she supposedly told Blanche that Trump wasn’t involved in Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and, next thing you know, went to a country club jail where she gets to play with puppies.

All of this is obviously just one piece of the puzzle we have to put together to figure out how an increasingly desperate president and a GOP that is headed toward a massive defeat in the fall will try to rig the midterms, but it is an important one… especially because Gabbard has proven to be completely subservient and shameless when it comes to pleasing Trump.