The Washington Post’s Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann gather for a weekly conversation about former president Donald Trump’s ongoing legal troubles. As trials loom in New York, Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C., the team will break down the most important – and historic – twists and turns, all as Trump seeks a second term as president. The crew will sit down each Thursday (with the occasional breaking news episode) to discuss what has happened that week, and what’s coming up the next week – often with guest appearances from Washington Post reporters. Listen in to see how you can submit your own questions for the team to answer.
What do Trump’s legal threats actually accomplish?
Election Day 2020 is behind us, but the presidential election is far from over.
Because of increased vote-by-mail and early voting, vote counts are taking longer than usual this year.
The race is very tight. The winner of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency is coming down to vote counts with very thin margins in a handful of battleground states.
While counts are still trickling in, President Trump has repeatedly made false claims of election fraud, declared victory in states where votes are still being counted, falsely tweeted that any ballots coming in after Election Day won’t be counted and pledged to get the courts to determine the election outcome.
The Trump campaign’s legal team has indeed launched efforts in the courts. His team has started a legal blitz — filing suits in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia and requested a recount in Wisconsin.
So what do each of these legal moves actually do? Will these suits stop ongoing vote counts? Can they overturn a state’s results? Are they likely to ultimately affect the outcome of this presidential race?
And what other potential ways to contest the race does the president have as the rest of this election unfolds?
On this episode of the“Can He Do That?” podcast, election law expert Edward Foley explains how the Trump team’s fight in the courts could shape the final outcome.
Related reading and episodes
- With millions of ballots yet to be counted, here’s where votes are still out
- Election reveals deeper divides between red and blue America
- How an extraordinary election season affects Trump’s reelection chances