Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post: “There are powerful reasons for Georgia to prosecute someone for trying to fraudulently flip an election. The state has passed a statute allowing the Republican legislature, through the state board of elections, to displace voting officials in Fulton County (the most populous county, with the largest African American electorate) in the administration of elections. This is widely believed to be a prelude to future efforts to reverse election results. Unless politicians understand such actions are illegal and will be prosecuted, the temptation to do so will be overwhelming in 2022 and 2024.”

“Certainly, if Georgia does not pursue criminal actions against Trump, the Justice Department must consider whether federal crimes were committed. Moreover, even if Georgia were to proceed to prosecute the specific Georgia-related actions, the feds must consider the entire pattern of Trump’s actions – over many weeks and in multiple states – to overturn the election. In instructing the Justice Department to undo the election, in pressuring state officials and, finally, in instigating the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, Trump may have committed the ultimate federal crime: sedition. The events of Jan. 6 were one part of the overall scheme; the Georgia arm-twisting was another. The necessity to deter future presidential candidates from running phony ‘audits’ – as was tried in Arizona and is now underway in Texas (a state Trump won!) – is plain. Republicans are engaged in a vigorous effort to acclimatize their base to the idea that election results are neither final nor inviolate, but merely a prelude to further efforts to overturn election results – by force, if need be. The concern for future coups rises with each new revelation (e.g., the Eastman memo) and the ongoing pursuit of scam ‘audits.'”