An Attempted Coup

In the current January 6th investigation by the House of Representatives, former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows recently turned over a Power-Point presentation distributed by the White House to its leadership regarding Trump and Pence's options for retaining power. The 38 page presentation was released inside the White House circles a day or so before January 6th and contained the following options:

The heart of these points drives home the presupposition of fraud, which had been continually dismissed by the courts and experts and followed several legal recounts. Yet, this was not only a grasping at straws to delay the inevitable, but the actions the presentation detailed -- if exercised by Pence -- would have been a political power play that is unprecedented. This would have been political force in order to retain Trump's presidency despite no solid legal grounds. This is called an auto or self-coup, which definitionally is not reliant on military force, but a reduction or removal of legislative power in order to keep a prior legally elected official in power. The coup would have been successful if the insurrectionists stopped the January 6th congressional proceedings to certify the election, or if Pence adhered to the above at the certification. 

By definition, there is no doubt in my mind that this was a conspiracy by the Trump White House to enact a coup d'etat. Yet, the Trumpublicans will continue to cry foul, regardless of how many times paper ballots are recounted or the lack of evidence is shown. It is no wonder the U.S. is now considered a backsliding democracy. We have come way too close to losing democracy. Wow!