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The Washington Post has a scoop that is sure to make Special Counsel Jack Smith's ears perk up. By now, Smith and everyone else in the country knows that in November 2020, Donald Trump tried to pressure Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to "find" 11,780 more votes for him and Raffensperger refused. What Smith may not have known, but can now discover by going to the Post's website, is that Trump also tried to pressure then-governor of Arizona Doug Ducey (R) into doing the same thing—and got the same result: Ducey refused to play ball.
In addition to directly pressuring Ducey, Trump also asked Mike Pence, a former governor who knew Ducey well, to call Ducey and discuss overturning the Arizona election. Pence did call Ducey several times. Neither man has revealed the calls in public. At a dinner earlier this year, Ducey told a major donor that he was surprised that Smith hadn't asked him about the calls with Trump and Pence yet. Apparently, Smith didn't know about them. Due to the Post's reporting, he may have discovered this on Saturday. We suspect that Smith will soon be asking Ducey to drop by for a pleasant chat, if he hasn't already done so. Raffensperger was interviewed last week. Ducey is likely to be next.
If Smith wants to charge Trump with trying to overturn an election, Trump's interaction with Ducey is just going to add more evidence that can be used at a trial. Trump and Ducey have long had a hot-and-cold relationship, but it was never clear why. Now we might see what the problem could be: Trump asked Ducey to throw the election for him and Ducey refused.
That bitter relationship could have consequences in 2024. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) is up for reelection, although she has not yet announced if she is running. If Kari Lake, who claims to be the governor of Arizona, can't sweet-talk (or use some other method) to convince Trump to put her on the ticket with him, she is likely to run for the Senate against Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and maybe Sinema. This would be a nightmare for the Republicans, so they want Ducey to run for the Republican nomination. He has steadfastly refused. It could well be that if he runs, Trump will oppose him with everything he's got, Ducey knows this, and so has found a new job running a political action committee.
Now that it appears that Trump tried to get election results changed in Georgia and Arizona, inquiring minds want to know if he tried it in other states. The closest states (in terms of actual votes) that Trump lost are Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada, and New Hampshire (in that order). Could Trump have tried pressuring officials in all those states? Wisconsin seems a lost cause for Trump since both the governor and SoS in 2020 were Democrats. Nevada was more promising as the then-SoS, Barbara Cegavske, is a Republican. (Note to Jack Smith: Maybe a call to Mrs. Cegavske might be a good idea). In New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH) was a potential target, but his dislike for Trump is widely known. Then-NH SoS Bill Gardner is a Democrat. (V)