Bogus GOP Arizona audit confirms the obvious: Biden won

Arizona’s example has inspired Republicans in a list of other battleground states to try to hold their own sham “audits” — all targeting elections that were free and fair and which courts ruled were not tainted by fraud. The push, in states like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania that were crucial to Biden’s win, will not only deepen the pool of mistrust among Trump supporters who want to believe his lie that he actually won. It could offer further impetus to the rewriting of state voting laws by Republicans that suppress Democratic and minority votes and make it easier for partisan officials to interfere in the certification of elections in future. And it will fuel the false narrative that Trump was unfairly forced out of the Oval Office on which he is building a possible 2024 campaign and is using to continue to exert control over the GOP even when out of power.

In the case of Texas, the audit appears to be another sign of how Trump is able to force state officials — especially those, like Abbott, who may be hoping to mount future presidential runs and need to stay in good standing with the ex-President’s base — to carry out his undemocratic will. The process will also raise questions about whether a partisan state administration can be trusted to report fairly on how the election was conducted in Democratic counties.

By persuading the Texas authorities to look into the election, Trump gets the veneer of authority for his false claims. And it creates yet another precedent of interference in vote counting and election certification, which was previously seen as walled off from politicization, that threatens to taint elections in 2022, 2024 and for years to come.

Details of the partisan report in Arizona emerged hours before GOP members of the state Senate were due to present the findings of an their “audit” carried out by Cyber Ninjas, a firm that had no experience…