Opinion | Explosive revelations about Trump’s coup plot demand a quick response

The Post reports that the Justice Department is investigating Trump’s actions amid a broader probe into 2020 shenanigans. Prosecutors appear to be asking about conversations among Trump and his inner circle about the scheme to substitute fake Trump electors in several states for those certified for Joe Biden.

Meanwhile, the New York Times has obtained emails about the coup scheme among assorted characters around Trump. These show how Trump allies plotted to use the fake electors scheme to subvert lawful processes in a way that sharply highlights the system’s vulnerabilities.

Here’s the big flashing warning sign: Reforming the Electoral Count Act (ECA), which governs how Congress counts presidential electors, is urgently needed to shore up exactly those vulnerabilities.

A bipartisan group of Senators recently introduced a bill that would fix the ECA. Now Congress will debate the particulars.

At the most elemental level, the overarching principle that should animate ECA reform is this: Congress must eliminate as many opportunities to manipulate which presidential electors are counted as it can.

The core problem: This manipulation can occur at both ends of the process. At the front end, a state legislature can appoint electors for the wrong candidate — and a governor working with them can certify those electors — in defiance of the choice made by the state’s voters.

At the back end, Congress can count that wrong set of electors, and if so, they officially stand. Whether done in one or multiple states, that could tip a close election.

ECA reform must fix the problem at both ends. But it turns out this is hard. The new revelations help explain why.

As The Post reports, the Justice Department is examining Trump’s involvement in two ways he and his allies tried to corrupt the process at the front end.

Trump tried to get state legislatures to appoint electors for him in defiance of the voting. Separately, Trump’s allies, apparently with his awareness, tried to get GOP officials in those states to put forth entirely fake electors for him.

The idea was that his vice president, Mike Pence, would delay the count of actual electors on Jan. 6, 2021, a goal much of the plot revolved around. The states could then change course and appoint Trump electors.

The emails obtained by the Times help show how the scheme interlocked. The idea was that the mere existence of numerous slates of electors could allow congressional Republicans to argue over which were real….