The Washington Post has released audio of President Donald J. Trump telling the Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes in the state to change the election results. In the call, Trump says that any other outcome would be a “criminal offense” — essentially threatening to have Raffensperger arrested if he does not do Trump’s bidding.

Trump tells Raffensperger that “there’s nothing wrong with saying that you’ve recalculated” and says: “You’re off by hundreds of thousands of votes. You know what they did and you’re not reporting it. That’s a, you know, that’s a criminal, that’s a criminal offense. That’s a big risk to you and Ryan, your lawyer.” Trump says: “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state.”

Trump says the failure to do this will be “costly in many ways” and tells Raffensperger to “reexamine it with people that want to find answers, not people that don’t want to find answers.”

The House of Representatives should immediately impeach Trump again, and the Senate should (but never will) vote to have him removed.

Listen to an excerpt of the call here. The transcript is below.

TRUMP: We have won this election in Georgia, based on all of this. And there’s nothing wrong with saying that, Brad. You know, I mean, having the cor– having a correct — the people of Georgia are angry. And these numbers are going to be repeated on Monday night, along with others that we’re going to have by that time, which are much more substantial even. And the people of Georgia are angry. The people in the country are angry. And there’s nothing wrong with saying that, you know, that you’ve recalculated.

RAFFENSPERGER: Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is the data you have is wrong.

TRUMP: Now, do you think it’s possible that they shredded ballots in Fulton County? ‘Cause that’s what the rumor is. And also that Dominion took out machines. That Dominion is really moving fast to get rid of their, uh, machinery. Do you know anything about that? ‘Cause that’s illegal, right?

GERMANY: This is Ryan Germany. No, Dominion has not moved any machinery out of Fulton County.

TRUMP: But have they moved the inner parts of the machines and replaced them with other parts?

GERMANY: No.

TRUMP: Are you sure, Ryan?

GERMANY: I’m sure.

. . . .

TRUMP: You should want to have an accurate election. And you’re a Republican.

RAFFENSPERGER: We believe that we do have an accurate election.

TRUMP: No, no, you don’t. No, no, you don’t. You don’t have. You don’t have. Not even close. You’re off by hundreds of thousands of votes.

. . . .

TRUMP: You know what they did, and you’re not reporting it. That’s a criminal, that’s a criminal offense. And you know, you can’t let that happen. That’s a big risk to you and to Ryan, your lawyer. And that’s a big risk. But they are shredding ballots, in my opinion, based on what I’ve heard. And they are removing machinery, and they’re moving it as fast as they can, both of which are criminal fines. And you can’t let it happen, and you are letting it happen. You know, I mean, I’m notifying you that you’re letting it happen. So look — all I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state.

. . . .

TRUMP: So, tell me, Brad. What are we going to do? We won the election, and it’s not fair to take it away from us like this. And it’s going to be very costly in many ways. And I think you have to say that you’re going to reexamine it, and you can reexamine it, but reexamine it with people that want to find answers, not people that don’t want to find answers. For instance, I’m hearing Ryan that he’s probably, I’m sure a great lawyer and everything, but he’s making statements about those ballots that he doesn’t know. But he’s making them with such — he did make them with surety. But now I think he’s less sure, because the answer is, they all went to Biden, and that alone wins us the election by a lot. You know, so.

RAFFENSPERGER: Mr. President, you have people that submit information, and we have our people that submit information, and then it comes before the court, and the court then has to make a determination. We have to stand by our numbers. We believe our numbers are right.

TRUMP: Well, under law, you’re not allowed to give faulty election results, okay? You’re not allowed to do that. And that’s what you’ve done. This is a faulty election result. And honestly, this should go very fast. You should meet tomorrow, because you have a big election coming up, and because of what you’ve done to the president — you know, the people of Georgia know that this was a scam, and because of what you’ve done to the president, a lot of people aren’t going out to vote, and a lot of Republicans are going to vote negative, because they hate what you did to the president. Okay? They hate it. And they’re going to vote. And you would be respected, really respected, if this thing could be straightened out before the election. You have a big election coming up on Tuesday.

It is the second Sunday of Christmas. Today’s Bach cantata is “Das neugeborne Kindelein” (The new-born infant child):

Today’s Gospel reading is John 1:(1-9), 10-18:

The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

The text of today’s cantata is available here, and contains these words:

The new-born baby,
the heart’s-beloved little Jesus,
now brings a new year
to the chosen flock of Christians.

. . . .

The true year of jubilation has been brought,
why then should we continually mourn?
Up, revived! now it is the time to sing,
since little Jesus turns aside all sorrow.

Happy listening! Soli Deo gloria.