On the same day Donald Trump’s puppets in Congress passed his Big Bucks For Billionaires Bill (and life-threatening cuts for the rest of us), The New York Times published a very disturbing article that makes it clear Trump, via his Department of Justice, plans to again threaten or at least pressure election officials. This time, it's in advance of elections.

Via The Times (my emphases added):

Senior Justice Department officials are exploring whether they can bring criminal charges against state or local election officials if the Trump administration determines they have not sufficiently safeguarded their computer systems, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The department’s effort, which is still in its early stages, is not based on new evidence, data or legal authority, according to the people, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions. Instead, it is driven by the unsubstantiated argument made by many in the Trump administration that American elections are easy prey to voter fraud and foreign manipulation, these people said.

The article goes on to say, “Such a path could significantly raise the stakes for federal investigations of state or county officials, thrusting the Justice Department and the threat of criminalization into the election system in a way that has never been done before.”

Ya think?

Now, we know that the only election Donald “Find me 11,780 votes” Trump thinks is fair is the one with results he likes. Just ask his former vice president, Mike Pence, of Jan. 6th’s “Hang Mike Pence” fame.

But while Trump tried to steal the 2020 election by yelling “fraud!” after the fact, now he’s working on pre-stealing whatever elections suit him by threatening election officials in the bogus name of fair and secure elections.

More from The Times:

In recent days, senior officials have directed Justice Department lawyers to examine the ways in which a hypothetical failure by state or local officials to follow security standards for electronic voting could be charged as a crime, appearing to assume a kind of criminally negligent mismanagement of election systems. Already, the department has started to contact election officials across the country, asking for information on voting in the state.

A spokesman for the Justice Department, Gates McGavick, said the agency “will leave no option off the table when it comes to promoting free, fair and secure elections.”

…

“The tactics we’re seeing out of D.O.J. right now are building on what we’ve seen from anti-democracy groups for years,” said Dax Goldstein, the program director of election protection at the States United Democracy Center, a nonprofit organization. “They’re rooted in the same lies about elections, and they’re all meant to create noise and fear and concerns about issues with our elections that just don’t exist. Our elections are safe and secure, and election officials are working to keep them that way."

The only sort-of bright spot in all this is that the elections section of the DOJ is “in significant turmoil,” The Times reported, and there are just “a handful” of lawyers left after a “broad exodus” following President P*ssy Grabber’s return to the White House.

And just in case you still believe there is anything legit about this effort, The Times also reported, “Inside the Justice Department, a number of lawyers have struggled to find a criminal statute to match the Trump administration’s demands, according to the people familiar with the matter.”