Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office was so blindsided by Donald Trump’s demand for an “audit” of the state’s 2020 election results last week that staffers initially were not sure if the former president was “being serious,” Politico reports. But at the risk of provoking his wrath, they quickly rushed to appease the twice-impeached former leader, sources told the news outlet. “There was a mad dash to determine if Trump was actually being serious with his statement and it was decided this was the best route to take without blowing up the special session,” a political aide was quoted saying. While Abbott has sought to play down the coincidental timing of the move to verify the vote results—announced just hours after Trump sent a letter to Abbott pushing him to “act now”—sources cited in the report said there simply was no “audit” at all until Trump’s public demand for one. “The secretary of state‘s decision to call for audits in the four largest counties in Texas was predicated on Trump’s statement mentioning Gov. Abbott,” the aide said. Bizarrely, Trump won Texas in the 2020 election, so it is not clear why he would want to undermine the results.
