Sep 11, 2022 - Politics & Policy

Raskin says electoral college is an "accident waiting to happen"

Sri Ravipati

Rep. Jamie Raskin sitting — Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) at the U.S. Capitol. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) cited a need for legislative changes and altering the structure of American elections to prevent people from "seizing" the presidency post-Trump on MSNBC's "All in with Chris Hayes" on Friday.

Driving the news: The Department of Justice subpoenaed former top White House political advisers under former President Trump as part of an ongoing investigation related to Trump’s post-election fundraising and plans for so-called fake electors, the New York Times reports.

Hayes asked Raskin, a member of the bipartisan Jan. 6 select committee, about his reaction to the Save America PAC that was created after the 2020 election.

What they're saying: “Obviously, we’re going to need some legislative changes to the criminal code to account for now the possibility of presidents just taking a headlong rush at seizing the presidency,” Raskin said.

He noted that there are already federal statutes in existence that serve this purpose, such as seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to interfere with a federal proceeding.

“We have to look at the way that the electoral system itself is vulnerable to strategic bad faith actors like Donald Trump,” he continued.

"The electoral college is an accident waiting to happen and we have to deal with that at some point in American history, and why not now?"

Go deeper: Raskin suggests Trump movement shows "hallmarks of a fascist political party"

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Raskin says electoral college is an "accident waiting to happen"

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