President Donald Trump's campaign is preparing for a brutal legal battle on the ground after ballots are cast in the Nov. 3 election.
The president has refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power, and lawyers for his campaign and Joe Biden's are fanning out across the country to prepare for legal challenges to the vote count, reported Axios.
“There are a lot of options if it turns out that the election results aren’t fair and free,” a Trump campaign source told the website.
A Trump-backing Republican lawyer fears election results may be disputed in various states, where the same legal issue may be interpreted in different ways, and the House of Representatives is forced to declare a winner because the Supreme Court is deadlocked because Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat remains unfilled.
“It’s tremendously dangerous from every perspective,” said attorney David Rivkin, who served in the White House counsel’s office and Justice Department under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
The Trump campaign insists the president's remarks have been misinterpreted, but their on-the-record statements contain conspicuous caveats about which ballots should be counted.
"The Trump campaign is fighting to ensure every valid ballot across America counts as we work to deliver the free and fair election Americans deserve," campaign general counsel Michael Morgan told Axios.
But ultimately, even Trump campaign advisers concede the president can't simply remain in office if he doesn't like the election results.
"Trump can say 'I don't concede, I think it's rigged,' but he would not be the president," said one Trump legal adviser.