As Trump rages and rakes in the cash, Biden plays it cool

Analysis: As Trump raged against his attorney general, the president-elect reassured an interviewer that he will not direct the Justice Department to prosecute his enemies

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are setting up an administration. But what is Donald Trump setting up?

It’s often difficult to tell.

It became clear on Thursday that he already has teed up yet another reality television-like cliffhanger involving a cabinet official. This time it’s Attorney General William Barr, who earlier this week contradicted the president’s claims of a voter fraud conspiracy among Democrats in swing states he lost to the now-president-elect.

“He hasn’t done anything yet,” Mr Trump said of Mr Barr. “When he looks he’ll see the kind of evidence that right now you are seeing in the Georgia [state] Senate. They are going through hearings right now in the [state] Senate and they are finding tremendous volumes. So [the Justice Department] haven’t looked very hard. Which is a disappointment, to be honest.”

Asked if he still has confidence in Barr, he replied: “Ask me that in a number of weeks from now. They should be looking at all of this fraud. This is not civil. This is criminal stuff. This is very bad criminal stuff.”

Only Mr Barr said the opposite on Tuesday.

Nonetheless, in a brief question-and-answer session with reporters, the president continued pushing his preferred narrative. “So I just say this: We went through an election. At 10 o'clock, everybody said, ‘That was an easy victory for Trump.’ All of a sudden, the votes started disappearing – miraculously disappearing.

“We found much of it, but we found far more votes than we need in almost all of these states,” he added. “And I think I can say in all of these states, far more votes than we need to win every one of them.”

The president continues to ignore the fact that vote-counters in most of the swing states were required, by law, to tally in-person ballots before mailed-in ballots – and according to numerous studies, Republicans tend to vote in person, while Democrats are more likely to choose the postal method.

Experts say that explains why Mr Biden pulled ahead as election night became 4 November.

But what explains Mr Trump’s continued accusations, in which he persists despite his legal team offering no evidence during dozens of federal court hearings – most of which have been dismissed, some even by Trump-appointed judges?

Consider this: the president’s campaign announced Thursday evening that several political entities affiliated with the president and the Republican National Committee have raised $207.5m since Election Day alone. That’s a $30m spike in just one day.

The “legal” fight allows Mr Trump to continue raking in millions in small donations from his supporters as he prepares to become just another citizen – one who owes a slew of creditors $400m.

His 2020 campaign manager, Bill Stepien, claimed in a statement that the $207.5m is meant to pay for the election challenge and to help the GOP’s 2022 congressional candidates. But one former Demcoratic cabinet official smells something else cooking.

The monies raised since 3 November amount to “nothing but a political slush fund for him when he leaves office,” tweeted Robert Reich, Labor Secretary under then-President Bill Clinton. “The biggest con of the Don.”

For his part, the incoming commander in chief insists things will change come 20 January.

“I’m not going to be telling them, ‘Go prosecute A, B or C,” Mr Biden told CNN. “It’s not my Justice Department, it’s the people’s Justice Department.”