For Trump, this is about as gracious as you get. At least he didn't make up something like, "And with threats on her life from Antifa and BLM...."
I don't know if Emily Murphy was in her position in 2016 but can you imagine the outcry from Trump, his supporters and the GOP if the GSA had delayed like she had given that counts were also going on for awhile then including a recount in WI.
For conceding on night 1, Clinton was called a sore loser. It would have been deafening. And this set another bad precedent. The statement itself... smh.
How Trumpian, to simultaneously concede the beginning of the transition and insist that his team will win legal challenges making him the winner of the election. 4D chess. It's now clear that he can say literally anything and it will be taken as fact by 40-70 million Americans, so he can give as many self-conflicting messages as he wants. Trump giveth and he taketh away- I can see him withdrawing consent in the next weeks or setting up roadblocks to transition.
The letter from Murphy is interesting. The fact that she repeats over and over, in writing, that she was never pressured to block the transition appears defensive. (That, and it's very hard to believe she wasn't pressured.) The following is pure speculation: What if some dem lawyers are building a sedition case (or other multiple procedural election law-breaking cases) against Graham, Giuliani, and others, and Murphy got wind that there could be trouble for accomplices once Trump is out of power? Needs to cover her own *ss. Maybe maybe no.
Elite paper shredding force. It's gonna be nothing but covering tracks and shredding documents 24/7. So much corruption to hide.
Lame duck. The GOP has moved on, some in public, probably all in private and many have told Trump so. He got little choice but to save face, keep up the good fight and continue grifting.
Given that she was not only roundly criticized but also threatened I think is more likely why she feels she has to say she wasn't pressured. My guess would be she's more worried about her reputation and maybe her safety than she is a being charged. I doubt any direct pressure was applied to her but given what Trump has said in his tweets he probably made it very clear to her what he expected. This will probably be like the situation with Comey where Trump ask her for her loyalty and tells her "she knows what to do.."
