And now, it is official. Trump has reached the 270 threshold of electors needed to assume the Presidency in January, with the Electoral College's refusal to do their duty and stop the ascendancy of a foreign power to the Presidency.

Along the way, there were some defections. 3 Washington state electors voted for Colin Powell instead of Hillary Clinton and one voted for Faith Spotted Eagle, a Native American elder living in South Dakota.

One Maine elector wanted to cast his vote for Bernie Sanders, but switched to Clinton on the second vote.

According to Ben Jacobs, one Texas elector voted for Ron Paul and another for John Kasich. Still, the Texas votes for Trump were enough to put him over the top, and the result was announced just before the California results, which unanimously went to Clinton.

As Jacobs observed on Twitter, Paul's electoral vote this time is more than he got after he ran for President in 2008 and 2012.

Now that the magical 270 has been reached, we can officially announce that Alexander Hamilton was absolutely incorrect about the idea of electors preventing the election of our President by foreign influences.

Putin must be tickled.

Update: Trump immediately released a statement that led off with a lie.