Hmmmmm this French connection has me thinking... soooo going to take a stab here.

I've always been convinced that presidential elections have been stolen since John Adams was swindled out of being reelected in 1800. He wrote that he had been "turned out by the Votes of S. Carolina, not fairly obtained." From my research South Carolina was expected to be close, but still a possible win for Adams/Pinckney due to Federalist support. They expected to at least pick up a few Electors as split votes were common back then. Lots of letters discussed SC's situation and how the Electors were chosen by the legislature. There were definitely some shenanigans in play. At first, it seemed that the majority of those elected to the SC legislature and the Electors would be favorable to Federalists. Then all of a sudden, the majority switched... Déjà vu?

Lots of interesting letters between Charles Pinckney, the cousin of Adam's running mate Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Democratic-Republican leaders/operatives like Madison and Monroe. Yes, there were lots of Pinckney's, even apparently confusing Adams while he was the minister to England. In short, Charles Pinckney was a shit to the highest degree. Dirty stuff happened in SC and GA, and it seems he was responsible. These two letters of his are quite incriminating.... https://founders.archives.gov/?q=%22general%20ticket%22&s=1111311111&sa=&r=5&sr= https://founders.archives.gov/?q=Correspondent%3A%22Pinckney%2C%20Charles%22%20Correspondent%3A%22Madison%2C%20James%22&s=1111311111&r=6

There's also a possibility that Adams had misremembered or misspoke and actually meant the discrepancies in Georgia. Again, Déjà vu? There was a lot of dirty business in the GA Yazoo scandal.

Interestingly, early on Adams was tipped off about scheming from certain Federalists, from his own party (sort of): The Truth is, Sir, that a cabal exists whose object is to have Mr Ellsworth elected President: Hamilton, Sedgwick, & Harper are at the Head of this intrigue, & Dayton, Wolcot, Pickering Hillhouse as others have embarked with great zeal in the project. And yet, once Hamilton & Co realized that Jefferson would be a worse result, Hamilton determined that "To support Adams & Pinckney, equally, is the only thing that can possibly save us from the fangs of Jefferson."

The key issue in the election of 1800 was the situation with England and France. Hamilton & Co wanted to go to war against France and support England. Jefferson & Co wanted to go to war against England and support France. Adams, in following Washington's lead and advice, wanted to preserve peace and avoid war with either. There was definitely motive to remove Adams, who was actually quite liked by the common people at the time, and even to an extent with Congress (which drafted and approved the Alien and Sedition Acts, Adams just signed them into law... hawks from both parties presumably wanted the president to use the laws more strongly to censor/punish those who opposed their war aims). The media campaign against Adams (and Jefferson to that matter) was arguably the worst in US history prior to the one against Trump.