Report: Trump Pressured Georgia Officials To “Find” Ballots
In a roughly hourlong phone call, President Donald Trump pressured Georgia’s top elections official to “find” over 11,000 votes that would overturn the results of the election in the state.
The call audio was first released by The Washington Post and was also obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. NBC News also obtained the call.
The call featured the president pleading with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to alter the vote total, as well as launching into an onslaught of false claims and conspiracy theories about the election.
Throughout the call, Raffensperger and Ryan Germany, his office’s general counsel, pushed back on Trump’s claims, maintaining that President-elect Joe Biden won the state.
At one point, Trump said, “all I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”
Trump went on to ask Raffensperger about a “rumor” that ballots were being “shredded” in Fulton County, as well as whether or not Dominion, a voting machine company that has been a target of conspiracy theories, removed voting machines.
“Fellas, I need 11,000 votes,” Trump said. “Give me a break. We have that in spades already.”
“The people of Georgia are angry, the people in the country are angry,” Trump said. “And there’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you’ve recalculated.”
Raffensperger responded, saying, “Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is, the data you have is wrong.”
There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the November election. Attorney General William Barr said in December that the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
The Washington Post reported that White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and attorney Cleta Mitchell were on the call.
The state of Georgia counted the votes cast in November’s election three times. Biden won the Peach State by over 12,000 votes.
“There’s no way I lost Georgia,” Trump said on the call. “There’s no way. We won by hundreds of thousands of votes.”
Trump is set to host a rally on Monday in Dalton, Georgia, for Georgia Republican Senate candidates David Perdue and Sen. Kelly Loeffler. Trump said that Raffensperger’s inaction could doom the Republican candidates.
“You have a big election coming up and because of what you’ve done to the president – you know, the people of Georgia know that this was a scam,” Trump said. “Because of what you’ve done to the president, a lot of people aren’t going out to vote, and a lot of Republicans are going to vote negative, because they hate what you did to the president. Okay? They hate it. And they’re going to vote. And you would be respected, really respected, if this can be straightened out before the election.”
A number of prominent Democrats responded to the report. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called out the group of lawmakers planning to object to the election results on Wednesday, saying, “You want to investigate election fraud? Start with this.”
Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, wrote, “Trump’s contempt for democracy is laid bare. Once again. On tape.”
Earlier Sunday, in response to a Twitter post from the president talking about a discussion involving the two of them, Raffensperger wrote, “Respectfully, President Trump: What you’re saying is not true. The truth will come out.”
This is a developing story. Check back later for further updates.
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