The recording of a telephone call made public Thursday by an American daily reveals that former President Donald Trump put pressure on Republican officials in Michigan to dissuade them from validating the results of the presidential election in that state.
According to the recording of a telephone call, made public by “The Detroit News”, Mr. Trump put pressure, on November 17, 2020, on two Republican electoral agents from Michigan (north-east) who had just voted for certification results of the presidential election in their county, where Democrat Joe Biden came in well ahead.
“We have to fight for our country,” “we can’t let these people steal our country,” he told two Wayne County Republicans, Monica Palmer and William Hartman, on that call.
The chair of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, originally from Michigan, also participated in the exchange, declaring for her part: “If you can, go home tonight, do not sign the document (…) We we’ll find you lawyers,” referring to the county’s official voting results.
After nodding, Mr. Trump added: “We will take care of it.”
The two officials then left the certification meeting without signing the document. The next day, they tried unsuccessfully to reverse their vote in favor of certification, claiming to have been pressured, reports “The Detroit News”.
Nearly 18% of Michigan’s population lives in Wayne County.
“What I publicly said and repeated at the time … was that there was ample evidence that warranted an audit,” Ms. McDaniel said in a statement.
Mr. Trump’s campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, for his part told the newspaper that the ex-president intended to “scrupulously ensure compliance with the laws and guarantee the integrity of the election, including by investigating on the rigged and stolen 2020 presidential election.
Aged 77, the former president will also be tried in March in Washington for unlawful attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 election.
Mr. Trump is also accused of electoral pressure in the state of Georgia (southeast) where, according to the recording of a telephone call, he had asked Brad Raffensperger, a senior official of that state, to “find” nearly 12,000 ballots in his name to catch up.
