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In an interview with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Saturday, which was first reported in The Washington Post, Trump warns that Raffensperger and his General Council could face “significant risks” if they fail to comply with Trump’s demand. .
“The people of Georgia are angry, the people of this country are angry. There is nothing wrong with saying they have counted (votes). They have asked for hundreds of thousands of votes,” Trump said in a statement released by other outlets.
Mr. Raffensperger replied, “Well, Mr. President, the challenge is that the data you have is wrong.”
Respectfully, President Trump: What you say is not true. The truth will come out https://t.co/ViYjTSeRcC
– GA Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (@GaSecofState) January 3, 2021
In traditionally conservative Georgia, Biden defeated fewer than 12,000. majority of votes, which did not change after recalculation and audits. However, even a possible Trump victory in this state would not change the outcome of every election.
Brad Raffensperger
The entry was made two days before the second round of elections for Georgia’s senators and three days before Congress passes it on November 3. the results of the presidential elections.
This approval, which is usually a mere formality, is thwarted this year by a number of MPs who support D. Trump, but Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger urged them to reconsider their decision after listening to the published audio recording.
“It just came to our attention then. For every member of Congress who is considering opposing the election results, he cannot do so with a clear conscience,” Kinzinger wrote on Twitter.
“Contempt for democracy”
The New York Times reported that Raffensperger’s advisers had recorded the conversation, but the Secretary of State had directed them not to release the recording unless the president attacked state officials or lied about what was said.
On Sunday, before the audio was released, Trump tweeted about the conversation, stating that Raffensperger “was unwilling or unable to answer questions about the” under the table “ballot fraud scheme, the destruction of ballots,” voters “from other states, dead voters. and many more.”
Raffensperger, for his part, responded to Trump: “With all due respect, President Trump: what you are saying is not true. The truth will be revealed. “
The White House did not comment on the situation after the audio recording.
Meanwhile, Democrats hastily condemned the conversation.
“RE. A brief disregard for democracy is made public. Again. In an audio recording,” wrote Adam Schiff, a member of the House of Representatives, on Twitter.
“The pressure on an election official to ‘find’ votes and win is potentially criminal, and another scandal is an abuse of power by a man who would become a despot if we let him.” We will not allow it, “he said.
Some policy commentators compared the recorded conversation to recordings of the Watergate scandal that forced former US President Richard Nixon to resign.
Carl Bernstein, one of the journalists who helped end Nixon’s presidency, called Trump’s conversation a “final” pipe record, which forced Nixon to resign.
D. Trump has been fighting for the outcome since the election. However, despite a series of recalculations of votes and claims and an assessment by the Justice Department, the allegations of rigged elections proved unfounded.
At one point, Trump invited Michigan Republican election officials to the White House, possibly in an attempt to pressure them to pass the election.
In another phone conversation, he also lobbied the Republican Governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp.
At the time, Raffensperger and other election officials in Georgia and other states who refused to obey Trump’s orders received assassination threats from Trump supporters.
Under Georgia law, Raffensperger can legally record a conversation without Trump’s knowledge or consent.
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