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WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump lobbied Georgia’s top election official, a fellow Republican, in an extraordinary telephone conversation to “find” enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the southern state, US media reported Sunday.
In conversation with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Saturday, the recording of which was first obtained by The Washington Post, Trump warns Raffensperger that he and his attorney general could face “great risk” if they do not comply with his request.
“The people of Georgia are angry, the people of the country are angry,” Trump is heard saying on the tape, which was also broadcast by other outlets.
“And there is nothing wrong with saying, you know, that you have recalculated,” says the president. “You are out of place by hundreds of thousands of votes.”
Raffensperger is heard responding, “Well, Mr. President, the challenge you have is that the data you have is wrong.”
Biden won traditionally conservative status by fewer than 12,000 votes, a margin unchanged after recounts and audits.
Even a hypothetical investment would not be enough to deprive Biden of victory.
The news of the recording came at an extraordinary moment, two days before the special second-round elections in Georgia that will decide control of the United States Senate, and three days before Congress certifies the results of the elections of the United States. November 3.
That normally routine certification is now being challenged by dozens of lawmakers at Trump’s behest, though Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger urged them to reconsider in light of the tape.
“This is absolutely shocking. Every member of Congress who is considering opposing the election results, cannot, in light of this, do so with a clear conscience, ”he tweeted.
‘Contempt for democracy’
Prior to the release of the audio, Trump tweeted about the call, saying that Raffensperger “was unwilling or unable to answer questions such as ‘ballot under the table’ scam, destruction of ballots, out-of-state ‘voters’, dead voters , and more”.
Raffensperger responded on Twitter, also prior to the release of the audio, saying: “Respectfully, President Trump, what you are saying is not true. The truth will come out. “
After the statement, the White House declined to comment.
Democrats were quick to condemn the call.
“Trump’s contempt for democracy is exposed. Once again. Recorded, ”Rep. Adam Schiff said on Twitter.
“Pressuring an election official to ‘find’ the votes and win is potentially criminal, and another blatant abuse of power by a corrupt man who would be a despot, if we let him. We do not.”
Some political commentators compared the call to the Watergate tapes that led to the downfall of former US President Richard Nixon.
Carl Bernstein, one of the reporters who helped bring down the Nixon presidency, called it “the ultimate test tape.”
Trump has waged an all-out fight against the election results. But dozens of accounts and lawsuits, as well as a review by his own Justice Department, have failed to substantiate the claims.
At one point, he invited Michigan Republican election officials to the White House in an apparent effort to pressure them to certify their vote.
He also lobbied Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, in a separate phone call.
Raffensperger and other election officials who have rejected Trump’s pleas, in Georgia and other states, have received death threats from their supporters.
It was unclear who released the tape, but under Georgia law, Raffensperger could have legally recorded it without Trump’s consent.
