This is a new affair which embarrasses the ex-president who wants to return to the White House. The recording of a telephone call made public on Thursday, December 21, by an American daily reveals that 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, Donald Trump put pressure, on November 17, 2020, on two Republican electoral agents from Michigan (north-east) who had just voted for the certification of the results of the presidential election in their county, where Democrat Joe Biden had arrived largely in head.
“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.
“Do not sign the document”
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel of Michigan also participated in the exchange, saying, “If you can, go home tonight, don’t sign the document […] We’ll get you lawyers,” referring to the county’s official election results. After nodding, Donald Trump added, “We’ll take care of it.”
The two officials then left the certification meeting without signing the document. The next day, they unsuccessfully tried to reverse their vote in favor of certification, claiming to have been pressured, reports The Detroit News. And that’s no small thing since nearly 18% of Michigan’s population lives in Wayne County.
“What I publicly said and repeated at the time […] is that there was ample evidence that warranted an audit,” Ronna McDaniel said in a statement.
The Trump camp says it ensures compliance with the laws
Donald Trump’s campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, for his part told the newspaper that the former president intended to “scrupulously ensure compliance with the laws and guarantee the integrity of the election, including by investigating 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. Donald Trump is also accused of electoral pressure in the state of Georgia (southeast ) where, according to the recording of a telephone call, he asked Brad Raffensperger, a senior official in this state, to “find” nearly 12,000 ballots in his name to catch up.