A recording of a telephone conversation published by an American newspaper on Thursday shows that former President Donald Trump put pressure on Republican officials in Michigan to dissuade them from certifying the results of the presidential election in that state.
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According to a recording of a telephone conversation published by The Detroit News, on November 17, 2020, Mr. Trump put pressure on two Republican election workers from Michigan (Northeast) who had just voted for the certification results of the presidential election in their county, in which the Democrat Joe Biden was ahead by a clear margin.
“We have to fight for our country,” “we can’t let these people steal our country,” he said on that call to two Wayne County Republicans, Monica Palmer and William Hartman.
The chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, originally from Michigan, also took part in the exchange and declared for her part: “If you can, go home tonight, do not sign the document (…) We will find it. “You lawyers,” referring to the county’s official voting results.
After a nod, Mr. 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, saying they were pressured, The Detroit News reports.
Nearly 18% of Michigan's population lives in Wayne County.
“What I said and reiterated publicly at the time … was that there was ample evidence that warranted consideration,” Ms. McDaniel said in a statement.
For his part, Mr. Trump's campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, told the newspaper that the ex-president intends to “carefully ensure compliance with the law and ensure the integrity of the election, including through investigations into the rigged and stolen 2020 presidential election.”
The 77-year-old former president will also go on trial in Washington in March on charges of unlawful attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Mr. Trump is also accused of electoral pressure in the state of Georgia (southeast), where, according to a recording of a telephone conversation, he asked Brad Raffensperger, a senior official in that state, to “find” almost 12,000 ballots in his possession. Name to catch up with.