Trump–Raffensperger phone call: Difference between revisions

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Georgia Senator [[David Perdue]] told Fox News in a January 3 interview that recording and leaking the conversation, allegedly by Raffensperger, was "disgusting" and that "what the President said in this state today is no different than what he's been saying for the last two months."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hains |first1=Tim |title=David Perdue Says It is "Disgusting" Trump Call With Georgia Secretary Of State Was Leaked |url=https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2021/01/03/david_perdue_says_it_is_disgusting_trump_call_with_georgia_secretary_of_state_was_leaked.html |date=January 3, 2021 |website=Real Clear Politics |access-date=4 January 2021 |format=Video}}</ref>
Georgia Senator [[David Perdue]] told Fox News in a January 3 interview that recording and leaking the conversation, allegedly by Raffensperger, was "disgusting" and that "what the President said in this state today is no different than what he's been saying for the last two months."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hains |first1=Tim |title=David Perdue Says It is "Disgusting" Trump Call With Georgia Secretary Of State Was Leaked |url=https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2021/01/03/david_perdue_says_it_is_disgusting_trump_call_with_georgia_secretary_of_state_was_leaked.html |date=January 3, 2021 |website=Real Clear Politics |access-date=4 January 2021 |format=Video}}</ref>


On January 4, 2021, Democratic congressional leaders, believing Trump "engaged in solicitation of, or conspiracy to commit, a number of election crimes", requested the FBI to investigate the incident.<ref name="NBC-20210104">{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Allan |last2=Moe |first2=Alex |title=Democrats ask FBI Director Wray to open criminal probe into Trump after leaked phone call - Reps. Ted Lieu and Kathleen Rice wrote that they believe Trump "engaged in solicitation of, or conspiracy to commit, a number of election crimes." |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/democrats-ask-fbi-director-wray-open-criminal-probe-trump-after-n1252732 |date=January 4, 2021 |work=[[NBC News]] |accessdate=January 4, 2021 }}</ref>
On January 4, 2021, Raffensperger himself confirmed the phone conversation during an interview which aired on ''[[Good Morning America]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-plain-wrong-fraud-claims-georgia-secretary-state/story?id=75032595|title=Trump 'just plain wrong' on fraud claims: Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger|first=Quinn|last=Scanlan|publisher=ABC News|date=January 4, 2020|accessdate=January 4, 2020}}</ref> The same day, Democratic congressional leaders, believing Trump "engaged in solicitation of, or conspiracy to commit, a number of election crimes", requested the FBI to investigate the incident.<ref name="NBC-20210104">{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Allan |last2=Moe |first2=Alex |title=Democrats ask FBI Director Wray to open criminal probe into Trump after leaked phone call - Reps. Ted Lieu and Kathleen Rice wrote that they believe Trump "engaged in solicitation of, or conspiracy to commit, a number of election crimes." |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/democrats-ask-fbi-director-wray-open-criminal-probe-trump-after-n1252732 |date=January 4, 2021 |work=[[NBC News]] |accessdate=January 4, 2021 }}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 19:28, 4 January 2021

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On January 2, 2021, U.S. President Donald Trump pressured Brad Raffensperger, the Secretary of State of Georgia, during an hour-long telephone call to change the state's vote totals from the 2020 presidential election, in which Trump was defeated by Joe Biden. Trump has refused to accept the outcome of the presidential election,[1] and has made an unprecedented effort to overturn it. Trump's call with Raffensperger was first reported by The Washington Post and other media outlets the day after it took place.[2][3][4] According to the publicly-released recording of the call and reports made by multiple news agencies, Trump attempted to pressure the Secretary into "finding him votes", despite being repeatedly told that there was no electoral error. Trump's repeated efforts to convince the Secretary to find some basis to overturn the election results were perceived as pleading and threatening. At one point on the call, Trump told Raffensperger, "What I want to do this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than [the 11,779 vote margin of defeat], because we won the state."[5]

Background

See also: 2020 United States presidential election in Georgia, Post-election lawsuits related to the 2020 United States presidential election, and Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election § Calls with state officials

In the 2020 United States presidential election, former Vice President Joe Biden defeated incumbent President Donald Trump, in part through a narrow victory over Trump in the state of Georgia. Nevertheless, Trump's campaign continued to claim baseless accounts of voter fraud which have been resoundingly dismissed by fact-checkers, elections-security experts, and courts. Nearly all of Trump's legal challenges to the election results were unsuccessful, but he has repeatedly refused to accept the outcome of the election.[6] Audits were conducted and hand recounts requested, all of which ultimately concluded there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would considerably change the results.[7][8] Biden was officially confirmed to the winner of Georgia on November 19.[9]

Taped conversation

On January 2, 2021, Trump held a one-hour phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.[3][10] Trump was joined by chief of staff Mark Meadows, trade adviser Peter Navarro, Justice Department official John Lott Jr., law professor John Eastman and attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Cleta Mitchell and Kurt Hilbert. Raffensperger was joined by his general counsel Ryan Germany.[11]

During the phone call, Trump maintained falsely that he had won Georgia, continuing to insist that the election results were wrong. Trump reportedly started to threaten Raffensperger after it became clear that his attempts at persuasion would not work. At one point on the call, he claimed that what he needed was "11,780" votes, and that Raffensperger should "reevaluate" the election's results, claiming a myriad of different conspiracy theories regarding voting in the state. Raffensperger, in response, answered that the election results in that state were correct and legitimate, and that Trump "had got his data wrong."[12] During his attempts to pressure Raffensperger into changing the election results, at one point Trump stated "I just want to find 11,780 votes" in order to turn the state of Georgia. During different points of the conversation Trump had asked for his support for the Republican Party in an alleged partisan manner, and at other points threatened him with legal action if Raffensperger would not cooperate with the president.[13]

During the call, Trump asked Georgia attorney Ryan Germany "Why don’t you want to find this, Ryan? What’s wrong with you? I heard your lawyer is very difficult, actually, but I’m sure you’re a good lawyer. You have a nice last name".[12]

Reactions

Carl Bernstein, one of the investigative journalists who revealed the Watergate scandal, said the allegations were "far worse than Watergate", according to HuffPost,[14] referring to it as "the ultimate smoking gun tape". U.S. Representative Hank Johnson has called it "a violation of state and federal law", while Senator Dick Durbin has said it "merits nothing less than a criminal investigation."[15] Raffensperger publicly stated that "the truth will come out" on Twitter regarding the incident.[16] The Washington Post had called it "extraordinary" that a sitting U.S. president would attempt to pressure a Secretary of a U.S. state into changing the votes of a state.[12] David Worley, the Democratic appointee to the State Elections Board and a former Democratic Party of Georgia chairman, called for a criminal probe into Trump's actions, stating that Trump solicited election fraud and constitute a violation of state law.[17]

Georgia Senator David Perdue told Fox News in a January 3 interview that recording and leaking the conversation, allegedly by Raffensperger, was "disgusting" and that "what the President said in this state today is no different than what he's been saying for the last two months."[18]

On January 4, 2021, Raffensperger himself confirmed the phone conversation during an interview which aired on Good Morning America.[19] The same day, Democratic congressional leaders, believing Trump "engaged in solicitation of, or conspiracy to commit, a number of election crimes", requested the FBI to investigate the incident.[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ Amy, Jeff; Superville, Darlene; Brumback, Kate (January 4, 2021). "Trump, on tape, presses Ga. official to 'find' him votes". AP News. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  2. ^ Shear, Michael D.; Saul, Stephanie (January 3, 2021). "Trump, in Taped Call, Pressured Georgia Official to 'Find' Votes to Overturn Election". The New York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Smith, Allan; Jester, Julia; Thompson, Priscilla (January 3, 2021). "Trump begs Georgia secretary of state to overturn election results in remarkable hourlong phone call". NBC News. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  4. ^ Scanlon, Quinn (January 4, 2021). "Trump demands Georgia secretary of state 'find' enough votes to hand him win". ABC News. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  5. ^ Fowler, Stephen (January 3, 2021). "'This Was A Scam': In Recorded Call, Trump Pushed Official To Overturn Georgia Vote". NPR. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  6. ^ "Distribution of Electoral Votes". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  7. ^ Beck, Lita Nadebah; Fritze, John; Johnson, Kevin; Jackson, David; Rossman, Sean (November 18, 2020). "Election 2020 updates: Georgia nears recount completion; no more uncounted ballots found". USA Today. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  8. ^ Stirgus, Eric (November 16, 2020). "Georgia election recount nears finish line with few hiccups". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  9. ^ Morris, Jason; Reston, Maeve; Cohen, Marshall (November 19, 2020). "Georgia confirms Biden victory and finds no widespread fraud after statewide audit". CNN. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  10. ^ Duster, Chandelis; Cole, Devan (January 3, 2021). "In call, Trump demands Georgia officials 'find' votes to tilt election". CNN News. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  11. ^ Gardener, Amy; Firozi, Paulina (January 3, 2021). "The Post has published Trump's full phone call with Georgia election officials. Listen to the audio and read the transcript". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  12. ^ a b c Gardner, Amy (January 4, 2021). "'I just want to find 11,780 votes': In extraordinary hour-long call, Trump pressures Georgia secretary of state to recalculate the vote in his favor". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  13. ^ Sullivan, Helen (January 4, 2021). "Trump's phone call to Brad Raffensperger: six key points". The Guardian. Retrieved January 4, 2021. 'You know what they did and you're not reporting it,' Trump said. 'You know, that's a criminal offence. And you know, you can't let that happen. That's a big risk to you and to Ryan [Germany], your lawyer. That's a big risk.'{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ Harvey, Josephine (January 3, 2021). "Carl Bernstein Says Latest Trump Tapes Are 'Far Worse' Than Watergate". HuffPost. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  15. ^ Mitchell, Tia (January 3, 2021). "Democrats denounce Trump's call to Raffensperger as criminal, GOP mostly silent". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on January 3, 2021.
  16. ^ Raffensperger, Brad [@GaSecofState] (January 3, 2021). "Respectfully, President Trump: What you're saying is not true. The truth will come out" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. ^ Armus, Teo (January 4, 2021). "Georgia elections board member calls for probe into Trump's call seeking to pressure Raffensperger". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  18. ^ Hains, Tim (January 3, 2021). "David Perdue Says It is "Disgusting" Trump Call With Georgia Secretary Of State Was Leaked" (Video). Real Clear Politics. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  19. ^ Scanlan, Quinn (January 4, 2020). "Trump 'just plain wrong' on fraud claims: Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger". ABC News. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  20. ^ Smith, Allan; Moe, Alex (January 4, 2021). "Democrats ask FBI Director Wray to open criminal probe into Trump after leaked phone call - Reps. Ted Lieu and Kathleen Rice wrote that they believe Trump "engaged in solicitation of, or conspiracy to commit, a number of election crimes."". NBC News. Retrieved January 4, 2021.

External links

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