Trump pressures Georgia’s election chief on call: ‘I just want to find 11,780 votes’
In the final days before a group of GOP lawmakers try to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential win, President Trump pressured Georgia’s election chief to reverse the president elect’s win in the state, saying during a weekend phone call, “I just want to find 11,780 votes.”
The bombshell call between Trump and Georgia’s secretary of state, Republican Brad Raffensperger, was the president’s latest unprecedented step in attempting to overturn the Nov. 3 election that Biden won with 306 Electoral College votes to Trump’s 232. Congress is due to meet Wednesday in a joint session to confirm Biden’s victory.
During the Saturday phone call, Trump told Raffensperger, “All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”
Biden won the state by 11,779 votes.
The audio of the call was first posted by The Washington Post. The Associated Press then obtained a recording.
Before the audio emerged Sunday, Trump tweeted, “I spoke to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger yesterday about Fulton County and voter fraud in Georgia. He was unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as the ‘ballots under table’ scam, ballot destruction, out of state ‘voters’, dead voters, and more. He has no clue!”
Twitter flagged the tweet, saying the claims about election fraud is disputed.
Raffensperger tweeted in response, “Respectfully, President Trump: What you’re saying is not true. The truth will come out.”
Biden senior adviser Bob Bauer called Trump’s call “irrefutable proof of a president pressuring and threatening an official of his own party to get him to rescind a state’s lawful, certified vote count and fabricate another in its place.”
Meanwhile, the Republican congressional effort to overturn Biden’s win was met with pushback on Sunday from GOP colleagues on Capitol Hill.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, frequently a staunch supporter of Trump, called the party’s Electoral College challenge this week a “political dodge.” Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and a coalition of 11 senators, along with up to 100 members of the House are planning to object to certification of the Electoral College on Wednesday, proposing instead an election commission.
In response, Graham tweeted, “Proposing a commission at this late date — which has zero chance of becoming reality — is not effectively fighting for President Trump. It appears to be more of a political dodge than an effective remedy.”
Graham also tweeted, “I do look forward to hearing from and will listen closely to the objections of my colleagues in challenging the results of this election. They will need to provide proof of the charges they are making … . My colleagues will have the opportunity to make this case, and I will listen closely. But they have a high bar to clear.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has warned Republicans off such challenges but said little when asked about it at the Capitol as the Senate opened Sunday.
“We’ll be dealing with all of that on Wednesday,” he said.
Herald wire services were used in this report.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/35ntTD9
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