President Donald Trump urged Georgia election officials to “find” thousands of votes and recalculate the election result to flip the state to him -- an extraordinary effort to strong-arm fellow Republicans as he tries to dispute Joe Biden’s election win.
In a 62-minute call on Saturday, Trump oscillated from flattery to threats as he pressed officials, including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, to take action in his favor just days before Congress is scheduled to certify the election results.
The president’s voice -- and that of his chief of staff, Mark Meadows -- was heard in an audio recording of the call that was obtained by Bloomberg News. Excerpts of the call were published earlier Sunday by the Washington Post.
“Look, all I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes,” Trump told Raffensperger. An official recount has affirmed that Biden beat Trump by 11,779 votes in the traditionally Republican state. “Flipping the state is a great testament to our country. It’s a testament that they can admit to a mistake.”
Raffensperger responded: “The challenge that you have is that the data you have is wrong.”
The White House and the Trump campaign didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Raffensperger was asked on ABC Monday whether he felt intimidated by the call. “No, we have to follow the process, follow the law,” he replied. “Everything we’ve done for the last 12 months follows the Constitution of the state of Georgia, follows the United States Constitution, follows state law.”
Among a swift wave of backlash, Representative Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, termed Trump’s actions “potentially criminal, and another flagrant abuse of power.”
Trump’s call threatened to deepen growing resentment toward him within his own party, as several Republicans believe he’s undermining confidence in Georgia’s election process days ahead of a runoff election on Tuesday that will determine control of the U.S. Senate.
Trump told Raffensperger, a Republican whom he once endorsed, that it was a “big risk” for him and his lawyer to not intervene.
“It’s more illegal for you than it is for them, because you know what they did and you’re not reporting it. That’s a criminal offense, and you can’t let that happen. that’s a big risk to you and to Ryan, your lawyer. That’s a big risk,” Trump said, referring the Ryan Germany, Raffensperger’s general counsel.
Trump’s tone shifted throughout the conversation. At one point he told Raffensperger: “You would be respected, really respected if this thing could be straightened out before the election.”
Earlier, Trump said: “The people of Georgia are angry, the people of the country are angry and there’s nothing wrong with saying that, you know, that you’ve recalculated.”
Trump cited attendance at his Georgia rallies as evidence that he won the state, saying the size of his crowds showed “it’s not possible to have lost Georgia.
”So what are we going to do here, folks? I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break,” Trump said.
Trump also recited a series of conspiracy theories -- the secret replacement of “inner parts” of voting machines and the shredding of ballots -- as he urged the officials to overturn the vote.
At one point, Meadows asked Raffensperger whether “in a spirit of cooperation and compromise” they could discuss “a path forward that’s less litigious” than the many failed challenges the Trump campaign has made in courts.
Meadows later tried to wrap up the call by asking if they had an agreement to give Trump full access to data held by the secretary of state. “No, that’s not what I said,” Germany said; he had already said they were legally barred from releasing the full data.
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