Former United States President and now candidate Donald Trump pressured two local officials in Michigan by telephone not to certify the 2020 White House election in his bid to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
The call took place on November 17, 2020, two weeks after the election, and in addition to the two officials – affiliated with the Republican Party – and Trump, the chair of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, also participated, as revealed on Thursday. by local newspaper The Detroit News.
During the call, both Trump and McDaniel pressured the two officials, members of Wayne County, not to certify the results.
“We have to fight for our country … we can’t let these people take our country from us,” Trump said in the call, warning officials that if they confirmed the results it would look “terrible.”
The two officials, William Hartmann – now deceased – and Monica Palmer, who had already voted for certification, tried in vain to reverse their decision after the call.
“If you can go home tonight, don’t sign it. We’re going to get lawyers,” McDaniel said during the call.
“We will take care of that,” Trump replied.
Biden won the election in Michigan with 154,000 votes, 50.6% against Trump’s 47.8%.
The phone call, the contents of which were made public this Wednesday by The Detroit News, was recorded by someone who was with Hartmann and Palmer.
The Detroit newspaper’s revelation shows that Trump’s personal involvement in the efforts to overturn the poll results was significant and widespread. Trump did not accept Biden’s victory and defended that he had been the victim of a robbery.
Days after the Michigan call, on January 2, Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to ask him to “find 11,780 votes” that could help him overturn the outcome in that southern state.
The phone call, which Raffensperger recorded and leaked, is key evidence in the criminal case Trump faces in a Georgia court, where he and 18 accomplices are accused of forming a criminal association aimed at altering the outcome of the presidential election to be reversed in 2013. 2020.
The surprising accusation of criminal association is the same one that has been used in the past to dismantle mafia organizations.
Prosecutors want to put Trump in the dock in August 2024, just three months before the election, and the former president could be sentenced to up to 76 and a half years in prison.
On January 6, amid a turbulent political climate in the country due to Trump’s refusal to accept defeat, his followers stormed the United States Capitol on the day Congress was set to certify Biden’s victory.
Source: El heraldo
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
