It is a recording of a telephone call which reveals the pressure exerted by the former American president. Made public Thursday, December 21 by the American daily The Detroit News, the script of this call, which dates back to November 17, 2020, reveals that Donald Trump put pressure on Republican officials in Michigan in order to dissuade them from validating the results of the American presidential election in the state, where his Democratic opponent Joe Biden then came in well ahead.
Speaking to Republican election officials in the northwestern US state, Wayne County lawmakers Monica Palmer and William Hartman, who had just voted to certify their county’s presidential election results , Mr. Trump said, “We have to fight for our country,” “we can’t let these people steal our country.”
“Don’t sign the document.”
The chair of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, originally from Michigan, also participated in the exchange, declaring for her part, to the address of the two electoral agents: “If you can, go home tonight, do not sign not the document (…) We will find you lawyers”. After acquiescing, the then-Republican president added: “We’ll take care of it. »
Following this call, the two election officials left the certification meeting without signing the document. The next day, they unsuccessfully tried to reverse their vote in favor of certification, claiming to have been pressured, reports The Detroit News.
“What I publicly said and repeated at the time (…) is that there was ample evidence that justified an audit,” responded Ms. McDaniel in a press release, after the publication of the recording. Mr. Trump’s campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, for his part told the newspaper that the ex-president intended to “scrupulously ensure compliance with the laws and guarantee the integrity of the election, including by investigating on the Rigged and Stolen 2020 Presidential Election.”
Aged 77, the former American head of state, candidate for the 2024 presidential election, is cornered by legal affairs. In particular, he is due to be tried in March in Washington, New York, for unlawful attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Mr. Trump is also indicted in the state of Georgia on election lobbying charges where, according to a recording of a phone call, he asked Brad Raffensperger, a senior official in that state, to “find” nearly 12 000 ballots in his name to catch up.