Trump pressured Michigan election officials, bombshell recordings reveal

Detroit, Michigan - Donald Trump pushed local officials not to certify 2020 election results in Michigan, according to audio recordings cited in a news report Thursday.

Donald Trump in 2020 pressured election officials in Michigan to not certify election results that sealed his loss in the state.
Donald Trump in 2020 pressured election officials in Michigan to not certify election results that sealed his loss in the state.  © SAUL LOEB / AFP

The bombshell revelation come as Trump runs again for president and is poised to nab the Republican nomination in 2024, despite both state and federal charges against him.

In phone call recordings revealed by The Detroit News, Trump reportedly pressured two local officials not to sign the certification of vote results in their county.

He allegedly told the two Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers that "we've got to fight for our country" and that "we can't let these people take our country away from us."

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The phone call came two weeks after the November 3 election, in which Trump lost Michigan.

Also present on the call was Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, a Michigan native, who at one point told the two: "If you can go home tonight, do not sign it. ... We will get you attorneys."

Trump agreed, adding, "We'll take care of that."

Trump and McDaniel ask election officials not to certify results

Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel was also present on the call and asked election officials to "not sign" documents certifying election results.
Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel was also present on the call and asked election officials to "not sign" documents certifying election results.  © Frederic J. BROWN / AFP

About 18% of the northern state's population lives in Wayne County and approximately 878,000 votes were cast there in the 2020 election, according to The Detroit News.

The 77-year-old Trump is set to go on trial in Washington in March on federal charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the November 2020 election won by Joe Biden.

He faces similar charges in a separate case in Georgia, where he famously pressured secretary of state Brad Raffensperger in a taped call to "find" 11,780 votes that would reverse his defeat to Biden in the state.

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In the Michigan call, Trump told the two Republican members of the county board, Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, that they would look "terrible" if they certified the election results – especially because they had initially voted against them before later voting to approve the results.

McDaniel said in a statement to The Detroit News that "What I said publicly and repeatedly at the time... is that there was ample evidence that warranted an audit."

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung, meanwhile, repeated election fraud lies, saying that Trump's actions were part of his duty to "ensure election integrity, including investigating the rigged and stolen 2020 presidential election."

Cover photo: SAUL LOEB / AFP

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