President Donald Trump has called on Georgia investigators to find ‘dishonesty’ that could help overturn the state’s election results, which defines her work as a matter of national importance, according to a December call obtained in December from the Foreign Minister.
Officials discovered the recording of the conversation between Trump and Frances Watson, the chief investigating officer of Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, in a trash can on Watson’s device, according to a source familiar with the internal process.
The Wall Street Journal reported the audio first.
“You currently have the most important job in the country,” Trump told Watson, who at the time, according to the audio, was conducting an audit on signing absentee ballots in Cobb County.
“Because if we win Georgia … the people of Georgia are so angry at what happened to me, they know I won,” he continued, repeating the false claim that he had won the state.
President Joe Biden won Georgia by 12,670 votes, according to Georgia’s certified results.
“If the right answer comes out, you’ll be commended,” Trump said at another point in the call to Watson, saying, “People will say ‘great’ because that’s what it’s about, the ability to control it. and correct, because everyone knows it’s wrong. ‘
Earlier reports by NBC News and other news outlets, including The Washington Post, misquoted the exact words Trump used to incite Watson to seek fraud based on the statement by Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs of Watson ‘s memory of the conversation.
‘After hearing the tape, it’s clear that [Watson’s] a memoir accurately portrayed the president’s allegations that there was fraud to expose and that he would receive praise for it, “Fuchs said in a statement to NBC News on Monday.
Trump in a statement on Monday expressed his appreciation for the correction of The Post, while reiterating the false allegations of widespread election fraud in Georgia in the months after Biden won the election.
During the conversation, which took place on Dec. 23, Trump said his then-chief of staff, Mark Meadows, suggested calling Watson after Meadows visited Cobb County the previous day.
At one point, Trump, referring to the process of matching the signatures of voters presented at the polling station and the signatures on their ballot papers, said he hoped Watson would review older signatures, rather than just the latest signatures. . for voters.
“If you go back two years and if you can get out at Fulton, you’re going to find things that are going to be incredible, the dishonesty we’ve heard, just good resources, really good resources,” Trump said. said before claiming without evidence that Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold and home of Atlanta, was the ‘mother’ of such fraud.
“I appreciate your comment,” Watson replied. She admitted she was ‘shocked’ because he took the time to call her.
“Whatever you can do, Frances, it will be – it’s a wonderful thing,” Trump told her according to the audio. “This is an important thing for the country. So important. You have no idea. So important. And I really appreciate it.”
Watson said her team is “only interested in the truth” and “finds the information based on the facts.” Trump then asked if her team of investigators would continue to work this past Christmas to make it work quickly.
“Because you know, we have the date of the 6th, which is a very important date,” he said, apparently referring to the joint sitting of Congress to formalize the outcome of the Electoral College. A pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol on January 6 in an attempt to disrupt the process of formalizing Biden’s election victory.
Trump also called on Raffensperger and Republican Gov. Brian Kemp as part of his efforts to overturn the election result, particularly in Georgia, which he became the first GOP candidate in nearly 30 years to lose. .
During the call with Raffensperger, which took place in early January before the riot in the Capitol, Trump begged him to “find” enough votes to block the results and deliver the state to him.