THEN-PRESIDENT Donald Trump called Georgia’s elections investigator requesting she overturn the election results and said she would be “praised” when the “right answer” emerged. Trump made the phone call to the state’s top elections investigator, Frances Watson, two days before Christmas. He seemed to try to flatter Watson and made his election fraud claims. “I […]
THEN-PRESIDENT Donald Trump called Georgia’s elections investigator requesting she overturn the election results and said she would be “praised” when the “right answer” emerged.
Trump made the phone call to the state’s top elections investigator, Frances Watson, two days before Christmas.
He seemed to try to flatter Watson and made his election fraud claims.
“I won everything but Georgia. And I won Georgia, I know that,” Trump told Watson in an audio tape obtained by The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
Trump also complimented Watson by saying that then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows “thinks you’ve been great.”
“And you know, this country is counting on it because it’s very interesting,” Trump added.
“So I won Florida in a record number, Ohio in a record, Texas in a record, Alabama by 40 – 40 points. And I won everything but Georgia.”
Trump continued, “I won Georgia, I know that, by a lot, and the people know it,” but said that “something happened, something bad happened.”
The 45th president did not elaborate on what bad thing had happened, but brought up his repeated claim of widespread voter fraud.
Trump said he hoped Watson was going back two years and asked for measures beyond signature checks which verify that a signature on a ballot matches the one on file with the state.
He claimed that Watson would find “unbelievable” things as well as “dishonesty,” because “good sources” were telling him that would be the case.
Watson said she was “shocked” by Trump’s call and that she appreciated his remarks but did not promise to follow his request.
“We are only interested in the truth and finding the information that is based on the facts,” she said.
Trump hit back that she had “the most important job in the country right now” and that Georgians were “so angry” because he won by “hundreds of thousands of votes.”
He claimed that ballots were dropped.
“When the right answer comes out, you’ll be praised,” Trump concluded.
“Whatever you can do, Frances, it’s a great thing.”
That call took place only days before Trump called Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and asked him to “find” 11,780 votes that would turn the election in his favor.
Raffensperger later flagged Trump’s call to Watson as inappropriate.
“That was an ongoing investigation,” he told the Washington Post on January 9.
“I don’t believe that an elected official should be involved in that process.”
President Joe Biden won Georgia, including in multiple recounts.
