Audio reveals Donald Trump pushed against certifying Michigan vote
Former US President Donald Trump has been given another Christmas surprise after explosive new audio recordings of the polarising Republican was released.
Former US President Donald Trump pushed local officials not to certify 2020 election results in Michigan, according to explosive new audio recordings of the polarising Republican.
The new allegations are a Christmas surprise for the 77-year-old ex-president who already faces multiple charges of election interference.
The accusations come as Mr Trump runs for president again 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 outlet, Trump reportedly pressured two local officials not to sign the certification of vote results in their county.
He allegedly told the two Republican members that “we’ve got to fight for our country” and that “we can’t let these people take our country away from us.”
The phone call came two weeks after the November 3 election, in which Trump lost the state of Michigan.
Also present on the call was Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel, 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.”
About 18 per cent 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.
He is to go on trial in Washington in March on federal charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the November 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden.
He faces similar charges in a separate case in the southern state of 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.
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 spokesman Steven Cheung meanwhile said that Trump’s actions were part of his duty to “ensure election integrity, including investigating the rigged and stolen 2020 presidential election.” Trump has repeatedly stated the false claim that the 2020 election was rigged for Biden.
It came as Mr Trump was sensationally banned from appearing on ballot papers in the US state of Colorado, in a major decision that could have major consequences for the 2024 presidential election.
The state’s court ruled Mr Trump was not eligible to be a presidential candidate due to the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution - which bans those involved in ‘insurrection’.
The former president has denied having any involvement in the January 6 attack on the Capitol building in Washington DC, in which far-right supporters stormed the building.
Critics claim he had a role in inciting the attack, which took place two months after he was defeated by Joe Biden in the 2020 election, and ‘encouraged’ supporters to take action.
It is the first time section 3 of the 14th Amendment has even been used to disqualify a presidential candidate.
“A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” the Colorado Supreme Court ruled.
“Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot.”
The stunning legal decision — which Mr Trump’s campaign immediately said it would appeal — could up-end the 2024 presidential election, in which the former reality TV star is a runaway leader for the Republican Party nomination.
Speaking out against the decision, Mr Trump called President Biden a “threat to democracy”.
“They are weaponising law enforcement for high-level election interference because we are beating them so badly in the polls,” he said at a campaign event in Iowa.
“They are willing to violate the US constitution at levels never seen before to win this election.”
Mr Trump’s campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement: “We will swiftly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and a concurrent request for a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision.”
He said the “all-Democrat appointed” panel was doing the bidding of a “(George) Soros-funded, left-wing group’s scheme to interfere in an election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden.” “Democrat Party leaders are in a state of paranoia over the growing, dominant lead President Trump has amassed in the polls.
“They have lost faith in the failed Biden presidency and are now doing everything they can to stop the American voters from throwing them out of office next November.”
‘Get WWIII going’: Huge Russia escalation
Months ago, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin identified a glaring “red line” for the West. Joe Biden has decided to cross it.
Donald Trump’s education pick stuns US
Donald Trump has unveiled his latest controversial nominee for a senior position in the US government.
‘Ready’: Rudd defiant amid ousting threat
Kevin Rudd says Australia is “ready” to deal with Donald Trump amid questions over the former Labor prime minister’s future as Australia’s ambassador in Washington.