DONALD TRUMP has been recorded pleading with a top Georgia election official to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the US election.
In telephone call that took place this past Saturday, the outgoing US president can be heard urging Georgia’s Republican secretary of state Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes for him to win the key swing state.
According to the state certified election results, Biden won in Georgia by 11,779.
In audio clips shared online by The Washington Post, Trump can be heard telling Raffensperger to find the necessary votes to hand him victory.
“The people of Georgia are angry, the people in the country are angry,” Trump says “And there’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you’ve recalculated.”
The Georgian election official counters Trump’s claims explaining: "The challenge you have, Mr President, is that the data you have is wrong."
It’s at this point that the President requests Raffensperger “find” the necessary votes to see him claim victory.
Trump says: “So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”
He insisted: “There’s no way I lost Georgia. There’s no way. We won by hundreds of thousands of votes.”
Trump goes on to push the baseless claim ballots were shredded and voting machinery tampered with in Fulton Count but Raffensperger’s lawyer Ryan Germany refutes those accusations.
In an astonishing development, Trump later hits out at Raffensperger describing him as a “child”, “either dishonest or incompetent” and a “schmuck”. He also threatens legal action.
“You know what they did and you’re not reporting it,” Trump says. “You know, that’s a criminal offence. And you know, you can’t let that happen. That’s a big risk to you and to Ryan [Germany], your lawyer. That’s a big risk.”
He told Mr Raffensperger he should re-examine the result in the state.
"You can re-examine it, but re-examine it with people who want to find answers, not people who don't want to find answers," he said.
"Mr President, you have people who submit information and we have our people that submit information, and then it comes before the court and the court has to make a determination," Raffensperger replies. "We have to stand by our numbers, we believe our numbers are right."
Trump later warns Raffensperger that in refusing to recalculate the result he would be detering Republicans from voting in this week;s runoff elections for the Senate.
He said: “You know, the people of Georgia know that this was a scam.
“Because of what you’ve done to the president, a lot of people aren’t going out to vote, and a lot of Republicans are going to vote negative, because they hate what you did to the president. OK? They hate it. And they’re going to vote. And you would be respected, really respected, if this can be straightened out before the election.”
If the two Democratic contenders win, the Senate will be left with an equal number of Republican and Democratic senators leaving vice-president-elect Kamala Harris with the deciding vote.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Raffensperger’s handling of the election in Georgia since Biden was declared the winner late last year.
Last week the President tweeted that the state official had “no clue” and “was unwilling, or unable” to answer questions about some of the debunked election conspiracy theories the President continues to push.
Raffensperger responded to Trump’s remarks on Twitter: “Respectfully, President Trump: What you’re saying is not true. The truth will come out.’”
Vice-president-elect Kamala Harris has described Trump's comments as "a bold abuse of power" with some calling for the President to face impeachment or even criminal charges over the tape.
Nearly all the legal challenges mounted by Trump and his allies since Biden was declared the victor have been dismissed by judges.
Those include two thrown out by the Supreme Court, despite the fact it features three Trump-nominated justices.
