Brad Raffensperger Says in New Book That Trump’s Call Was A ‘Threat’ to Find Votes
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says Donald Trump was threatening him when Trump called to ask him to help “find” enough votes to overturn his loss in Georgia to Democratic President Joe Biden, Raffensperger writes in a new book.
Raffensperger portrays himself as a man who defied pressure from Trump to alter election results in “Integrity Counts,” which was released Tuesday, and makes that phone call its centerpiece. Raffensperger depicts Trump plainly; the book’s notes refer to him as “a public official settling political scores as he seeks to survive a hostile Republican primary environment and win reelection in 2022”.
But Trump was no ordinary politician, and the book’s account of his badgering for Raffensperger to “find” nearly 11,780 votes — one more than he needed to overcome his deficit to Democrat Joe Biden–could be used as part of ongoing criminal investigations and congressional hearings.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger tells NBC News he would "gladly participate" in an interview with the Fulton County District Attorney about Trump pressuring election officials over the 2020 results.
"I did my job. I followed the law," Raffensperger says.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 1, 2021
Raffensperger details how he was sitting at his kitchen table with his wife when Trump’s call came through, altering the trajectory of both of their lives. Following Joe Biden’s narrow victory in Georgia and Raffensperger’s determination to honor the results rather than overthrow them, he and his wife received death threats. The book also relates an encounter with men who he says may have been staking out his suburban Atlanta home, and Raffensperger being escorted out of the Georgia capitol on January 6th as a handful of right-wing protesters entered the building on the same day many more protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Brad Raffensperger speaks the facts:
“We have to face the brutal truth: as Republicans, we have not won the popular vote nationwide since 2004.”
This is why the GOP is subverting Democracy.
This is why they’re embracing authoritarian fascism.
They know they’re the minority.
— The USA Singers (@TheUSASingers) November 2, 2021
The book of course details the phone call, which was recorded and then given to multiple news organizations. Raffensperger — known as a conservative Republican before Trump targeted him — writes that he perceived Trump as “threatening him multiple times” during the phone call.
In his new book, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger detailed that former president Donald Trump did not win the state of Georgia and stated "as a Republican I wish he would have won, but that's my job is to make sure we have fair and honest elections." pic.twitter.com/vtdUMMgBsR
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) November 2, 2021
Trump’s phone call is now being reviewed by a Fulton County grand jury to consider whether to bring charges against him that could include criminal solicitation to commit election fraud, intentional interference with performance of election duties, conspiracy, and racketeering.
Adam Schiff: "A taped conversation of Donald J. Trump on the phone with Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state from Georgia, trying to coerce him into fraudulently finding 11,780 votes—I think if you or I did that, we'd be under indictment by now.”
— Duty To Warn 🔉 (@duty2warn) October 28, 2021