Recordings reviewed by the Detroit News reveal then-President and still wannabe dictator (for more than a day) Donald Trump personally pressuring a Republican member of the a county board of canvassers to refuse to certify the county’s election results.
With RNC chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel, herself a Michigan native, on the call, Trump told Wayne County GOP canvassers Monica Palmer and William Hartmann that they would “look terrible” if they signed the certification after they had questioned the results. After first refusing to sign the certification, the two then sought a court order to officially revoke the refusals and certify the results, saying they were pressured.
On the November 17, 2020 phone call, Trump tells Hartmann and Palmer “We’ve got to fight for our country. We can’t let these people take our country away from us.” Had Hartmann and Palmer stood by their refusing to certify the county results, it might have led to a domino effect in other counties that would have caused chaos on the state level, a goal of the Trump camp in the days prior to January 6th. The call, with Trump’s voice urging state officials to obstruct the certification, is likely in Jack Smith’s hands already.