Election officials under pressure from Trump: ‘I had to find 11,780 votes’

Several officials say they came under pressure from Donald Trump and his team after the 2020 presidential election. They said this Tuesday during the fourth hearing about the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington. This especially happened in swing states, where the win was the smallest for Joe Biden. For example, Republican Brad Ravensburger, the governor of Georgia, received a phone call from fellow party member Trump asking “to find 11,780 votes”†

Washington Post It released audio clips last year in which Trump pressured Ravensburger to “find votes” in order to undo his loss in the state. During the hearing, Ravensburger said he had recounted the votes twice, but they were correct. Numbers are numbers and numbers don’t lie.

In addition to Ravensberger, his assistant Gabriel Sterling, who oversaw the elections in Georgia, also spoke. He spoke about how difficult it is to confront the persistent allegations of voter fraud that Trump has sent out to the world. For example, he said he often felt that people did not believe the information released by his office because the President of the United States, “whom many look up to and much respect for,” told them the information was lies.

In addition to witnesses from Georgia, Russell Powers, the Republican president of the Arizona legislature, was also heard. He was a Trump supporter in the 2020 presidential election, but said during the hearing that he was thrown into a “circus” after the election. He also stated that he was pressured by Trump and his associates, in particular by his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. He was asked to replace the electoral votes. Powers replied that he was asking him something that “contradicted my oath.” When asked about evidence of voter fraud, Giuliani replied that they had many theories, “but we don’t have the evidence.”

Read also the report of the third session: Trump threatened Vice President Pence on January 6

Ballot Box Staff

At the end of the session, two ballot box officials, Shay Moss and her mother, spoke. They served in Fulton County, Georgia during the 2020 election. They were falsely accused by Rudy Giuliani of election fraud after the election. Then they were threatened and received racist messages on Facebook.

During an emotional briefing, Moss said the whole situation “turned her life upside down”. “I don’t want anyone to know my name,” she said. “I don’t want to go anywhere with my mum because she can yell my name in the supermarket aisle or something. I don’t go to the supermarket at all. I haven’t gone anywhere at all. I gained about 27 kilos. I only I don’t do anything anymore. I don’t want to go anywhere.”

Correction (June 22, 2022): An earlier version of this article erroneously stated that a White House employee needed to get 1,780 votes. This is not true, there were 11780. This was corrected above. A quote from Shaye Moss has also been modified, stating that she won £60. He was supposed to be 60 lbs (27 kg).