# Trump Pressured Georgia Official to ‘Find’ Enough Votes to Overturn Election **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 3, 2021, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592 "2021-01-03T20:06:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/61 "2021-01-04T02:19:41Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > Doesn’t that speak well of Raffensperger? When Republicans have had to they’ve stepped up to stop Trump. “ ~~Americans~~ Republicans will always do the right thing - after exhausting all the alternatives.” – Winston Churchill or somebody ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/62 "2021-01-04T02:24:02Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > Released, apparently, not leaked. From the New York Times article referenced in the OP: > > > Officials in the secretary of state’s office recorded Saturday’s call, and Mr. Raffensperger told his advisers that he did not want to release a transcript or a recording unless the president attacked state officials or misrepresented what had been discussed, according to a person familiar with his direction. > > **As expected, [that attack came in a tweet](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1345731043861659650?s=20) on Sunday morning,** in which Mr. Trump claimed that Mr. Raffensperger “was unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as the ‘ballots under table’ scam, ballot destruction, out of state ‘voters’, dead voters, and more. He has no clue!” > > In a response on Twitter, [Mr. Raffensperger wrote](https://twitter.com/GaSecofState/status/1345753643593687040?s=20): “Respectfully, President Trump: What you’re saying is not true. The truth will come out.” The recording of the call was made public several hours later. > > I’m amused by the bolded bit… Thank you for that. I suspected that the recording did indeed come from Raffensperger simply on the basis that he was getting completely fed up with Trump and his antics. It didn’t occur to me that Raffensperger recorded it for possible release to protect himself because he knew Trump would likely lie about what was said in the call! ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/63 "2021-01-04T02:29:13Z")
I just went through the transcript. Just for fun – and it IS fun – here are a few highlights of the Orange Genius’s highly persuasive, cogent arguments: 🤣 - I think it’s pretty clear that we won. We won very substantially in Georgia. You even see it by rally size, frankly. We’d be getting 25-30,000 people a rally and the competition would get less than 100 people. And it never made sense. - I mean, you know, And I didn’t lose the state, Brad. People have been saying that it was the highest vote ever. There was no way. A lot of the political people said that there’s no way they beat me. - The other thing, dead people. So dead people voted and I think the number is close to 5,000 people. And they went to obituaries. - In Georgia, we set a record with a massive amount of votes. And they say it’s not possible to have lost Georgia. And I could tell you by our rallies. I could tell you by the rally I’m having on Monday night, the place, they already have lines of people standing out front waiting. It’s just not possible to have lost Georgia. It’s not possible. - So what are we going to do here folks? I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break. And then there’s this, which appears to be English but is basically incomprehensible word salad about “stuffing machines” or something: - “Where’s [name]?” It’s crazy, it’s crazy. That was. The minimum number is 18,000 for [name], but they think it’s probably about 56,000, but the minimum number is 18,000 on the [name] night where she ran back in there when everybody was gone and stuffed, she stuffed the ballot boxes. Let’s face it, Brad, I mean. They did it in slow motion replay magnified, right? She stuffed the ballot boxes. They were stuffed like nobody had ever seen them stuffed before. So there’s a term for it when it’s a machine instead of a ballot box, but she stuffed the machine. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/64 "2021-01-04T02:35:54Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > It didn’t occur to me that Raffensperger recorded it for possible release to protect himself because he knew Trump would likely lie about what was said in the call! I would hope that ANY election official taking a phone call from Donald Trump these days is recording it on three separate devices and ensuring that they have a priest, a rabbi and Tom Hanks on the line to testify to what was said. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/65 "2021-01-04T02:37:31Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Surely the Republicans will not stand for such a blatant abuse of power! Ha. We all know that barrel ain’t got no bottom. I do hope that the new AG will direct a full federal investigation of this and throw the book at him. If he pardons himself, fuck that shit challenge the pardon in court. I’m worried the Biden administration won’t prosecute. I hope I’m wrong. As far as state crimes, Georgia has a gop AG and governor. they won’t prosecute and even if they did the governor would pardon. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/66 "2021-01-04T02:40:15Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > > > I would not be at all surprised if Meadows was the person who leaked the tape to the Washington Post > > I find it hilarious that no one even seems to care or question who leaked it. In other words, who _wouldn’t_ have leaked it? Anyone? Bueller?? Trump isn’t useful to the gop anymore so I’m expecting more anonymous leaks designed to expose trumps crimes to prosecution ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/67 "2021-01-04T02:46:54Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > As far as state crimes, Georgia has a gop AG and governor. they won’t prosecute and even if they did the governor would pardon. The governor whose resignation Trump is demanding? About whom he just said (in this very phone call with Raffensperger) “like a schmuck, I endorsed him and he got elected, but I will tell you, he is a disaster”? Of course, since Republicans have no principles whatsoever, you may be right – they may not prosecute if they find it politically expedient. But I think that as Trump becomes increasingly unhinged, he’s becoming increasingly toxic. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/68 "2021-01-04T03:11:37Z")
I just listened to the full audio recording of the call and I can only think of one appropriate response. [May God have mercy on your soul.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hfYJsQAhl0) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/69 "2021-01-04T03:14:38Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > Unless he stages an armed attack on the Capitol, he’s safe from treason charges. This is true. On the other hand, what is it when a president violates his oath of office? Trump swore to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Of course, he did also swear to do so “to the best of [his] ability…” That may be his saving grace. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/70 "2021-01-04T03:16:45Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > **I’m worried the Biden administration won’t prosecute. I hope I’m wrong.** > > As far as state crimes, Georgia has a gop AG and governor. they won’t prosecute and even if they did the governor would pardon. This is my concern as well. I think Biden is of the old school “let’s focus on moving forward” school of thought. That might be the appropriate approach if we were dealing with someone like Nixon, who clearly was leaving politics and had no influence left, even among his own party. In this situation, though, it’s not the last remnants of the old guard who are causing the problems. It’s the up and comers / young hotshots who are the issue. Letting them get away with it is a recipe for disaster. If Biden does nothing, I fear that we’ve only postponed the inevitable until 2024 or 2028 at the latest. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/71 "2021-01-04T03:19:47Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I’m worried the Biden administration won’t prosecute. I hope I’m wrong. > > As far as state crimes, Georgia has a gop AG and governor. they won’t prosecute and even if they did the governor would pardon. This maybe a stupid question, but does it have to be prosecuted at the state level? Could someone like the Fulton County DA bring those charges? ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/72 "2021-01-04T03:39:07Z")
I’m glad they recorded and released it. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/73 "2021-01-04T04:13:04Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger _is_ a Republican, and in fact was a outspoken Trump supporter before the election, and he _is_ standing up for democracy, dignity, and/or honor. There’s the truth and there’s this statement. They’re not in the same neighborhood. Prior to the election he was continuing the Kemp effort to disenfranchise the shit out of as many left-leaning voters as possible and he’s still continuing the process leading up to the runoff. The same efforts that were the only reason that Kemp won the governorship in the first place. > [@gdave](#): > > So is Republican (and former Trumpist) Georgia Governor Kemp. Also not a lot of democracy, honor, or dignity to be had with this one. Look, if compared to the carrot or the turtle, they might have a somewhat higher bar, but that just means they don’t win the limbo contest, not that they’re not any good at it. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/74 "2021-01-04T04:40:11Z")
So where was Giuliani? Why not include your best and brightest on the call? Did Donnie and Rudy have a falling out? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/75 "2021-01-04T05:11:37Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > So where was Giuliani? Apparently last seen at the mask-free New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago, where Trump was a no-show. [https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/01/politics/mar-a-lago-new-years-eve/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/01/politics/mar-a-lago-new-years-eve/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/76 "2021-01-04T05:31:44Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > By tightening their voting rules in an effort to suppress voting by undesirables, states like Georgia gave themselves no outs when Dems followed the rules to the letter and still turned out in record numbers to defeat Donald Trump. > > “Oops, weren’t counting on _THAT_.” > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > > [@BlankSlate](#): > > > > Trump can’t help it: he cheats. At everything, even U.S. presidential elections. > > Really makes you wonder about the 2016 election. Here ya go; I already typed it all up: > [@Election Day \[Week\]\[Month\[s\]\] \[Year\] 2020 follow-along thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6578): > > Part of why I think Trump is so bewildered is because yeah, there was a ton of fraud and cheating, and he knew it was gonna happen. > > # **Bo’s Crazy 2020 Election Theory** > > > Okay, I have no evidence, and I know that it mostly sounds like ridiculous conspiracy theory-type bullshit; here’s my wild-eyed & crazy take on what actually happened in the 2020 election: > > > > First: Trump cheated. He cheated with the help of the Russians and the full knowledge and cooperation of people like William Barr, Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham as well as a veritable horde of others. He had the Postal System disrupted, he had lawyers waiting to pounce on things, etc. And he had the Russians helping him too with both agitprop and with actual interference in the voting software. He had no doubts he was going to win. > > > > Two things happened that Trump didn’t count on: the Russians fucked him and the population really does hate him and so turned out in droves to vote against him. > > > > The Russians fucked him by not really fucking with the vote totals like they could have. Putin, IMO, sees more benefit from cutting Trump loose than from continuing to help him. So they helped, but on Election Day they suddenly were amscrayed and Trump is left holding the bag. He can’t complain publicly or even privately about Putin because a) the American public would lynch him and b) Putin would prolly get to him before the American public. > > > > So now Trump is in a pickle, eh. He has no way forward and no way back. He can’t even pivot: he’s truly backed himself into a corner. Trump is not used to this: he has no leverage. So he’s flailing, trying to find something to hang onto. > > > > McConnell knows all this; so do Barr and Graham, but since they’ve all been compromised by Russia, they are also powerless to say or do much without instructions from Putin except keep backing Trump. > [@Election Day \[Week\]\[Month\[s\]\] \[Year\] 2020 follow-along thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6725): > > # **Bo’s Crazy 2020 Election Theory, Part 2** > > One of the reasons that Putin is done with Trump is because he isn’t looking to have the United States change owners, he’s seeking to break us up. Any actual fighting opens up an opportunity to provide support: information, expertise, logistics, armaments, training, etc. Russia and China and maybe parts of Europe will rush to help one side or the other, for trade and political gain. Thru supporting different factions, all stand to gain a foothold, perhaps a _partnership_, in American politics and the economy such that they will stand to control some large part of America’s current natural resources, intellectual properties, human resources, etc. Most of America is very fertile and sparsely populated land that can feed a lot of mouths for a very long time; that alone would be a huge incentive to a lot of powerful nations/factions. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/77 "2021-01-04T05:37:52Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > > > I’m worried the Biden administration won’t prosecute. I hope I’m wrong. > > > > As far as state crimes, Georgia has a gop AG and governor. they won’t prosecute and even if they did the governor would pardon. > > This maybe a stupid question, but does it have to be prosecuted at the state level? Could someone like the Fulton County DA bring those charges? I don’t know, my concern is can the Georgia AG overrule a county DA who tries to bring charges? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/78 "2021-01-04T05:41:00Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > > > As far as state crimes, Georgia has a gop AG and governor. they won’t prosecute and even if they did the governor would pardon. > > The governor whose resignation Trump is demanding? About whom he just said (in this very phone call with Raffensperger) “like a schmuck, I endorsed him and he got elected, but I will tell you, he is a disaster”? > > Of course, since Republicans have no principles whatsoever, you may be right – they may not prosecute if they find it politically expedient. But I think that as Trump becomes increasingly unhinged, he’s becoming increasingly toxic. Trump called Ted Cruz’s wife ugly and Ted Cruz responded by making phone calls for him. Donald trump has a stranglehold on the GOP voters because he reflects their true values and beliefs. As long as that is the case, GOP politicians will go along with him even if it is degrading, bad for the nation or humiliating. If Trump loses his power over the GOP base, then yeah the georgia AG and governor may not interfere. But they don’t want to go out like Jeff Flake or Bob Corker and lose their career if they get on Trumps bad side. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/79 "2021-01-04T05:46:37Z")
I just got done listening to the whole dang recording, and it’s jaw-dropping. My jaw is dropped. Most of the insane stuff has been posted here and elsewhere, but the one thing that struck me is how much listening to Trump go on and on is like listening to a really drunk person. Just utter nonsense, tinged with things that he’s heard from other people recently. It’s like listening to a drunk try to tell a story. This part especially reminds me of a drunk: he’s talking about people who were turned away from polls on Election Day and he keeps saying “The weren’t able to vote because they were already voted for.” He says this over and over, even in different parts of the call. He just can’t get the right words strung together, even after multiple tries. In fact, he doesn’t even try to correct it, he just keeps saying that these people were “already voted for.” To sum up: [Trump sounds like the girl you wish you hadn’t started a conversation with at a party.](https://youtu.be/ZpbWuYcdqD8?t=30) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592/80 "2021-01-04T05:52:01Z")
I’ve long thought that his unscripted speech patterns may be a sign of Alzheimer’s, having had family members go through it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-pressured-georgia-official-to-find-enough-votes-to-overturn-election/929592.md?page=5)