Georgia's Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his advisers were prepared for President Trump to press him on overturning the state's presidential election results during a Saturday phone call, so they decided to record the conversation, which they eventually leaked after Trump mischaracterized the exchange. But the decision was also inspired by a previous phone call Raffensperger had with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in November, Politico reports.
Raffensperger accused Graham of asking him whether he had the power to toss out all mail ballots in Georgia counties found to have higher rates of non-matching signatures, a claim the senator denied. Either way, the call apparently prompted Raffensperger to remain on high alert if he found himself in similar situations. "Lindsey Graham asked us to throw out legally cast ballots," one of Raffensperger's advisers told Politico. "So yeah, after that call, we decided maybe we should do this."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Rep. Sylvester Turner dies, weeks after joining HouseSpeed Read The former Houston mayor and longtime state legislator left behind a final message for Trump: 'Don't mess with Medicaid'
-
Trump pauses Ukraine intelligence sharingSpeed Read The decision is intended to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into peace negotiations with Vladimir Putin
-
Supreme Court rules against Trump on aid freezeSpeed Read The court rejected the president's request to freeze nearly $2 billion in payments for foreign humanitarian work
-
Arab leaders embrace Egypt's Gaza rebuilding planSpeed Read The $53 billion proposal would rebuild Gaza without displacing Palestinian residents
-
Germany's conservatives win power amid far-right gainsSpeed Read The party led by Friedrich Merz won the country's national election; the primary voter issues were the economy and immigration
-
Russia frees US teacher Marc Fogel in murky 'exchange'Speed Read He was detained in Moscow for carrying medically prescribed marijuana
-
Hamas pauses Gaza hostage release, upending ceasefireSpeed Read Hamas postponed the next scheduled hostage release 'until further notice,' accusing Israel of breaking the terms of their ceasefire deal
-
Baltic States unplug from Russian grid, join EU'sSpeed Read Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are disconnecting from the Soviet-era electricity grid to join the EU's network
-
At least 11 killed in Sweden adult ed school shootingSpeed Read The worst mass shooting in Swedish history took place in Orebro
-
Who is the Hat Man? 'Shadow people' and sleep paralysisIn Depth 'Sleep demons' have plagued our dreams throughout the centuries, but the explanation could be medical
-
Same-sex marriage becomes legal in ThailandSpeed Read The law grants same-sex spouses the same rights as married heterosexual couples
