New details emerge of Trump's call to Georgia's chief elections investigator


In late December, former President Donald Trump called Frances Watson, the chief investigator in the Georgia Secretary of State's office, and during their six-minute phone call, he encouraged her to look for fraud in mail-in ballots that were being audited, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The phone call was first reported by The Washington Post in January, but was not released until now. Trump told Watson multiple times that he won the state, and "something bad happened," the Journal reports. He told Watson that she had the most important job in the country, and "when the right answer comes out, you'll be praised." Trump also said ballots were "dropped," but did not explain what he meant, and Watson did not press him further, the Journal says.
There were two statewide recounts in Georgia, with both finding the same thing: President Biden won the state by about 12,000 votes, and Trump lost. At the time of the call to Watson, a forensic audit was underway of 15,000 mail-in ballots from Cobb County; it was later announced that no evidence of fraud was found. Trump told Watson he was calling at the request of his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and she said she was "honored" to be speaking to him and was "only interested in the truth and finding the information that is based on the facts."
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.
Trump picked up the phone again in early January to urge Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to "find" enough votes to overturn Biden's win in the state. This prompted a criminal investigation into attempts to influence the 2020 presidential election, now underway by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
In a statement to the Journal, Raffensperger's spokesman said Trump's call with Watson is "just one more example" of how his office promised to "follow the law, count every legal vote, and investigate any allegations of fraud."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
5 unusually elusive cartoons about the Epstein files
Cartoons Artists take on Pam Bondi's vanishing desk, the Mar-a-Lago bathrooms, and more
-
Lemon and courgette carbonara recipe
The Week Recommends Zingy and fresh, this pasta is a summer treat
-
Corbynism returns: a new party on the Left
Talking Point Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana's breakaway progressive party has already got off to a shaky start
-
Iran still has enriched uranium, Israeli official says
Speed Read It remains unclear how long it would take Iran to rebuild its nuclear program following US and Israeli attacks
-
Trump U-turns on weapons to Ukraine
Speed Read Unhappy with Putin, Trump decides the US will go back to arming Ukraine against Russia's attacks
-
Ukraine scrambles as Trump cuts weapons deliveries
Speed Read The halting of weapons shipments was driven by Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, a Ukraine funding skeptic
-
IAEA: Iran could enrich uranium 'within months'
Speed Read The chief United Nations nuclear inspector, Rafael Grossi, says Iran could be enriching uranium again soon
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?
today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
Iran nukes program set back months, early intel suggests
Speed Read A Pentagon assessment says US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites only set the program back by months, not years. This contradicts President Donald Trump's claim.
-
Trump says Iran and Israel agreed to ceasefire
Speed Read This followed a night of Israeli airstrikes on Tehran and multiple waves of missiles fired by Iran
-
Israel strikes Iran, killing military and nuclear chiefs
Speed Read Israeli officials said the attack was a 'preemptive' strike on Iran's nuclear program