The Washington Post on Tuesday said former President Donald Trump never told a Georgia official to “find the fraud,” a quote Democrats used during Trump’s impeachment trial.
The Post, in a lengthy correction, said: “Two months after publication of this story, the Georgia secretary of state released an audio recording of President Donald Trump’s December phone call with the state’s top elections investigator. The recording revealed that The Post misquoted Trump’s comments on the call, based on information provided by a source.”
“Trump did not tell the investigator to ‘find the fraud’ or say she would be ‘a national hero’ if she did so. Instead, Trump urged the investigator to scrutinize ballots in Fulton County, Ga., asserting she would find ‘dishonesty’ there. He also told her that she had ‘the most important job in the country right now.'”
Pennsylvania Rep. Madeleine Dean used the quote during Trump’s impeachment trial.
“On Dec. 23, Trump called the chief investigator for the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, who was conducting an audit — an audit of the signature matching procedures for absentee ballots,” she said. “Trump urged him, ‘find the fraud,’ and claimed the official would be ‘a national hero’ if he did.”
“Let’s call this what it is — he was asking the official to say there was evidence of fraud when there wasn’t any,” Dean continued. “The official refused, and the investigation was completed.”
The impeachment trial brief also had the erroneous quote.
“President Trump’s campaign to reverse the election results — and to keep himself in the White House — lasted through the days immediately preceding the assault on the Capitol. On Dec. 23, for instance, President Trump reportedly called one of Georgia’s lead election investigators, urging him to “find the fraud” and claiming that the official would be a “national hero” if he did so.”
The Wall Street Journal last week obtained audio of the call between Trump and Frances Watson, the chief investigator of the Georgia Secretary of State’s office.
Trump told Frances, “When the right answer comes out, you’ll be praised.”
Watson, per the Journal, responded: “I can assure you that our team and the [Georgia Bureau of Investigation], that we are only interested in the truth and finding the information that is based on the facts.”
The House voted to impeach Trump for inciting insurrection of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, but the Senate voted 57-43, falling 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority required by the Constitution.
Source: Newmax
