'Hot water all around': Ex-federal prosecutor says Trump’s Michigan call 'almost certainly' a crime

22 December 2023

Newly released recordings of then-President Donald Trump pressuring two Republican canvassers in Wayne County, Michigan to not sign certification documents after the 2020 election could very well be a state crime, according to a former federal prosecutor.

In a Friday appearance on CNN, Harry Litman — a former US attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania during the Clinton administration — said Trump's offer to provide canvassers Monica Palmer and William Hartmann with legal representation in return for them refusing to certify their county's election results could be defined in court as a bribe.

"It's a state crime almost certainly, because Michigan law prohibits bribery — getting a public official not to do their duty by offering something of value — here, that would be a lawyer, because they knew, everyone knew it would be needed," Litman said. "So, this is hot water all around."

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The Detroit News reported Thursday that both Trump and Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel were on the call, in which both urged the canvassers to go home and not sign anything certifying election results in Wayne County — Michigan's most populous, which Joe Biden won handily.

"We will get you attorneys," McDaniel said, with Trump emphasizing that he and the RNC chair would "take care of that."

That call took place in the late night hours of November 17, 2020, following a meeting of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers. Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said Trump's actions "were taken in furtherance of his duty as president of the United States to faithfully take care of the laws and ensure election integrity, including investigating the rigged and stolen 2020 presidential election."

Watch the video of Litman's remarks below, or by clicking this link.

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