Newly released audio captures a conversation where Donald Trump allegedly instructs Georgia Republicans on altering election results.
This audio, sourced by the New York Times, purportedly features a call on December 7, 2020, where Trump speaks to David Ralston, who was the speaker at the time. During the call, Trump suggests that the election results in Georgia, where he lost to Joe Biden, could be changed.
According to a report released this week, the audio was part of a collection of investigative documents intended for use in a criminal election interference case against Trump and 18 of his associates. The case, led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis, was recently dismissed.
In the 12-minute conversation with Ralston, who passed away in 2022, Trump discusses the need for a special legislative session to ensure ‘transparency’ and address alleged election fraud.
“Who’s gonna stop you for that?”, Trump is heard querying.
The Republican lawyer, now deceased, reportedly chuckled and responded: “A federal judge, possibly.”
As the call progresses, Trump allegedly instructs Ralston on how to conduct the special session, maintaining that he had secured a victory in Georgia by a significant margin, despite officially losing by about 11,000 votes.
“You know we won this thing by 400,000 or 500,000 votes,” Trump claimed to Ralston. “Just like we did Alabama and every other state in the South. And, uh, we won, we won, we won your state massively. They took votes away.”
Trump continued to voice conspiracy theories regarding voter fraud at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena, mentioning ballot boxes supposedly stored in bins.
He alleged that votes were emerging from ‘suitcases, luggage, and it was a lot of votes’.
“It was probably more than 100,000. You know they ran them through three or four times, you know, the same votes.
“If we had a special session, we will present, and you will say, ‘Here, it’s been massive fraud. We’re going to turn over the state,'” Trump reportedly advised Ralston.
Although Ralston did not commit to convening the special session, the call was included as evidence in Willis’ Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) case.
The district attorney alleged that Trump unlawfully solicited Ralston to breach his oath of office by calling a special session meant to unlawfully appoint presidential electors from Georgia.
Last month, a state judge dismissed the case after determining Willis had a personal relationship with a lawyer involved in the case. Subsequently, on November 26, a new prosecutor concluded that charges should not have been filed.