New reporting from Michigan raises fresh questions for Donald Trump and others who attempted to thwart the 2020 presidential election, including: Will there be additional criminal charges?
The Detroit News on Thursday reported on recorded audio it said it listened to of Trump pressuring two GOP Wayne County canvassers not to certify the 2020 presidential election results in that state. The recordings of a Nov. 17, 2020, call reportedly contain, among other things, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel telling the canvassers, Monica Palmer and William Hartmann: “If you can go home tonight, do not sign it. … We will get you attorneys.” Trump reportedly added on the call: “We’ll take care of that.”
The recordings were made by someone present for the conversation, according to The Detroit News, which said it heard the audio through an intermediary who was not present for the call.
Neither MSNBC nor NBC News has heard or verified the recordings. Spokespeople for Trump and the RNC didn’t dispute the recordings, NBC News reported, and The Detroit News said a Palmer spokesperson didn’t dispute them either. (Hartmann died in 2021.)
So what could this mean in terms of criminal exposure? One issue Trump and McDaniel could run into is Michigan bribery law, which says:
Any person who shall corruptly give, offer or promise to any public officer, agent, servant or employe [employee] … any gift, gratuity, money, property or other valuable thing, the intent or purpose of which is to influence the act, vote, opinion, decision or judgment of such public officer, agent, servant or employe [employee], or his action on any matter, question, cause or proceeding, which may be pending or may by law be brought before him in his public capacity, or the purpose and intent of which is to influence any act or omission relating to any public duty of such officer, agent, servant or employe [employee], shall be guilty of a felony.
One can see how pressuring these officials would be, in the words of the law, acting “corruptly.” And the “valuable thing” offered would be legal services, a thing that can be quite expensive and thus valuable. Michigan law likewise prohibits public officers from accepting bribes.
As we all know, Trump already faces four criminal indictments, two of which stem from alleged 2020 election interference. The indictments in both of those cases, federally in Washington and in Georgia state court, reference Michigan activity (among other states). The newly reported recordings could further bolster his existing legal exposure.
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