The Washington Post, AP issue retractions over reporting of Trump phone call to Georgia election official
The Associated Press, Washington Post and other news outlets issued corrections to earlier reports that claimed former President Donald Trump had pressured a Georgia election investigator to "find the fraud" in an audit of mail-in ballots in the state's most populous counties.
These reports were cited as evidence in the articles of impeachment by the U.S. House in its second impeachment of Trump.
As the AP admitted Monday, its article "erroneously reported that Trump pressed the (lead Georgia elections) investigator to 'find the fraud' and said it would make the investigator a national hero."
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The national news outlet acknowledged that "a recording of the call made public two months later revealed that Trump did not say either and instead said that if the investigator looked into Fulton County the investigator would 'find things that are gonna be unbelievable.' Trump also told the investigator: 'When the right answer comes out, you'll be praised.'"
The Washington Post issued a lengthy correction to its Jan. 9 story asserting that "Trump pressured a Georgia elections investigator in a separate call legal experts say could amount to obstruction."
The correction noted that "two months after the 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 that she would find 'dishonesty' there. He also told her that she had 'the most important job in the country right now,'" the correction continued.
Trump's Dec. 23 call to Frances Watson came as the Trump campaign was contesting the election results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, which showed then-President Trump narrowly trailing now-President Joe Biden. The call, which lasted for six minutes, was released by the Georgia Secretary of State's office last week and the audio of the call was published in a separate Washington Post article highlighting the details of the conversation.
After discussing his comfortable victories in nearby states and other swing states, Trump asserted that "I won Georgia, I know that, by a lot, and the people know it." He maintained that "something bad happened" and urged Watson to conduct thorough signature verification of mail-in ballots in Fulton County, home to the state's capital and largest city of Atlanta.
"I appreciate your comment ... and I can assure you that our team and the GBI, that we're only interested ... in the truth ... and finding ... the information that's based on the facts and ... we've been working 12, 16 hour days and ... we're working through it," she responded. Watson told Trump that she was "very honored" and "shocked" that he called her in light of his busy schedule.
The former president also asked Watson if the audit would continue after Christmas, citing the impending certification of electoral votes by the United States Congress on Jan. 6. Watson answered in the affirmative.
"Call any time you need. If you need help, call me," Trump said as the call came to a close.
According to the AP, the finalized vote tally in Georgia shows that Biden narrowly defeated Trump by slightly more than 12,000 votes out of nearly 5 million votes cast. This equates to a margin of 0.24%, making Georgia the closest state in the 2020 presidential election.
Following the controversy surrounding the results of the 2020 presidential election, the Republican-controlled Georgia state Senate passed legislation that would repeal no-excuse absentee voting. Under the legislation, which has yet to pass the Republican-controlled House, only voters who are either 65 years old or older, absent from their precinct, observing a religious holiday, required to work for the entire time the polls are open, serving in the military or living overseas will qualify for an absentee ballot.
The 2020 presidential election featured the use of a record number of absentee ballots, which critics argue are more susceptible to fraud. In addition to issuing stricter requirements for the use of absentee ballots, the legislation also strengthens voter ID requirements. Critics of the new Georgia legislation argue that it is designed to create obstacles that would "restrict the freedom to vote."
