New Trump audio reveals ex-president pressured Michigan officials to overturn 2020 election – report claims
Donald Trump urged election officials in Michigan to “fight for our country” and not certify Joe Biden’s presidential election victory in 2020, according to local media.
The Detroit News reports a phone call made by the former president to two fellow Republicans on the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, in which he claims his party was “cheated”.
He reportedly added “everybody knows Detroit is crooked as hell” to the officials overseeing the county, which is Michigan’s most populous and includes Detroit, a Democratic city.
Mr Trump – who is the favourite to secure the Republican nomination for the 2024 election – currently faces criminal charges over allegations he conspired to overturn the 2020 results.
He argues he shouldn’t be prosecuted on the grounds former presidents cannot face criminal charges for conduct related to official responsibilities.
On Friday, the US Supreme Court declined to rule on his claims – leaving the matter for a lower court – as prosecutors try to fast-track a ruling and prevent Mr Trump from potentially delaying until he is back in office, when he could seek to pardon himself.
Pro-Trump protesters clashed with police at the US Capitol, where lawmakers met to certify the election results on 6 January 2021
Asked about the latest audio, Mr Trump’s campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, said his actions were taken “in furtherance of his duty as president of the United States to faithfully take care of the laws”.
He described the 2020 election as “rigged and stolen”.
The Detroit News’s report is reminiscent of Mr Trump’s tactics in Georgia, where he is charged with calling the Republican secretary of state to “find” enough votes to reverse his defeat there.
Michigan authorities have filed charges against 16 Republican state residents for their role in an alleged false electors scheme following the 2020 presidential election, but they haven’t charged Mr Trump.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson – who was not aware of the recordings until the report was published – said her office will continue to support investigations for “every crime committed in the attempt to overturn the will of Michigan voters”.
“We must recognise the direct line between these recordings and the tragedy that occurred at our US Capitol on 6 January 2021,” she added, referring to Mr Trump’s supporters’ attack as lawmakers met to certify Mr Biden’s win.
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Mr Trump’s trial over claims he tried to overturn the 2020 election is due to begin in March, but prosecutors are trying to nullify his claims of immunity in the meantime.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected the claims on 1 December, which prompted Mr Trump’s appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
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His appeal suspended his trial.
In a bid to avoid delaying the trial, US Special Counsel Jack Smith on 11 December urged the Supreme Court to make an expedited ruling – even as the DC Circuit court races to rule on the issue.
If Mr Trump is re-elected to the White House on 5 November next year, he could seek to pardon himself of any federal crimes.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?
This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
Read more from Sky News:
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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