
On Thursday, The Detroit News reported that it had a recording from November 17, 2020 of Trump arm-twisting by phone Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, two Republican “canvassers,” to get them not to certify the vote in Wayne County, Michigan.Biden won that county, where Detroit sits, by more than twice the votes he needed to turn the state his way.
Canvassers are ordinary citizens appointed by the parties to the small local boards that certify county elections. According to the Free Press, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel phoned the canvassers, and Trump joined. He and McDaniel persuaded the two not to sign the certification; it turned out their signatures weren’t needed.