Donald Trump Likely Broke Law With Michigan Call, Former Lawyer Says

Donald Trump's former attorney has said that the ex-president "likely" broke the law in a recently revealed phone call between Trump and two Michigan election officials.

Trump faces charges in two election subversion cases—a federal one filed in Washington, D.C., and a state case in Georgia. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges in both, and has said that the indictments are politically motivated.

In the wake of Trump's loss to President Joe Biden in 2020, Trump baselessly claimed that the election was rigged. He argued his stance through the legal system but no courts found any evidence of widespread voter fraud. Trump also faces two more criminal indictments, one over the handling of classified documents discovered in his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, and the other regarding business fraud accusations in New York.

Now the former president could face more legal trouble, after phone call recordings of Trump pressuring two Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers in Michigan were revealed by The Detroit News.

The call took place on November 17, 2020, within 30 minutes of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers meeting ending, according to records reviewed by the News. Trump, canvassers Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, along with Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel were on the call, according to the outlet.

Trump told Palmer and Hartmann that they would look "terrible" if they signed the certification of the county's 2020 presidential election results after they initially voted in opposition of certifying, then chose to approve certification in the same canvassers meeting.

"We've got to fight for our country," Trump said. "We can't let these people take our country away from us."

McDaniel can be heard at one point in the call saying, "If you can go home tonight, do not sign it. ... We will get you attorneys." Trump then added: "We'll take care of that."

Palmer and Hartmann didn't sign the official statement of votes for Wayne County in the canvassers meeting, then unsuccessfully tried to rescind their votes in favor of certification the following day after filing legal affidavits claiming they were pressured.

Newsweek on Friday reached out to Trump's campaign via email and McDaniel through the RNC online contact form. Newsweek also attempted to reach Palmer and Hartmann though the current Wayne County Board of Canvassers via email. Hartmann died in 2021.

Ty Cobb, who once served on the Trump administration's legal team, told Politico that the phone call recordings are "likely a violation" of the federal honest services fraud statute.

The statute is described under federal law as "a scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services."

Cobb added that the phone call "also shows the depths to which Trump personally participated in fraudulently pimping the big lie. McDaniel is equally exposed. Clearly, evidence going to the core conspiracies charged by the special prosecutor."

Trump was indicted in August by the Department of Justice on four federal felony counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States. The case was spawned by department Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the January 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol. On that day in 2021, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington, D.C., following Trump's unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

In a statement to the News, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said Trump's actions "were taken in furtherance of his duty as president of the United States to faithfully take care of the laws and ensure election integrity, including investigating the rigged and stolen 2020 presidential election."

"President Trump and the American people have the constitutional right to free and fair elections," Cheung said.

While Palmer acknowledged the phone call, she repeatedly said that she did not remember what was said, the News reported.

When reached for comment, McDaniel told the News, "What I said publicly and repeatedly at the time, as referenced in my letter on November 21, 2020, is that there was ample evidence that warranted an audit."

McDaniel was referencing a letter she and then-Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Laura Cox wrote to the Board of State Canvassers in efforts to launch an investigation of the 2020 election in Michigan.