Earlier it was reported that President Donald Trump, who refuses to concede victory in the 2020 elections to Joe Biden despite most US media projecting the Democratic candidate as the winner, had summoned Republican leaders from Michigan to the White House, in a bid to contest the vote result.
John Bolton, Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, claimed on Friday that the US President would try to pressure Michigan’s two top Republican lawmakers, who have been summoned to the White House, to intervene in the state’s election, reported CBSN.
Michigan’s House and Senate majority leaders Lee Chatfield and Mike Shirkey were invited by The POTUS amid allegations of Democrat-rigged elections and frenzied litigation, as his election campaign is seeking to persuade the state’s board of canvassers not to certify Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s victory.
The ex-Trump administration official said the president’s legal campaign has failed to drum up convincing evidence that could potentially overturn the results of the presidential election, which has already been called for Joe Biden by a majority of US media.
In this Feb. 19, 2020, file photo, former national security adviser John Bolton takes part in a discussion on global leadership at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. An attorney for Bolton said Wednesday, June 10, that President Donald Trump is trying to put on ice publication of the former top administration official’s forthcoming memoir after White House lawyers again this week raised concerns that the book contains classified material that presents a national security threat.
Bolton, who was booted out by Donald Trump in early September 2019 after their reported clashes on how best to handle foreign policy issues, mostly with regards to Iran and North Korea, has suggested that the incumbent president will seek to wield his supremacy over the Republican Party to intimidate members.
Continuing to claim that Trump was going to reply on political pressure to get his way, Bolton added:
Michigan to ‘Follow the Law’
In the event that Michigan’s state board of canvassers refuses to certify Biden’s victory in Michigan, state lawmakers could be called upon to select electors to participate in the Electoral College vote on 14 December.
Responding to speculations, a spokesperson for Mike Shirkey said in a 13 November statement that “Michigan law does not include a provision for the legislature to directly select electors or to award electors to anyone other than the person who received the most votes.”
Shirkey was also cited by Bridge Michigan as commenting:
Lee Chatfield went on Twitter the same day, to underscore the need for looking into “reports of irregularities”.
He also refused to make any apologies over the impending encounter, writing that when you have a chance to meet with the President, “of course you take it.”
Trump Court Battles
John Bolton also urged national Republican leaders, such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, to ensure that state and local officials are shielded from potential undue political pressure on the part of Trump.
“Let’s have Republican leaders in Washington stand up and say ‘this is simply unacceptable,'” said Bolton.
A man wearing a “Vote” mask looks on as votes continue to be counted at the TCF Center the day after the 2020 U.S. presidential election, in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., November 4, 2020.
US President Donald Trump’s legal team has recently intensified efforts to prevent six battleground states from certifying election results, alleging “systematic voter fraud”, campaign lawyer Rudy Giuliani slammed leaders of Democratic Party-run cities in key swing states of carrying out a “centralised” campaign aimed at “stealing” the election from the POTUS.
In Michigan, projected president-elect Biden beat Donald Trump by more than 150,000 votes.
John Bolton, who was a lawyer for the George W. Bush campaign during the 2000 Florida recount, dismissed Trump’s court battles as a “fiction” that distracts from the campaign’s real effort to influence Republican lawmakers and voters.
“Two and half weeks after the election, we have seen that he doesn’t have any valid legal theories that can really overturn the election, he has no evidence,” said Bolton.
Bolton also warned that the Republican Party risked losing its base before the crucial runoff elections in Georgia that will determine the balance of power in the Senate.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
