Leaked 2020 Audio: Trump Urged Georgia Speaker to Call Session to Overturn Election
A newly released recording of a Dec. 7, 2020 phone call confirms Donald Trump urged then-Georgia House Speaker David Ralston to call a special session to overturn the state’s 2020 election results. News outlets including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The New Republic report the recording was obtained from prosecutorial files in the now-dismissed Fulton County criminal case against Trump and others.
The recording captures Trump suggesting Ralston frame a special session as being “for transparency and to uncover fraud,” then asking, “Who’s gonna stop you for that?” Ralston, a Republican who died in 2022, responded that “a federal judge, possibly” could.
The audio, said to last roughly 12 minutes, shows Trump continuing to press on election fraud claims and the need for extraordinary legislative action after his narrow loss in Georgia. The call was part of investigative material from the Georgia election racketeering prosecution that authorities released this week.
Legal experts note that only Georgia’s governor or a three-fifths legislative vote can call a special session, and Gov. Brian Kemp never did.
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“It’s now public record what was discussed,” said a Georgia political analyst about the implications of the audio.
The recording adds to previously public post-2020 election pressure efforts in Georgia, beyond Trump’s widely reported call with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
For voters and legal observers, the release raises fresh questions about executive pressure on state officials in the election’s aftermath.
Further audio releases or official comment from Ralston’s estate or Trump’s team are expected in coming days. What happens next may hinge on whether more recordings are made public.
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