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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel may face allegations of bribery in Michigan, according to a report on Saturday.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson told CNN on Saturday that the RNC head took part in a phone call with then-President Donald Trump in an alleged attempt to convince state officials not to certify the 2020 presidential election results in favor of Joe Biden, Breitbart News reported.
“It really underscores the vast conspiracy, for lack of a better word, that was at play,” she told host Jim Acosta. “A coordinated effort in all the battleground states to delay certification creates enough confusion about the validity of the election results.
“Because if you have people block or refuse to certify, that gives you another reason or him another reason to say, see, there’s something wrong, even though there is no evidence that there was anything wrong, and create this false sense of doubt that was all about leading to this false slate of electors being presented to Congress on January 6th,” she continued. “Of course, we saw how that unfolded and the tragedy of that day.”
Acosta responded: “Secretary Benson, the other part of the phone call, and we don’t have the audio yet, I assume at some point it’s going to come out, and we’ll all listen for ourselves. What do you make of what’s been reported, that the RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel suggested that lawyers would be provided to these election workers on this phone call? What does that add up to?”
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“Well, it certainly suggests an offer of something of value, sort of paying for attorneys in order to not fail to do your public duty, which in this case was very clear,” Benson replied. “These local officials had a public legal duty, a ministerial responsibility to certify the election.”
“So offering something to someone of value for them to fail to do their legal duty under the law would suggest, you know, potential bribery, potential criminality. Of course, it all depends on whether this recording is ultimately accessed by prosecutors, and whether it becomes part of the investigations that are already ongoing in criminal proceedings at the state and federal level,” she added.
Earlier this month, McDaniel defended herself after being grilled by Fox News host Laura Ingraham following less-than-desirable election results for Republicans since she has been chairwoman of the RNC, as calls have grown louder for her to resign.
During the Republican presidential primary debate in Miami, for instance, candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said she needed to step aside.
“We’ve become a party of losers at the end of the day,” the candidate said.
“I think there is something deeper going on in the Republican party here, and I am upset about what happened last night,” he said the day after the election. “Let’s speak the truth. Since Ronna McDaniel took over as chairwoman of the RNC in 2017, we have lost 2018, 2020, 2022, no red wave that never came.”
The RNC boss was asked to respond during a subsequent appearance on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle.”
“Vivek and others are saying that under your leadership, Republicans have lost election after election, and positing the question, why should you retain your job given the track record of the party under your leadership?” the host said. “And to that, what do you say?”
McDaniel danced around the question by saying she is going to “continue to focus on Joe Biden and Democrats,” before Ingraham interrupted her.
“All that, all that you just said, I couldn’t agree with more,” the host said. “I know you believe in accountability. You talk about it all the time.”
“Listen, when Vivek didn’t vote in 2016, I was leading Michigan to the first (Republican presidential election) win in history in 30 years. In 2018, we defied the odds. We got three senators, people like Josh Hawley that allowed President Trump to build the largest conservative majority on the Supreme Court,” McDaniel said.
“In 2022, the RNC, which is a turnout machine, right? We’re not the messengers. We don’t create the messages for the campaigns. Those are the consultants who get very well paid,” she added.
