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WASHINGTON—Congressman Paul D. Tonko had sharp words for outgoing President Trump following release of a one hour audio recording in which Trump can be heard repeatedly pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to change the outcome of the 2020 election and threatening criminal prosecution if he refused. Raffensperger directed two statewide vote recounts before certifying Joe Biden as the winner of the state’s electoral votes.

“President Trump has been making unfounded claims to undermine our elections for years, but it turns out the greatest threat to America’s election integrity has always been Trump himself,” said Tonko. “The recording of his conversation with Secretary Raffensperger is damning and shows a clear violation of America’s ethical and electoral standards. We are a nation of laws, and those laws need to be upheld regardless of the power or status of the person who breaks them, including President Trump himself. If we don’t speak up now in defense of the rule of law, with a lame duck president who appears to be shredding norms and violating the law in new ways on his way out the door, then the foundation of our laws and our republic has truly cracked. I hope my Republican colleagues will join me in condemning this open violation of our laws and the integrity of our elections, and I look forward to working in the new Congress to advance the badly needed electoral reforms I have supported for the past several years.”