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House Democrats are looking at formally censuring President Donald Trump over his phone call to the George secretary of state asking him to “find” enough votes to tip the state’s Nov. 4 election in his favor, the House Majority Leader said Tuesday.
Rep. Steny Hoyer said in a weekly phone call with reporters he also thought Trump may have committed both state and federal crimes in his conversation, a recording of which was obtained and published by The Washington Post.
“This president is out of control. This president has no respect for democracy. This president is acting in a way that no other president has acted, period,” the usually reserved Hoyer said.
Trump, in a phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Saturday, asked Raffensperger to reconsider the official tally and add votes to Trump’s totals that would swing it in his favor because of alleged voting irregularities, something Raffensperger’s office has not found in post-vote checks.
On Monday night, in one of the few remarks to directly address the issue, Trump said at a rally for two Senate candidates in Georgia, “Everyone loved my phone call.”
“I believe there are members talking about some type of censure resolution with respect to the president’s actions, which I do believe may well be a violation of criminal law, both from a state and a federal perspective,” Hoyer said Tuesday.
He said if the call amounted to an attempt to “entice, encourage or threaten somebody” to take illegal actions to change the election result, there could be legal liability.
Hoyer also took a shot at some of Trump’s supporters who have backed his efforts to nullify the results of the Nov. 4 presidential election.
“This president’s actions are inconsistent with the Constitution and may well be criminal. And very frankly those who support his actions are undermining faith and trust in democracy, which is so important for democracy’s success and survival,” he said.
