Trump Lawyer: Michigan Legislature Agrees to Hold Election Review Hearings

Trump Lawyer: Michigan Legislature Agrees to Hold Election Review Hearings
President Donald Trump prepares to speak to the press in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, on Nov. 20, 2020. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Jack Phillips
Updated:

One of President Donald Trump’s lawyers said Monday that the Michigan state legislature will hold hearings on election irregularities and reports of alleged fraud this week.

“We are grateful to Michigan House lawmakers for not rushing to certify inaccurate election results,” lawyer Jenna Ellis told Just the News on Monday afternoon. “We are confident they will share the same concerns once they see the extent of the outright fraud and disregard for the law that happened in Michigan and across the nation. Every American should want to know the truth.”

Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, a Republican, said over the weekend that a “constitutional crisis” may occur.

“If there were to be a 2-2 split on the State Board of Canvassers, it would then go to the Michigan Supreme Court to determine what their response would be, what their order would be,” he told “Fox & Friends” Sunday. “If they didn’t have an order that it be certified, well now we have a constitutional crisis in the state of Michigan. It’s never occurred before.”

And Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, a Republican, wrote on Twitter Sunday that the state’s election process “MUST be free of intimidation and threats.”

“Whether the Board of Canvassers certifies our results tomorrow or decides to take the full time allowed by law to perform their duties, it’s inappropriate for anyone to exert pressure on them,” Shirkey said.

On Saturday, Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Laura Cox and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel called on Michigan to carry out a “full” and “transparent” election audit before the State Board of Canvassers moves to certify on Monday.

Their letter also noted “numerical anomalies and credible reports of procedural irregularities” made by GOP Senate candidate John James.

The Michigan Secretary of State’s office last week recommended that the state board certify the results, showing Democrat Joe Biden winning by more than 150,000 votes.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat who is Michigan’s top elections official, said an audit can’t be completed before the certification is handed down by the board as “election officials do not have legal access to the documents needed to complete audits until the certification.”
Shirkey, Chatfield, and other GOP lawmakers from the state went to Washington to meet with President Trump, urging Trump to push for more relief to help the state during the CCP virus pandemic, according to Chatfield’s interview.

Chatfield said Trump didn’t ask them to interfere in the election certification process. “That just simply didn’t happen,” Chatfield told Fox News on Sunday. “When the president calls, you take that meeting,” he said, adding that it was a “historic day.”

Chatfield added to Fox News that he didn’t have any conversations with the state Board of Canvassers, either, in recent days.

Jack Phillips
Jack Phillips
Breaking News Reporter
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter who covers a range of topics, including politics, U.S., and health news. A father of two, Jack grew up in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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