{"id":230185,"date":"2021-03-16T14:00:33","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T18:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=230185"},"modified":"2021-03-16T14:00:36","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T18:00:36","slug":"how-the-media-pushed-the-now-debunked-find-the-fraud-story-in-their-bid-to-attack-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-media-pushed-the-now-debunked-find-the-fraud-story-in-their-bid-to-attack-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"How The Media Pushed The Now Debunked \u2018Find The Fraud\u2019 Story In Their Bid To Attack Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-the-media-pushed-the-now-debunked-find-the-fraud-story-in-their-bid-to-attack-trump%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=230185&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-1330.jpeg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>As reported by the Daily Wire, \u201cThe Washington Post received a flood of criticism after correcting a story in which the outlet \u2018misquoted\u2019 former President Donald Trump\u2019s December phone call with the Georgia Secretary of State\u2019s top investigator.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe Post attributed fraudulent quotes to Trump based off a single anonymous source familiar with the Dec. 23 phone call. The newspaper published the fake quotes in a January article playing up the president\u2019s alleged efforts to interfere in Georgia\u2019s presidential election,\u201d the Daily Wire <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/they-made-up-quotes-wapo-ripped-for-reporting-fraudulent-trump-quotes-on-call-with-ga-investigator\"><span>report<\/span><\/a><span> added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>At the time, The Washington Post claimed Trump had urged the investigator to \u201cfind the fraud,\u201d and that they would be a \u201cnational hero.\u201d According to an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/recording-of-trump-phone-call-to-georgia-lead-investigator-reveals-new-details-11615411561\"><span>audio recording<\/span><\/a><span> released by the Wall Street Journal, Trump said neither of these two lines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Washington Post added a correction to the top of its Jan. 9 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/trump-call-georgia-investigator\/2021\/01\/09\/7a55c7fa-51cf-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html\"><span>story<\/span><\/a><span>, which reads:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"12.727496917386\">\n<p><i><span>Correction: Two months after publication of this story, the Georgia secretary of state released an audio recording of President Donald Trump\u2019s December phone call with the state\u2019s top elections investigator. The recording revealed that The Post misquoted Trump\u2019s comments on the call, based on information provided by a source. Trump did not tell the investigator to \u201cfind the fraud\u201d or say she would be \u201ca national hero\u201d if she did so. Instead, Trump urged the investigator to scrutinize ballots in Fulton County, Ga., asserting she would find \u201cdishonesty\u201d there. He also told her that she had \u201cthe most important job in the country right now.\u201d A story about the recording <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/trump-call-georgia-investigator\/2021\/03\/11\/c532ea2e-827a-11eb-ac37-4383f7709abe_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_2\"><i><span>can be found here<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>. The headline and text of this story have been corrected to remove quotes misattributed to Trump.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>The story was covered by multiple news outlets in early January, with some even implying that they had independently confirmed or corroborated the Washington Post\u2019s claim. Here\u2019s how mainstream news outlets covered this now debunked story, and how they helped cement it as one of the most impactful narratives against Donald Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.inquirer.com\/politics\/election\/trump-georgia-find-the-fraud-elections-investigator-20210109.html\"><b>Washington Post<\/b><\/a><b> \u2013 \u201cTrump pressured Georgia\u2019s lead elections investigator to \u2018find the fraud\u2019 in December phone call, new evidence shows\u201d (Pre-retraction version posted by the Philadelphia Inquirer)<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cPresident Donald Trump urged Georgia\u2019s lead elections investigator to \u2018find the fraud\u2019 in a lengthy December phone call, saying the official would be a \u2018national hero,\u2019 according to an individual familiar with the call who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Trump placed the call to the investigations chief for the Georgia secretary of state\u2019s office shortly before Christmas \u2013 while the individual was leading an inquiry into allegations of ballot fraud in Cobb County, in the suburbs of Atlanta, according to people familiar with the episode.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The president\u2019s attempts to intervene in an ongoing investigation could amount to obstruction of justice or other criminal violations, legal experts said, though they cautioned a case could be difficult to prove.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20210109230601\/https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2021\/01\/09\/politics\/trump-phone-call-georgia-investigator-2020-election\/index.html\"><b>CNN<\/b><\/a><b> \u2013 \u201cTrump pressured Georgia elections investigator to \u2018find the fraud\u2019 in 2020 election\u201d (Archived version from January 9)<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cPresident Donald Trump last month urged the chief investigator for the Georgia secretary of state\u2019s office to \u2018find the fraud\u2019 in the 2020 presidential election, telling the individual that they would be a \u2018national hero,\u2019 according to a source with knowledge of the call.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The phone call, which was first reported by The Washington Post, is the latest unearthed effort by Trump to attempt to pressure Georgia government officials to overturn President-elect Joe Biden\u2019s win in the Peach State.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/01\/09\/georgia-trump-reportedly-pressured-elections-investigator-to-overturn-election.html\"><b>CNBC<\/b><\/a><b> \u2013 \u201cTrump pressured Georgia top elections investigator to \u2018find the fraud\u2019 in a phone call\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cPresident Donald Trump tried to pressure Georgia\u2019s top elections investigator to \u2018find the fraud\u2019 during a December phone call that could amount to obstruction of justice, The Washington Post reported Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Post did not identify the investigator due to threats and harassment against election officials.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>NBC News has confirmed The Post\u2019s characterization of the Dec. 23 call through a source familiar with the conversation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20210109231903\/https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/joe-biden-donald-trump-georgia-elections-presidential-elections-bc5cc7f3b5506853d39ba51b7231ca55\"><b>Associated Press<\/b><\/a><b> \u2013 \u201cTrump pressured Georgia to \u2018find the fraud\u2019 in earlier call\u201d (Archived version from January 9)<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWhile election officials in Georgia were verifying signatures on absentee ballot envelopes in one metro-Atlanta county, President Donald Trump pressed a lead investigator to \u2018find the fraud\u2019 and said it would make the investigator a national hero.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The December call, described by a person familiar with it who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to describe the sensitive nature of the discussion, is yet another link in the chain of the extraordinary pressure campaign waged by Trump on state officials as he sought to overturn the results of the November election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This piece was shared by multiple outlets, such as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2021\/jan\/10\/trump-call-georgia-election-find-the-fraud\"><span>The Guardian<\/span><\/a><span> with the title, \u201c\u2018Find the fraud\u2019: details emerge of another Trump call to Georgia officials,\u201d and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/trump-pressured-georgia-to-find-the-fraud-in-earlier-call\"><span>PBS<\/span><\/a><span> under the title \u201cTrump pressured Georgia to \u2018find the fraud\u2019 in earlier call.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20210314110928\/https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/donald-trump\/earlier-call-trump-pressured-georgia-elections-investigator-find-evidence-fraud-n1253639\"><b>NBC News<\/b><\/a><b> \u2013 \u201cIn earlier call, Trump pressured Georgia elections investigator to find evidence of fraud\u201d (Archived version from January 9)<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cPresident Donald Trump pushed Georgia\u2019s lead elections investigator in a phone call in December to produce evidence of fraud in the presidential race, telling the person to \u2018find the fraud\u2019 and promising that they would be a \u2018national hero\u2019 for doing so, according to a person familiar with the call.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The call is another recent example of Trump\u2019s efforts to overturn the results of the November election, particularly in Georgia, where President-elect Joe Biden beat him by nearly 12,000 votes, becoming the first Democrat to win the state in decades.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The call was first reported by The Washington Post. Georgia Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs confirmed to NBC News that the call took place.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20210109224548\/https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/december-call-trump-urged-georgia-elections-investigator-find\/story?id=75152489\"><b>ABC News<\/b><\/a><b> \u2013 \u201cOn December call, Trump urged Georgia elections investigator to \u2018find the fraud\u2019: Source\u201d (Archived version from January 9)<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIn December, while a signature match audit was ongoing in one Georgia county, President Donald Trump phoned a chief investigator in Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger\u2019s office asking the official to \u2018find the fraud\u2019 and telling this person they would be a \u2018national hero\u2019 for it, an individual familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Washington Post was first to report on the lengthy phone call, which occurred before Trump\u2019s stunning, hourlong phone conversation with Raffensperger in which the president ranted about baseless allegations of election fraud and pressured Georgia\u2019s top elections official to \u2018find\u2019 enough votes to deliver him a win in the Peach State.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>That call, which took place on Jan. 2, is noted in the draft article of impeachment against the president that Democrats could introduce as early as Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs confirmed the call between Trump and the elections investigator took place without offering details, saying only: \u2018The secretary and the secretary of state\u2019s office can confirm that the call did happen.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The White House declined to comment to ABC News.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The source familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the call, told ABC News that the president\u2019s call to the elections investigator occurred the day after White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows traveled to Cobb County, Georgia, attempting to observe the signature match audit taking place there. The source asked that investigator remain unnamed because of the current threat environment election officials are facing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/us-election-2020\/trump-georgia-election-fraud-call-b1784918.html\"><b>The Independent<\/b><\/a><b> \u2013 \u201cTrump urged Georgia elections official to \u2018find the fraud\u2019 in separate call, report claims\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cDonald Trump allegedly pressured Georgia\u2019s top elections investigator to \u2018find the fraud\u2019 in a phone call last month, as the president continued in his attempts to overturn president-elect Joe Biden\u2019s victory in the state.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Washington Post reported that Mr Trump made the call on 23 December as the investigations chief for the Georgia secretary of state\u2019s office pursued allegations of ballot fraud in the suburbs of Atlanta.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Independent included a retraction update at the top of the article, which read:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"14\">\n<p><i><span>Update, March 15, 2021: The Washington Post issued a correction to its story on 11 March, 2021. It said that following the release of a recording between Donald Trump and Georgia\u2019s top elections investigator that it had misquoted the former president. \u201cTrump did not tell the investigator to \u2018find the fraud\u2019 or say she would be \u2018a national hero\u2019 if she did so,\u201d The Post wrote. In order to acknowledge this, we have amended our headline to make it clear that this was an allegation, and added this update to state the latest position.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/trump-attempted-to-pressure-georgia-investigator-to-find-the-fraud-2021-1\"><b>Business Insider<\/b><\/a><b> \u2013 \u201cTrump reportedly asked a Georgia elections investigator to \u2018find the fraud\u2019 in the 2020 election in lengthy phone call in December\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cPresident Donald Trump on a December 23 phone call pressured Georgia\u2019s lead elections investigator to \u2018find the fraud\u2019 responsible for his election loss, The Washington Post reported Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The president reportedly told the investigator they would be a \u2018national hero\u2019 should they find the evidence he requested, according to the report. The Post\u2019s reporting is based on an anonymous interview with a person familiar with the call who asked not to be identified because of the \u2018sensitivity\u2019 of the conversation, according to the report.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/news-and-politics\/2021\/01\/trump-georgia-elections-investigator-find-fraud-call.html\"><b>Slate<\/b><\/a><b> \u2013 \u201cTrump Pressured Georgia Elections Investigator to \u2018Find the Fraud\u2019 in December Call\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThere was another call. Last week, the Washington Post published the audio of a phone call in which President Donald Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to \u2018find 11,780 votes\u2019 that could overturn the election results in the state. Now comes news there was an earlier call that could translate into legal woes for the commander in chief, reports the Washington Post. In the lengthy December phone call, which was later confirmed by several other news outlets, Trump urged Georgia\u2019s top elections investigator to \u2018find the fraud.\u2019 The president said the investigator would turn into a \u2018national hero\u2019 if they were able to prove the fraud claims.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20210109234429if_\/https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/politics-news\/trump-third-georgia-call-find-the-fraud-1112247\/\"><b>Rolling Stone<\/b><\/a><b> \u2013 \u201cIn Third Georgia Call, Trump Told Election Investigator to \u2018Find the Frau<\/b><strong>d\u2019\u201d (Archived version from January 9)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cPresident Trump told a chief investigator in Georgia if they could \u2018find the fraud\u2019 in the presidential election, it would make them a \u2018national hero,\u2019 according to a source familiar with the call who spoke to the <\/span><span>Wash<\/span><span>ington Post\u2019s Amy Gardner on the condition on anonymity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Trump, who lost the state by almost 12,000 votes, placed the call just before Christmas, while Georgia was auditing signature matches on absentee ballots in Cobb County. Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs confirmed the call took place to ABC News: \u2018The secretary and the secretary of state\u2019s office can confirm that the call did happen.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20210109230159\/https:\/\/www.vox.com\/policy-and-politics\/2021\/1\/9\/22222351\/trump-georgia-lead-election-investigator\"><b>Vox<\/b><\/a><b> \u2013 \u201cTrump reportedly told Georgia\u2019s lead election investigator they could be a \u2018national hero\u2019 if they found fraud\u201d (Archived version from January 9)<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cPresident Donald Trump pressured a top Georgia state election investigator, who was in charge of looking into allegations of vote irregularities in the 2020 presidential election, to \u2018find the fraud\u2019 in a late December phone call, according to a report by the Washington Post\u2019s Amy Gardner.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Post withheld the name of the Georgia official, citing \u2018the risk of threats and harassment directed at election officials,\u2019 but describing the person as \u2018investigations chief for the Georgia secretary of state\u2019s office.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at&nbsp;<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ighaworth\"><i>@ighaworth<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>The views expressed in this piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a&nbsp;<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As reported by the Daily Wire, \u201cThe Washington Post received a flood of criticism after correcting a story in which the outlet \u2018misquoted\u2019 former President Donald Trump\u2019s December phone call &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2310605,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-1330.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"How The Media Pushed The Now Debunked \u2018Find The Fraud\u2019 Story In Their Bid To Attack Trump","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-230185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-1330.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"How The Media Pushed The Now Debunked \u2018Find The Fraud\u2019 Story In Their Bid To Attack Trump","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2310605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}