'Disgusting': Perdue hammers Georgia secretary of state for recording Trump call

Sen. David Perdue tore into Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Monday for recording a phone call with President Donald Trump over the weekend, calling it “disgusting” to do so.

“I guess I was raised differently,” Perdue, a Republican, said on Fox News. “To have a statewide elected official, regardless of party, tape without disclosing a conversation — private conversation — with the president of the United States, and then leaking it to the press is disgusting.”

Perdue also downplayed the significance of the hourlong call, in which Trump implored the secretary of state to “find” enough votes to overturn president-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia, setting off alarm bells with legal experts and lawmakers.

“I didn't hear anything in that tape that the president hasn't already said for weeks now since the November election,” he said.

The president may have opened himself to legal exposure by potentially violating federal and state statutes against soliciting of election fraud. Raffensperger on Monday said the Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney may investigate the president’s actions but sidestepped whether he believed Trump’s conduct to be lawful.

“I’m not a lawyer. All I know is that we’re going to follow the law, follow the process,” Raffensperger said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “Truth matters. And we’ve been fighting these rumors for the last two months.”

The Washington Post and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first obtained audio of the call on Sunday, and it was subsequently confirmed by POLITICO. The recording came to light after Trump lashed out at Raffensperger via tweet Sunday morning.

Perdue and fellow Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler have gone all-in with Trump as they seek to save their seats ahead of Tuesday’s run off. The pair previously called for Raffensperger to resign after the secretary of state and his office repeatedly dismissed unsubstantiated allegations of rampant voter fraud in the November election.

Raffensperger shot back at Perdue later in the day, demanding an apology for the stir caused by the resignation demand.

“Senator Purdue still owes my wife an apology for all the death threats she got after he asked for my resignation,“ he said on Fox News. “I have not heard a peep from that man since. If he wants to call me — face-to-face, man-to-man — I’ll talk to him, off the record. But he hasn’t done that.“

The president is scheduled to travel to the state Monday for a campaign rally in support of the two GOP senators. Democrats need to knock off both in the runoff to take control of the Senate.

Perdue said he will participate “virtually,” as he and his wife have been isolating after announcing Thursday that he had been in proximity to a person who had tested positive for Covid-19. Perdue said he had tested negative “repeatedly” in the days since.

“My wife and I are in good health — no symptoms,” Perdue added.