Trump met with the Pennsylvania state senator who's trying to start a 2020 election audit like Arizona's, report says
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Trump recently met a Pennsylvania state senator in Trump Tower, The Washington Post reported.
The senator, Doug Mastriano, wants a 2020 election audit in his state modeled on the one in Arizona.
Trump is reportedly fixated on audits of last year's vote and on his groundless belief that he won.
Former President Donald Trump recently met with a Pennsylvania lawmaker seeking an Arizona-style election audit in his state, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
Trump hosted state Sen. Doug Mastriano at Trump Tower in New York City, where they discussed launching a 2020 audit in Pennsylvania, which Joe Biden won, The Post reported. The newspaper did not specify when the meeting took place.
Mastriano did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Mastriano was one of three Pennsylvania lawmakers who on Wednesday met with Arizona lawmakers and got a tour of the audit.
The audit of votes in Maricopa County is being conducted in Phoenix by a contractor, Cyber Ninjas, whose founder has defended Trump's claim that the election was stolen from him because of mass fraud. The claim has been debunked and rejected in several court cases.
The audit, which Arizona's GOP-controlled Senate commissioned in April, has been mired in controversy.
Observers from the office of Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs have said the audit is being conducted in a shambolic fashion, with auditors searching for evidence of conspiracy theories and with no rigorous processes to ensure its integrity.
Hobbs has said the audit could be used as a model to undermine election results in other states.
Maricopa County election officials have described the audit as a "sham" and called on the state GOP lawmakers who commissioned the audit to halt it. Republicans in Arizona have said the audit is necessary to ensure the integrity of future elections.
Defenders of Trump's election-fraud claim have seized on the audit in their bid to have Trump declared the true winner of the election; supporters have called for recounts and audits in other states he lost in 2020.
According to The Post, Trump is fixated on the belief that these audits could prove that he was the true victor and even herald his return to the White House this year.
The New York Times' Maggie Haberman said earlier this week that Trump had been telling people he thinks he'll be "reinstated" by August, a claim that has no basis in reality.
The result of the Arizona audit cannot be used to invalidate the 2020 presidential election and is likely to face legal challenges.
Read the original article on Business Insider
