LANSING, Mich. — Former President Donald Trump called Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ron Weiser about a potential audit of the state's 2020 election, the party's co-chairwoman, Meshawn Maddock, divulged at a GOP meeting over the weekend.
Maddock made the comments at the 14th Congressional District Republican Committee's picnic in Grosse Pointe Park on Sunday, according to a recording obtained by The Detroit News. The remarks indicate high-level consideration of an election audit quietly continues within the party 10 months after the November vote, and the former president has gotten involved.
Someone in the crowd asked during the event about the possibility of an audit that would reexamine the votes. The co-chairwoman referenced the controversial audit that the GOP-controlled Arizona Senate launched in Maricopa County. The results of that exercise have not been released publicly yet.
"President Trump called and spoke to Chairman Weiser, and they had a conversation," Maddock told the group, according to the recording. "And Chairman Weiser said that he's going to pay close attention to what happens coming out of Arizona.
"Arizona would only need, what,10,000 votes to change anything? Michigan would need 150,000. So I think it was a fair thing for the chairman to say to the president, 'Let's see what happens in Arizona and we'll look at it again.'"
Maddock said Weiser could simply voice support for an audit, but it would ultimately be up to the Republican-controlled Legislature to try to force one to happen.
During her comments, Maddock did not specify when the call with Trump occurred. In text messages Thursday, she didn't directly answer questions about the details of the conversation between Weiser and Trump but noted that she didn't see a Detroit News reporter at the Sunday event.
Michigan GOP spokeswoman Sarah Anderson said Weiser "doesn’t talk to the press about his private conversations."
"With a large number of voters (Republicans, Democrats and Independents) not trusting the integrity of our elections, the Michigan Republican Party and Chairman Weiser are absolutely interested in securing elections and restoring faith in the process," Anderson added.
The former president and some of his supporters continue to levy unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 vote was "stolen" in Michigan. He lost to Democrat Joe Biden by 154,000 votes, or 3 percentage points, and his assertions have spurred division within the GOP.
Dozens of audits by Michigan election officials, a series of court rulings and an investigation by the GOP-controlled state Senate Oversight Committee have already upheld the results of the election.
Trump has targeted Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, a Clarklake Republican, and Senate Oversight Chairman Ed McBroom, a Vulcan Republican, in public comments and said GOP state lawmakers in Michigan "should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this horrible situation to happen."
"Why are RINOs (Republicans in name only) standing in the way of a full forensic audit in Michigan?" Trump said in a statement Aug. 12. "The voters are demanding it because they have no confidence in their elections after the rigged 2020 presidential election scam."
The GOP legislative leaders in Michigan have not pursued an audit.
A few minutes after her comments about the call with Trump, Maddock was asked by someone else what can be done to get Republicans to "stand with Republicans," according to the recording.
"Is there any media in the room?" Maddock responded. "I should have asked that at the beginning."
She added that she had been told at media training that if she asks if there are media in the room, "they have to tell you who they are."
"I learned this little secret after being on the headline(s) as 'insurrectionist Barbie' like 19 times," Maddock told the group.
The party-s co-chair also revealed that Weiser, the University of Michigan regent and wealthy businessman, had given the party $2 million since he was elected chairman in February.
"I see the checks," Maddock said. "He put $2 million into a separate account that is for county parties and district parties to raise money if their people will get out and knock doors. ... These are real dollars out of his personal funds."
During the event, Maddock discussed two petition initiative campaigns that Republicans are pursuing in the state to go around Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's veto authority.
One, championed by Unlock Michigan, would curb the emergency epidemic powers of the state health department. Another, backed by Secure MI Vote, would institute a photo identification requirement for Michigan voters.
The two campaigns will be gathering signatures "right along with" each other, Maddock said. They'll each need about 340,047 valid signatures to go before the GOP-controlled state Legislature, which could approve them without the Democratic governor having the opportunity to block the measures.
Unlock Michigan led the successful effort to repeal a 1945 law that gave the governor powers to unilaterally respond to an emergency. The campaign cost a ton of money, Maddock said Sunday.
"Thank the Lord for the people who write huge checks in order to get something like Unlock Michigan passed," she said.
Later, she said, "We again have donors who are willing to fund Unlock 2.0."
So far, Unlock Michigan has reported raising $2.8 million in direct contributions. The vast majority of the money, about $2.3 million, has come from two nonprofit groups, Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility and Michigan! My Michigan!, which don't have to disclose their donors.
The top donor outside of the two nonprofit groups has been Weiser himself at $100,000.
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