Jack Smith recently revealed Donald Trump's use of a burner phone routed through Egypt to try to overturn the 2020 election. Florida State Prosecutor Dave Aronberg reacts.
Michael J. Shirkey[1] (born December 5, 1954) is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Michigan State Senate and as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives. He was first elected to the House in 2010 and to the Senate in 2014. His district, the 16th, covered all of Branch, Hillsdale, and Jackson Counties. From 2019 to 2023, Shirkey was the majority leader of the Michigan State Senate.[2]
FROM:
Wikipedia - Mike Shirkey
“Spam risk Egypt'
When the call came, Chatfield reportedly explained, the phone would indicate it was "spam risk Egypt."
That means it's the president, Shirkey remembers Chatfield explaining.
The speaker said Trump wanted the legislative leaders to join him at the White House. They didn't know exactly why, Shirkey said.
"Spam risk Egypt" popped up on Shirkey's phone a little after 6 p.m. on Nov. 18, 2020. It was a Wednesday, about two weeks after the election, in which Biden received about 154,000 more votes in Michigan than Trump.”
Trump’s SECRET BURNER PHONE Revealed in New Court Docs
Jack Smith recently revealed Donald Trump's use of a burner phone routed through Egypt to try to overturn the 2020 election. Florida State Prosecutor Dave Aronberg reacts.
Summary
The article discusses Mike Shirkey's deposition to the Jan. 6 committee. Shirkey revealed details of Trump's calls and visits to pressure him into interfering with the 2020 election results in Michigan. Shirkey also discussed his conversations with Vice President Pence and his thoughts on the so-called "fake electors" plot. Despite the pres Shirkey maintained that he and his colleagues had no legal authority to intervene in the election process.
Table of Contents
- 'Spam risk Egypt'
- Trump's body language
- The tree stand phone call
- A conversation with Mike Pence
- 'It, frankly, pisses me off that I can't remember'
- Read more
'Spam risk Egypt'
When the call came, Chatfield reportedly explained, the phone would indicate it was "spam risk Egypt."
That means it's the president, Shirkey remembers Chatfield explaining.
The speaker said Trump wanted the legislative leaders to join him at the White House. They didn't know exactly why, Shirkey said.
"Spam risk Egypt" popped up on Shirkey's phone a little after 6 p.m. on Nov. 18, 2020. It was a Wednesday, about two weeks after the election, in which Biden received about 154,000 more votes in Michigan than Trump.
Trump was cordial but to the point on the roughly four-minute call, Shirkey said. He introduced himself and asked whether Shirkey and "some of your buddies" wanted to come to the White House. While Shirkey says the president didn't expressly explain the purpose of the meeting, Trump did mention his concerns about alleged election fraud in the state and asked Shirkey whether lawmakers were investigating.
At this point, both the Michigan House and Senate had tasked their respective oversight committees with investigating election fraud claims. The Senate Oversight Committee, chaired by U.P. Republican Ed McBroom, would ultimately issue a scathing report that determined there was no evidence of widespread fraud. But during that initial phone call, Shirkey says he and the president never discussed details of the committee's investigation.
After the call, Shirkey says he and Chatfield met. They suggested discussing federal COVID-19 funding with Trump during their White House visit, "to make good use of this time," Shirkey said. But he acknowledged both legislative leaders prepared for Trump to ask about supposed fraud and what they planned to do to address it.
"We both concurred — it wasn't a long conversation — that we were going to simply follow Michigan's laws," Shirkey said.
More:GOP legislative leaders to meet with Trump at White House amid election fight
More:Trump tweets undermine Michigan leaders; images show Chatfield drinking at Trump hotel
Trump's body language
Shirkey, Chatfield and a handful of other lawmakers went to the White House on Nov. 20, 2020. The entire visit lasted less than 90 minutes, Shirkey recalled.
After lawmakers introduced themselves to Trump, he started to ask about fraud allegations. While Shirkey said the president never "made a specific ask" of the legislators, he parroted some of the conspiracy theories about election issues, specifically at what was then the TCF Center in Detroit.
Shirkey said Trump was "a bit disparaging about Wayne County" — he repeatedly blasted Detroit publicly in the weeks after the election — but the Senate leader said he didn't lose Michigan because of the state's heavily Democratic stronghold.
"I could tell by his bodily language that wasn't necessarily what he wanted to hear," Shirkey told investigators.
After Shirkey told the president he lost because he performed poorly in Kent and Oakland counties, areas that in the past helped Republicans win statewide races, Shirkey says Trump "quickly changed the topic."
Shortly thereafter, Trump started a conference call in the Oval Office with Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel — a Michigan native — and Rudy Giuliani. The former New York City mayor then serving as a Trump campaign attorney was "filibustering" Shirkey said, explaining he launched into a "long monologue" of fraud claims.
In an interaction Shirkey also recently recounted in his Senate farewell speech, he told investigators he shouted Giuliani's name several times to interrupt him. Asked by investigators why he did that, Shirkey said "because I'm impatient."
"I was tired of hearing all of these loosely calculated claims and allegations but no substance to back them up," Shirkey elaborated.
"Something as serious as this, it was my strong personal feeling that we were destroying the country by talking like this without having something to follow it up with and creating unnecessary doubt across the country."
While Shirkey never publicly shared this specific fear of a destroyed country at the time, he and Chatfield issued several public statements indicating they would not take any of the actions championed by Trump and his supporters to interfere with election results.
Apart from interrupting Giuliani to ask whether he planned to file a lawsuit in Michigan and telling Trump he lost because voters in Oakland and Kent counties didn't support him, Shirkey acknowledged never directly telling the president there was no evidence of sweeping election fraud.
But after the meeting, he and Chatfield issued a statement that said in part, "We have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan."
The message clearly did not resonate with Trump. And he wasn't done with Shirkey yet, either.
More:Republican leaders praise board for fulfilling duty, certifying Michigan election results
More:Michigan GOP leaders say COVID-19 assistance, not election, focus of White House meeting
MORE AT:
Detroit Free Press
Shirkey Jan. 6 committee deposition reveals details of Trump calls, White House visit
Detroit Free Press
Published 11:25 a..m. ET Dec. 28, 2022 Updated 6:30 a.m. ET Dec. 29, 2023
ALSO SEE:
BBC
Why 'burner phones' are the talk of Washington
Summary
The article discusses the recent interest in burner phones in Washington, particularly in light of the events of January 6th, 2021. Burner phones are low-cost, pay-as-you-go mobile phones that provide anonymity, making them popular among criminals and individuals seeking privacy. The article explores the possibility that former President Donald Trump used a burner phone during the Capitol attack to make calls without official records.
Anthony Zurcher
North America reporter•@awzurcher
30 March 2022
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