President Donald Trump’s top election lawyer appeared Wednesday in Lansing to testify before the state House Oversight Committee. The appearance by Rudy Giuliani was a last-ditch effort to try to reverse Trump's fate in Michigan. The state's election results have already been certified, showing President-elect Joe Biden as the winner.
Giuliani told the Republican-led panel that lawmakers should try to take over the job of naming presidential electors. State GOP leaders have said that’s not possible, and they say they intend to abide by the official results of the election.
The state's delegates for the Electoral College have already been chosen.
Giuliani repeated unproven accusations of vote-rigging in Detroit, which he called a “corrupt” city run by Democrats, as he told lawmakers they should try to name a new slate of electors.
“It is your responsibility to do that. Not the governor. Not the secretary of state. You were given that responsibility by our founding fathers,” Giuliani claimed.
Giuliani claimed without evidence there was widespread voter fraud across the country. U.S. Attorney General William Barr said this week there is no evidence of any widespread fraud.
State Representative Cynthia Johnson (D-Detroit) told Giuliani he’s trying to steal rights of Detroit voters.
“It should be about us electing our own elected officials, and wouldn’t you agree we have selected our own – elected our own elected officials, and are you saying some of us should not – our votes don’t count?” Johnson said.
