President Donald Trump is coming under fire from an ethics group that said he is trying to “end American democracy.”
The organization Citizens for Ethics spoke out on Saturday, just after reports that Trump had called Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and attempted to get him to overturn presidential election results in the state that showed Joe Biden was the winner. As CNN reported, Trump pushed for Kemp to call a special session of the state legislature and convince lawmakers to select a group of electors who would give the state to him. He also asked the governor to conduct an audit of signatures on absentee ballots, the report noted.
The Georgia governor reportedly denied the request, saying he did not have the power to authorize an audit and would not call the legislature into session.
Word of the phone call has sparked a strong backlash, with many accusing him of trying to subvert the Electoral College and steal the race won by Biden. Citizens for Ethics, which says it uses “high-impact legal actions to target government officials who sacrifice the common good to special interests,” joined those speaking out.
“Donald Trump is trying to end American democracy. There’s no other way to put it,” the organization tweeted .
Trump has continued to insist that he was the real winner of the election and that there were millions of illegal votes, though he has not been able to show evidence to back these claims and his legal team has lost a string of cases trying to challenge the results across many states.
The organization has also accused Trump of using these court challenges as a way to raise money for what has been called a slush fund for post-presidency spending. As The Inquisitr reported, his campaign has raised more than $200 million since November 3, with Trump’s team sending multiple emails a day calling on donors to support its legal efforts to challenge election results. But the report noted that close to three-quarters of the money goes into a political action committee that has loose restrictions on spending, and it could ultimately be used to further the president’s personal and business interests.
“Here’s what you need to understand about why Team Trump keeps filing lawsuits it will obviously lose: it’s not about winning. It’s just a fundraising tactic to bring millions of dollars into a group that can then spend it at Trump properties,” the non-profit advocacy group tweeted .
