A new video has emerged that appears to show longtime Donald Trump ally Roger Stone working to overturn the 2020 presidential election, days before the results were officially announced in favour of Joe Biden.
The video aired by MSNBC on Wednesday was obtained by Danish filmmaker Christoffer Guldbrandsen for his 2023 documentary A Storm Foretold.
In the documentary, the filmmaker refers to Mr Stone, who served as a former adviser to Mr Trump during his first presidential campaign as his "political godfather".
The purported video shows Mr Stone on 5 November 2020 dictating to an associate that “any legislative body” can send their own electors to the Electoral College “on the basis of overwhelming evidence of fraud”.
"Although state officials in all 50 states must ultimately certify the results of the voting in their state … the final decision as to who the state legislatures authorise be sent to the Electoral College is a decision made solely by the legislature,” Mr Stone said.
The Republican consultant continued: “Any legislative body may decide on the basis of overwhelming evidence of fraud to send electors to the Electoral College who accurately reflect the president’s legitimate victory in their state, which was illegally denied him through fraud.
“We must be prepared to lobby our Republican legislatures … by personal contact and by demonstrating the overwhelming will of the people in their state – in each state – that this may need to happen,” he added.
The former president and 18 of his associates were indicted by a Fulton County grand jury in Georgia on Monday for allegedly committing various crimes as a part of a scheme to keep Mr Trump in power even after he lost the 2020 election to Mr Biden.
Mr Stone is not a defendant in the indictment, but the document reportedly mentions 30 unnamed unindicted co-conspirators.
Following the release of the footage, filmmaker Guldbrandsen told The Daily Beast that Mr Stone was “upset about the publication of the material”.
“I respect that he has been able to restrain himself from going after me.”
Meanwhile, the district attorney prosecuting former president on election interference charges in Georgia has proposed that his trial start in March 2024, a date that would have Mr Trump in court mid-campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
The proposed 4 March trial date is one day before Super Tuesday, during which voters in more than a dozen states are set to cast their ballots for the Republican presidential nomination.
