The Trump campaign had picked up on the Pennsylvania worker’s allegations, but he told investigators they were fabricated.
An employee of the United States Postal Service (USPS) in Pennsylvania, who broke allegations of election rigging and signed an affidavit, withdrew his statement, according to the House Oversight Committee.
On November 6, Richard Hopkins told a right-wing activist website that he had seen his manager talk about retroactive ballots and was later contacted by USPS investigators.
But investigators informed the committee Tuesday night that Hopkins had retracted his allegations and would not explain why he had signed the false affidavit.
President Donald Trump has tried to question the outcome of last week’s election, declared Saturday for Democrat Joe Biden, by claiming – without evidence – that there had been widespread electoral fraud.
BREAKING NEWS: Erie, Pa. # USPS Whistleblower retracted allegations that a supervisor manipulated ballot papers after being questioned by investigators, according to IG.
THREAD:
– Supervisory Committee (@OversightDems) November 10, 2020
The day after Hopkins went public, he created a GoFundMe page ready to testify under oath that the ballots had been backdated and asked for donations because he said his employer was threatening his job.
“Your donations help me when I am unfairly fired from my job or forced to resign [sic] Easternization by my employees, ”it says on the GoFundMe page.
“It will help me make a fresh start in a place where I feel safe and help me maintain children until I can settle down and find a job.”
Hopkins had raised $ 133,000 by Tuesday night, but hours after Al Jazeera asked him for a comment, the GoFundMe page was deleted and he did not respond
Increase in postal votes
The Washington Post previously reported that 32-year-old Hopkins had admitted to USPS investigators that he had fabricated the allegations, citing three officials who had been briefed on the investigation.
Senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham had taken up the postal worker’s testimony when he called on the Justice Department to investigate election fraud allegations and Attorney General William Barr opened the investigation.
Tim Murtaugh, communications director for the Trump campaign, asked about Hopkins at a press conference on Tuesday evening: “He submitted a very detailed affidavit, named his name, explicitly described what he went through, and we don’t know which statements since he made those statements he’s under pressure. “
Very few cases of suspected fraud have been reported in Pennsylvania. In states like Arizona and Georgia that are too close to be called, voting continues.
President Donald Trump and his campaign have filed numerous lawsuits in key swing states, asking the courts to issue orders to stop certification of the results.
Named the election winner on Saturday after capturing the main battlefield state of Pennsylvania, Biden has been congratulated on his victory by world leaders and many Republicans.
The election came as the coronavirus pandemic accelerated in the US and millions of people preferred to vote by mail rather than in person because of concerns about the disease.
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