Audio file released by the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office of a December 23, 2020, phone call between then-President Donald Trump and chief investigator Frances Watson. This file was released to American Oversight on March 10, 2021, in response to a public records request. A copy of the recording was separately obtained and reported on by the Wall Street Journal on March 10, 2021.

Transcription of Audio Released to American Oversight on March 10, 2021

Unidentified Individual:

Ms. Watson, the President.

Trump: 

Hello Frances, how are you?

Watson:

Hello Mr. President I am actually doing very well.

Trump:

Good, well you have a big fan in our –our great chief, right– Chief of staff Mark.

Watson:

I did – I met him  I, um it was a pleasure to meet him yesterday.

Trump:

Nah, he’s great. He’s a great – he’s been successful, he was a great congressman and then when you lead by 35 points it’s hard to get people out of there, but I tried, for like two years, and we got him, and he’s done a fantastic job.

I just wanted to thank you for everything, he told you’ve been great and, you know, look this country is counting on it–

Cause, it’s very interesting. So I won Florida in a record number, Ohio in a record, Texas in a record, Alabama by 40, 40 points.

And I won everything but Georgia and,  you know and I won Georgia, I know that, by a lot and the people know it.

And you know something happened, I mean, something bad happened. 

And I hope you join that – [UNINTELLIGIBLE] You know I hope you’re going back two years, as opposed to just checking you know one against the other, because that would be a signature check that didn’t mean anything.

But If you go back two years, and if you can get to Fulton, you’re going to find things that are gonna be unbelievable, the dishonesty that we’ve heard from them.

Watson: Right.

Trump: 

You know just good sources,

Really good sources–

Watson: Right.

Trump: 

But Fulton, Fulton is the motherload, you know, as the expression goes, Fulton County–

Watson: Right.

Trump: –and uh [UNINTELLIGIBLE]

Watson:

Well Mr. President, right, yeah uh I appreciate your comments and I can assure you that our team and the GBI–

Trump: Right.

Watson:

–That we’re only interested in the truth and finding–

Trump: Right, that’s great.

Watson:

 –And finding the information that’s based on the facts, and you know we’ve been working twelve, sixteen-hour days.

Trump: Great.

Watson:

And we’re working through it and, um, so I can assure you that and I do appreciate you calling I know you’re a very busy, very important man, and I’m very honored that you called. And you know quite–

Trump: It’s so important what you’re doing.

Watson:

 –quite frankly, I’m shocked that you would take time to do that, but I am very appreciative.

Trump: 

Mark asked me to do it he thinks you’re great and you know, just you have the most important job in the country right now, because if we win Georgia, first of all, if we win you’re going to have two wins…

They’re not gonna win right now, you know, they’re down because the people of Georgia are so angry at what happened to me.

They know I won, won by hundreds of thousands of votes, it wasn’t close.

And Alabama you know where they go, because I won South Carolina in a record, Alabama in a record, Florida in a record.

You know I won Florida by six or seven hundred thousand votes, it’s never happened before with a Republican.

And uh with all that money they spent, you know, you heard all about these guys go down spending a fortune.

And we won Texas by a record, Texas was won by the biggest, biggest number ever, and it, you know, it didn’t, it didn’t…

Trump (cont.): 

And Ohio, of course, you know that you know about that.

That was won by nine points or something,

And it’s uh… all of it. Iowa, I mean.

And it didn’t – it never made sense and, ya know, they dropped ballots. They dropped all these ballots.

Stacey Abrams — really really terrible, I mean just a terrible thing

And I will say this, if and when, I mean hopefully, this will show because if you go back two years or four years, you’re going to see it’s a totally different signature.

But hopefully uh, you know, I will, when – when the right answer comes out you’ll be praised.

I don’t know why they made it so hard, they will be praised.

People will say “great!” Because that’s what it’s about, that ability to check and, and to make it right,

Trump (cont.): 

Cus everyone knows it’s wrong, there’s just no way.

You know they had people in Georgia, for instance, that won and I was way ahead of them, and they won because of me, you know, I pulled them, as they call it coattails, right, and we pulled them across.

And they say “there’s no way that I beat you by 15 points.”

You know I’ve had that, in uh, we’ve had plenty of those calls too so.

Anyway, but whatever you can do Frances, It would be uh-

It’s a great thing, it’s an important thing for the county, so important 

You have no idea, so important, and I very much appreciate it.

Watson:

Well, I appreciate your call and I – I hope you and your family have a very healthy and happy Christmas, and, um, I certainly appreciate you and everything you’ve done.

Trump: Well, and I appreciate it too, Frances. 

Do you think they’ll be working after Christmas, to keep it going fast? 

Cause, you know, we have that date of the sixth, which is a very important date.

Watson: Right, right. I–

Trump: and, uh,  [UNINTELLIGIBLE]

Watson:

– I know you’ve got that coming up and, and I can assure you that, 

that I’m gonna be working, and we’re gonna be working. And, it’s um– 

Trump: Good.

Watson:

I, um, yeah, I appreciate it and, you know, our team’s out there working, you know, we got pandemic–

Trump: Well I do thank them.

Watson: Yeah, we’ve got pand–

Trump: 

And I hear the, uh, I hear the Georgia, it’s, it’s not the FBI, what was it, the GBI, right?

Watson: Right.

Trump: 

Right, but I hear, I hear they’re fantastic. And I hear I’m about 96 percent with them, so that’s good, okay.

Watson: [Laughter]

Trump:

But, uh, say hello to those guys, tell them I appreciate it very much, let them all know.

Watson: I will certainly do that.

Trump: 

And you just take care, call anytime you need, if you need help, call me, but – but Mark has the number, but Mark appreciates it, but I wanted to call you and thank you.

Watson: Well thank you so much and you have a good evening.

Trump: 

Thanks Frances, take care, have a good Christmas and everything, so long, thanks Frances.

Watson: Thank you, buh bye.

Trump: Appreciate it, bye.

[End of Call]