The Republicans have cited a claim by a postal worker in Pennsylvania to back up their claims of voting irregularities. But the postal worker has revealed during the investigations that he had fabricated the allegations.
A statement from a House congressional committee and a brief on the probe of voter fraud claims based on the postal worker's claim has proved that there is no truth in the claim. The man in question is Richard Hopkins, who has recanted his claim after the probe.
Hopkins had earlier claimed that a postmaster in Erie, Pa., instructed postal workers to backdate ballots mailed after Election Day. This claim was cited by Republicans Sen. Lindsey Graham and demanded a federal investigation.
Hopkins Recants Claims: U.S. Postal Service's Office
But during the probe by U.S. Postal Service's Office of Inspector General, Hopkins took a U-turn and said that his claims were not true. Hopkins is also said to have signed an affidavit recanting his claims. Politico reporter Hugo Lowell took to Twitter and stated: "House Oversight committee confirms: USPS worker who alleged that his postmaster in Pennsylvania ordered staff to backdate ballots and precipitated DOJ investigations, admits to USPS IG his claims were lies."
Meanwhile, Tim Murtaugh, a Trump campaign spokesman, who posted a fake image and news clipping showing that Washington Post had published "PRESIDENT GORE" headline, supported Hopkins. "Hopkins's allegations are just a small part of the campaign's assertions in the Pennsylvania lawsuit. We don't know what kind of pressure he has been under since he publicly made those statements," Murtaugh told SFGate.
Hopkins Denies Recanting Claims
Hopkins was unavailable for media comments. However, he posted a video on YouTube and said that he had not recanted his claim and said, "I'm here to say I did not recant my statements. That did not happen," he said.
The Erie postmaster, Rob Weisenbach took to Facebook to rubbish claims of voter fraud. He said that the allegations were 100 percent false. "Allegations were made by an employee that was recently disciplined multiple times," he said. He also clarified that the Erie Post Office did not back date any ballots.
Hopkins is said to have served in the Marine Corps from 2007 to 2012. According to his LinkedIn profile, he had held several jobs for short periods of time.
