MADISON, Wis. – Day 1 of Wisconsin’s presidential recount kicked off Thursday amid allegations of illegal coordination and more legal challenges.
Heading into the review, the Republican Party of Wisconsin filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging illegal coordination between Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein’s campaign and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Stein, citing the possibility that nefarious actors may have hacked into Wisconsin’s election system, requested the recount on Nov. 25. The campaign paid nearly $3.5 million to cover the costs of the 72-county ballot review.
In a statement, the GOP asserts the beneficiaries of the recount are Hillary Clinton, who lost to Donald Trump by more than 22,000 votes in the Badger State, and Wisconsin Democrats. The Clinton campaign this week jumped in, saying it would “participate” in the recount. Stein has allowed Clinton’s campaign to “oversee the recount, join relevant lawsuits and become the sole benefactor of this effort while bearing none of the cost or public scrutiny,” according to the GOP.
“Hillary Clinton’s campaign has taken full advantage of this recount and it raises serious questions about illegal coordination with Jill Stein’s Presidential Campaign,” said Pat Garrett, spokesman for the Republican Party of Wisconsin. “Hillary Clinton and her allies have always been willing to say or do anything to hold onto power, her actions regarding this recount are no different.”
Stein campaign manager, David Cobb, called the allegations “fabrications.”
“The FEC complaint is nothing but a PR student to push a false narrative that will ultimately have no impact on the recount in Wisconsin,” Cobb said in a statement.
Conservatives countered that it is Stein and her left-wing friends are pushing a narrative in an attempt to diminish the legitimacy of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory.
“(T)he goal of the left looking forward even four years or two years from now is to delegitimize Donald Trump,” said U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R- Glenbeulah. “And they are willing to pay millions of dollars to kind of keep this aura out there among the uninformed voter that Donald Trump did something wrong in winning. And by keeping it in the headlines to average, uninformed voters, they want to create the idea somehow that Donald Trump is not the legitimate winner.”
On Thursday, the state GOP paid for a #StopTheSteal billboard to “welcome all the attorneys for the Clinton and Stein campaign to Wisconsin.” The billboard, facing south on Interstate-43 near Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport, urges, “Don’t Let Liberals Steal the Election!”
The billboard and social network campaign may serve to fatten the campaign coffers of the Republican Party, too.
Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyers filed an objection to Stein’s recount efforts in Michigan, according to The Hill. The filing could delay and potentially block a review slated to begin Friday.
“Under Michigan law, the recount is halted when the Board of State Canvassers resolves the objection,” Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, a Republican, said in a statement. “The board, which by law must resolve the complaint within five days, is scheduled to consider resolution of the objection, tomorrow, Dec. 2.
“If the objection is not adopted by the board, the recount can commence the second business day following the board’s decision. If the board adopts the objection, the recount would be ended.”
This article originally appeared at Watchdog.org.
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