Fake Trump Elector Felt ‘Betrayed’ By Officials Who Pressured Him Not to Follow the ‘Legitimate Process’

AP Photo/Charles Krupa

A fake Michigan elector for former President Donald Trump told investigators that he felt beyond “betrayed” by Republican officials who allegedly pressured him not to follow the “legitimate process” in certifying the 2020 election.

According to the New York Times, which obtained “a recording of his interview with the state attorney general’s office,” 77-year-old Trump elector James Renner told investigators he was led into acting improperly.

“I can’t overemphasize how once I read the information in the J6 transcripts how upset I was that the legitimate process had not been followed,” he said.

Renner – the only fake Trump elector out of 16 in Michigan to have had charges against him dropped – also told investigators he “knew nothing about the electoral process,” and felt like he “had been walked into a situation that I shouldn’t have ever been involved in.”

Renner went on to say that he believed at the time that “the individuals that were in authority” knew “what they were talking about.”

After he was sued in court and began to study the official process, Renner reportedly realized that “what happened was not legitimate.”

“It was only then that I realized that, hold it, there is an official state authorized process for this,” he said. “I had never been an elector, I had never discussed it with anybody. I was used to a much more informal process at the county level. And so that’s when I became suspicious of what had gone on.”

Renner told investigators, “I am very upset, I don’t show it, but I am,” and concluded that “betrayed is an understatement” to describe how he feels about the incident.

In September, one of the 16 fake electors in Michigan claimed she had acted “at the direction” of Trump and his attorneys.