The postal worker in Pennsylvania who congressional Democrats and a major US newspaper claimed had recanted his allegations of mail-in-ballot tampering is denying that he walked back his words.
In a video posted Tuesday evening, Richard Hopkins, a United States Postal Service worker in the must-win swing state, denied taking back his statements when speaking to authorities.
“I’m here to say I did not recant my statements. That did not happen,” said Hopkins, 32.
The news came hours after House Oversight Committee Democrats wrote in a series of tweets that investigators with the USPS Inspector General’s Office told staffers that Hopkins backed off his allegations during an interview Monday.
Hopkins “did not explain why he signed a false affidavit,” according to the committee.
That same day, the Washington Post reported that Hopkins had admitted to investigators that he made up his allegations, citing three people briefed on the probe.
In a tweet that included Hopkins’ video saying he did not recant, President Trump weighed in on the matter, calling the postal worker “A brave patriot.”
“More & more people are stepping forward to expose this Rigged Election!” the 45th commander-in-chief wrote.
On Saturday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called on the Justice Department to investigate a sworn affidavit in which Hopkins, who works in Erie, Pennsylvania, said his supervisors planned to backdate ballots that were mailed too late to be counted under Pennsylvania law.
Hopkins’ allegations — first reported by conservative activist group Project Veritas — were included in a federal lawsuit filed Monday by Trump’s campaign.
The suit alleges that Keystone State officials created “an illegal ‘two-tiered’ voting system” that unfairly favors mail-in ballots and “encourages ballot fraud or tampering.”
“It has been reported by Project Veritas, in a release on November 5, 2020, that carriers were told to collect, separate and deliver all mail-in ballots directly to the supervisor,” the suit says.
After news of Hopkins recanting was initially reported, Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh weighed in as well, arguing that Hopkins “filed a very detailed affidavit. He named names. He described explicitly what it is that he experienced.”
Murtaugh also suggested that Hopkins’ recantation may not have been entirely voluntary.
“Earlier today, we saw our own attorney, in some cases, doxxed on Twitter and public invitations to harass attorneys who have been involved in pursuing the president’s lawful avenues through the courts and also connected to what we will eventually pursue in recounts,” he said.
“So we don’t know what kind of pressure this private citizen has been under.”
In a Facebook post viewed by the Erie Post-Times, Erie’s Postmaster Rob Weisenbach denied Hopkins’ allegations, calling them “100% false,” and described him as “an employee that was recently disciplined multiple times.”
“The Erie Post Office did not back date any ballots,” Weisenbach wrote.