Trump Campaign Taps Collins To Lead Georgia Recount Effort

ATLANTA, GA — Former U.S. representative and Senate candidate Doug Collins will get a consolation prize after being edged out by fellow Republican Kelly Loeffler for one of Georgia’s Senate runoffs: President Donald Trump’s campaign has tapped him to lead the anticipated vote recount.

“Republicans stand by the ideal that every eligible voter should be able to vote legally and have it be counted,” Collins said in a statement Sunday. “During the coming recount, we are confident we will find evidence of improperly harvested ballots and other irregularities that will prove that President Trump won Georgia fairly again on his way to re-election as President.”

Democrats quickly shot back. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted Democratic state representative Scott Holcomb as saying that the GOP has “already conceded defeat” if the best lawyer they can find is Collins.

Collins, who resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives to run for the Senate seat vacated by Johnny Isakson, was one of Trump's most vocal defenders during Trump's impeachment hearings

With 99 percent of votes counted by Friday, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced that the state would have a recount. The margin of victory for former vice president Joe Biden over Trump in Georgia is currently .2 percent, or about 10,400 votes.

Matt Morgan, general counsel for Trump’s campaign, expressed concern Sunday about the “lack of transparency” counting votes, “especially given the reports of irregularities and improper ballot harvesting in Georgia.”

Trump’s campaign already filed onelawsuit in Chatham County, where Savannah is located, the day after the election. A judge threw it out the next day, citing “no evidence” that late ballots were being counted or that Chatham County election officials “had failed to comply with the law,” according to The Savannah Morning News.

South of Atlanta in Spalding County, complaints of lack of access and ballots being tossed out were debunked by the sheriff’s office and an investigation by the Georgia Secretary of State.

“There has been a great deal of bad information, misinformation, rumor, and gossip over the chain of events that occurred last nigh (sic) at the Spalding County Elections Office,” Sheriff Darrell Dix said in a statement documenting his investigation.

Georgia is one of five battleground states where Republicans have alleged voter irregularities following the Nov. 3 general election. Media outlets called the presidential election for Biden on Saturday.

RELATED: GA Election: Lt. Gov. Says No Fraud, Ballot Counting Continues