RECANT your story, US postal worker tells Washington Post after report he backtracked on claims of election fraud

A Pennsylvania USPS worker, whose claim of election fraud made him a hero among Trump supporters, has rebuked a Washington Post story, which said he had backtracked on his allegations when interviewed by investigators.

Postal worker Richard Hopkins claims he overheard his boss Erie Postmaster Robert Weisenbach Jr. speaking to another employee about backdating ballots that arrived after November 3. A Washington Post report on Tuesday said that when Hopkins spoke to investigators from the USPS Inspector General’s office, he had recanted his story in a sworn affidavit and admitted to having made it up. The outlet cited “officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.”

Hopkins responded with a video statement, saying that was not true and that he “would like that the Washington Post recant their wonderful little article”. He said: “you’ll find out tomorrow” without elaborating. The paper said they couldn’t reach Hopkins for comment before running their article.

Hopkins’ allegations were first published by the controversial conservative outlet Project Veritas. Its head James O'Keefe claims that the Washington Post had been “played” by federal agents, who interrogated Hopkins on Friday. According to O’Keefe, the agents tried to “coerce” the whistleblower into “watering down” his story during the interview.

Democrats from the Committee on Oversight and Reform earlier tweeted about the supposed turnaround on the backdating allegations, wondering why Hopkins would sign a false affidavit “with allegations of ballot tampering/fraud,” referring to his initial claims.

Donald Trump called Hopkins “a brave patriot” helping expose what he believes to be a rigged election. The US president refused to concede defeat to Joe Biden and claims widespread fraud has affected the outcome of the election.

Weisenbach, the Erie postmaster, earlier called Hopkins’ allegations “100% false” and said the man was “an employee that was recently disciplined multiple times.”

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