US postal worker allegedly ‘completely recanted’ claims of election ballot tampering

Outgoing President Donald Trump has been dealt another massive blow after one of his main arguments of electoral fraud reportedly disintegrated.

The Republican Party incumbent has been crying foul ever since his opponent Joe Biden emerged as the election victor over the weekend following the November 3 vote.

The Democratic Party nominee has so far secured 290 electoral college votes to claim victory, and while three states – Alaska, Georgia and North Carolina – are still counting, they would not make a difference to the final result.

To win a US election, a candidate must score a crucial 270 electoral college votes to claim victory, and Mr Trump has only 214.

Since then, Mr Trump has made a string of allegations of voter fraud, and has repeatedly claimed his rivals were attempting to “steal” the election from him.

One of the major pieces of alleged evidence from the Trump team was claims of ballot tampering which were made by US postal worker Richard Hopkins.

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In a signed affidavit, Mr Hopkins alleged postmaster Rob Weisenbach from Erie, Pennsylvania told staff to backdate votes which had actually been sent in after election day – which would be a breach of rules.

His claims were publicised by Project Veritas, a far-right activist group, with founder James O’Keefe describing him as “an American hero” while Donald Trump himself hailed Mr Hopkins as a “brave patriot”.

But at the time, Mr Weisenbach rejected the allegations, posting on Facebook that they were “100 per cent false” and had been made “by an employee that was recently disciplined multiple times”.

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An official investigation was launched in response to Mr Hopkins’ explosive claims – but according to the Washington Post, the 32-year-old admitted on Monday that his claims were false.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee jumped on the news, posting on Twitter that Mr Hopkins has “completely recanted” allegations made in his “false affidavit”.

But Project Veritas has posted a tweet of its own along with footage that claims to show federal agents attempted to “coerce” Mr Hopkins to “water down” his story.

In a YouTube video posted by the organisation, Mr Hopkins also pushed the Washington Post to “recant” their story, claiming “that is not what happened” and that he “did not recant” his comments.

The suggestion that Mr Hopkins has recanted his original allegations has sparked an outpouring of fury among Americans who are growing increasingly frustrated by the Trump team’s refusal to concede.

The 74-year-old has been constantly tweeting a series of fraud claims on Twitter, many of which have been slapped with a warning from the social media platform that “this claim about election fraud is disputed”.

“I don’t care what state you’re in, this computer voting system is wide open to fraud and intervention. True, and wait until you see what’s coming!’ Mr Trump posted on Wednesday afternoon.

But Trump supporters have taken the bizarre and changing story as further “proof” that the election was rigged.