PHILADELPHIA — A postal worker who said he had firsthand knowledge of voter fraud is fighting back against the Washington Post and House Democrats after reports that he recanted his allegations.
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, right-wing activist group Project Veritas teased that it had evidence of rampant voter fraud in Pennsylvania. Last week, the group’s leader, James O’Keefe, shared a video by Pennsylvania postal worker Richard Hopkins claiming that employees in his mail facility were ordered to backdate ballots mailed after Election Day.
Those allegations led to a letter from South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham calling on the Justice Department to open a federal investigation. Shortly thereafter, Attorney General William Barr authorized DOJ employees to scrutinize any credible evidence of voter fraud, a controversial step that led to the resignation of the department’s top election crimes official.
As the Trump campaign hailed the allegation as yet another example of why it believes the electoral process was rigged against them, the Democratic-controlled House Oversight Committee tweeted that Hopkins now said the supposed backdating scandal never happened.
“IG investigators informed Committee staff today that they interviewed Hopkins on Friday, but that Hopkins RECANTED HIS ALLEGATIONS yesterday and did not explain why he signed a false affidavit,” the committee tweeted Tuesday evening.
#USPS IG investigators informed Committee staff today that they interviewed Hopkins on Friday, but that Hopkins RECANTED HIS ALLEGATIONS yesterday and did not explain why he signed a false affidavit.
— Oversight Committee (@OversightDems) November 10, 2020
Project Veritas appeared to be caught in a lie and embroiled in another controversy. The group has often been attacked by the Left for selectively editing videos or taking comments from whistleblowers out of context. Unnamed sources who spoke with the Washington Post said that Hopkins signed an affidavit “recanting his claims” but provided no further details on the matter.
O’Keefe, however, was adamant that Hopkins stands by his allegations. A subsequent video released by O’Keefe Tuesday showed Hopkins interviewed by federal investigators who were seemingly pressuring him to walk back his statement.
Later in the night, O’Keefe released a separate video of Hopkins criticizing the paper and asking them for a retraction.
USPS Whistleblower Richard Hopkins: “I DID NOT RECANT”@shawnboburg and @jacobbogage have been played by the same federal agents on the audio ‘coercing,’ ‘scaring’ the whistleblower to water down allegations. As reporters, they are REQUIRED to include Richard’s denial. REQUIRED pic.twitter.com/8Rj5yWSljz
— James O’Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) November 11, 2020
“I am right at this very moment looking at an article written by Washington Post — it says that I fabricated the allegations of ballot-tampering,” Hopkins said. “I’m here to say that I did not recant my statements, that did not happen. That is not what happened. You will find out tomorrow, and I would like that the Washington Post recant their wonderful little article that they decided to throw out there.”
President Trump signaled his support for Hopkins in a tweet, calling him a “brave patriot” and saying that “more & more people are stepping forward to expose this Rigged Election!”
The Washington Post quietly updated its story Tuesday night to add Hopkins’s denial. On Wednesday, a local paper reviewed 129 ballots and discovered that only two ballots that arrived late had been processed in Eerie, cutting against Hopkins’s claims that his workplace was a source of broad fraud and impropriety.
A fundraiser has been set up for Hopkins since he was put on unpaid leave from the post office. As of Wednesday morning, he has collected nearly $100,000.
“Your donations are going to help me now that I have been put on unpaid leave from my job in Erie and have been ostracized by most of my coworkers. I hope to get a new start in a place I feel safe and continue supporting my children while I find out what comes next,” Hopkins wrote on the fundraiser site. “My employer has already been threatening my employment and trying to silence me. I am scared for myself, my family and those closest to me.”
