Hillary Clinton’s campaign will participate in Jill Stein’s recount effort in Wisconsin, said campaign counsel Marc Elias Saturday — even though he noted her aides have seen no evidence that the election that gave Donald Trump the White House was unfair.
“We intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides,” Elias said, adding that the campaign will do the same in Michigan and Pennsylvania if the Green Party candidate pursues recounts there, as she has promised.
“We certainly understand the heartbreak felt by so many who worked so hard to elect Hillary Clinton, and it is a fundamental principle of our democracy to ensure that every vote is properly counted,” Elias said.
Trump, who made no public comment when Stein filed her recount petition on Friday, released a statement within hours of Elias’s announcement.
“This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded,” Trump fumed, calling the recount effort “ridiculous.”
“This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than 1 percent of the vote overall and wasn’t even on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money,’’ the president-elect added.
Stein’s crowdfunding campaign to raise money for election challenges had racked up $5.9 million by late Saturday — which is more than enough to pay for the Wisconsin recount, estimated at $1 million.
Election rules in Pennsylvania, which require candidates to challenge the tally at the county level by Monday, make recounts a daunting prospect there.
Wednesday is the deadline to file recount requests in Michigan.
The results in all three states would have to be overturned for Trump to lose the Electoral College vote on December 19.