Trump campaign lists lawmakers' cells, misdirects calls for Chatfield to former Petoskey resident
President Donald Trump's campaign called for supporters to call the personal cell phones of former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield and state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey in an effort to question Michigan's election results.
But Team Trump listed the wrong cellphone number for Chatfield, R-Levering, in a Sunday social media post, leading to a former Petoskey resident being bombarded mistakenly with election-related phone calls and text messages.
The individual, who moved to California months ago, asked for privacy and plans to change phone numbers Tuesday.
Screenshots of text messages received by the former Petoskey resident and shared with The Detroit News indicate people attempting to contact Chatfield would not accept that they had the wrong number.
In a Sunday tweet, Team Trump encouraged people to contact Chatfield and Shirkey, R-Clarklake, and request that the lawmakers "hear the evidence," "correct false statements" and "demand vote on decertification."
Shirkey's spokeswoman responded Monday to the Trump campaign's social media post.
"Michigan's election results were certified and the state's electors have voted for President-elect (Joe) Biden and Vice President-elect (Kamala) Harris. Making the majority leader's cell number public doesn't change that," said Amber McCann, a spokeswoman for the Senate majority leader.
A joint session of Congress is set to meet Wednesday to certify the Electoral College results declaring Joe Biden the next president of the United States. A small number of Republican U.S. House and Senate members have indicated they want to challenge the results in certain states, potentially including Michigan.
Chatfield finished his term at the end of December. He did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
The Trump campaign also posted similar calls for action for Republican leaders in Georgia and Arizona, but the numbers listed appear to be office lines.
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
Staff writer Craig Mauger contributed.