Donald Trump tried to pressure Georgia’s top election official to “find votes” and change the outcome of Joe Biden’s victory in the state, and now an Atlanta prosecutor is vowing to pursue criminal charges.
via NYDN:
Fani Willis, the newly elected district attorney of Georgia’s Fulton County, said her office stands ready to prosecute Trump for telling Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in a phone call Saturday to “find” him enough votes to overturn President-elect Biden’s narrow win in the state.
“Like many Americans, I have found the news reports about the president’s telephone call with the Georgia secretary of state disturbing,” Willis, a Democrat, said in a statement. “As district attorney, I will enforce the law without fear or favor. Anyone who commits a felony violation of Georgia law in my jurisdiction will be held accountable.”
“Once the investigation is complete, this matter, like all matters, will be handled by our office based on the facts and the law,” Willis said.
Raffensperger, a Republican, said in an interview on ABC News before Willis’ statement that he likely won’t launch an investigation, citing potential conflicts of interest. Instead, he said, Willis’ office would be the “appropriate venue” for an investigation.
Gabriel Sterling, a top deputy for Raffensperger, declined to comment on any plans for an investigation during a press conference Monday afternoon.
But Sterling excoriated Trump’s “wild claims” during the call with Raffensperger.
“I personally found it to be something that was not normal,” Sterling told reporters. “Nobody I know who would be president would do something like that to a secretary of state.”
In the Saturday call, which was first reported by The Washington Post, Trump regurgitated thoroughly debunked claims about voter fraud in Georgia and falsely insisted he won the state in the Nov. 3 election. Trump specifically claimed thousands of illegal votes were cast in Fulton County, which trends heavily Democratic.
Raffensperger, whose family has faced a torrent of death threats because of Trump’s false claims about the vote, pushed back by noting that the president’s data were “wrong,” leaked recordings of the call revealed.
Trump in turn threatened Raffensperger with an unspecified “criminal offense” if he didn’t overturn Biden’s 11,779-vote victory in Georgia.
“There’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you’ve recalculated,” Trump told Raffensperger. “So look, all I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”
After recordings of the call became public, legal experts said Trump may have broken the law by pressuring Raffensperger.
We’re sure these will be just SOME of the many, many, charges awaiting Donald Trump in years to come.
