Then-President Donald Trump speaks on the phone in the Oval Office of the White House. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Local Georgia Prosecutor Launches Criminal Probe Into Trump's Request to 'Find' the Votes
The former president also faces the ongoing U.S. Senate impeachment trial as well as civil and criminal probes in New York.
On day two of former President Donald Trump's historic second Senate impeachment trial, the New York Times revealed Wednesday that Fulton County prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into a January 2 phone call in which Trump asked Georgia GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" over 11,000 votes.
The Fulton County probe comes after Raffensperger's office on Monday opened an administrative inquiry into the call and as the former president faces not only the Senate trial but also civil and criminal investigations of his business empire in New York state as well as lawsuits from two women who say he sexually assaulted them.
Trump could face legal trouble for his leaked call to Raffensperger as well as a December call to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in which Trump reportedly pressured the Republican to call a special election to reverse his electoral loss of the southern state to the Democratic candidate, President Joe Biden.
During the January call, the recording of which was obtained by The Washington Post, Trump said: "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."
At the time, as Common Dreams reported, the effort by the president was immediately seen by critics as attempted "criminal extortion" and demands went up for Trump to be prosecuted under state election statutes.
According to the Times:
On Wednesday, Fani Willis, the recently elected Democratic prosecutor in Fulton County, sent a letter to numerous officials in state government, including Mr. Raffensperger, requesting that they preserve documents related to Mr. Trump's call, according to a state official with knowledge of the letter. The letter explicitly stated that the request was part of a criminal investigation, said the official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal matters.
[...]
Former prosecutors said Mr. Trump's calls might run afoul of at least three state laws. One is criminal solicitation to commit election fraud, which can be either a felony or a misdemeanor; as a felony, it is punishable by at least a year in prison. There is also a related conspiracy charge, which can be prosecuted either as a misdemeanor or a felony. A third law, a misdemeanor offense, bars "intentional interference" with another person's "performance of election duties."
The Fulton County investigation was welcomed by critics of Trump who have demanded accountability for his lies about election fraud in the wake of his November loss--which led to a violent mob storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, the event that provoked Trump's unprecedented second impeachment by the U.S. House.
In a statement, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) president Noah Bookbinder, a former federal corruption prosecutor, welcomed the Fulton County probe.
"Last month we sent a criminal complaint to the Fulton County district attorney laying out the multiple laws Donald Trump appeared to violate by pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to overturn the results of Georgia's presidential election, and called on prosecutors to begin a criminal investigation into Trump," Bookbinder noted. "They are now doing exactly that."
"Trump's conduct violates not only the law, but the foundation on which our democracy is built," Bookbinder said. "He may have been able to evade facing criminal charges as president, but he is no longer president. We applaud Fulton County District Attorney Willis for launching this investigation and showing that no one is above the law."
As for the probe by the secretary of state's office, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted Monday that "election investigations can take months or years before they're referred to the State Election Board, where Raffensperger is the chairman. The board can dismiss cases, levy fines or refer cases to the attorney general's office for potential criminal investigation."
Walter Jones, a spokesperson for Raffensperger's office, said Monday that "the secretary of state's office investigates complaints it receives. The investigations are fact-finding and administrative in nature. Any further legal efforts will be left to the attorney general."
Jones confirmed that investigation was prompted by a Monday complaint from George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf, who told Reuters that he had filed four complaints about Trump's call to Raffensperger since January 2.
Trump adviser Jason Miller responded to the that probe by telling Reuters: "There was nothing improper or untoward about a scheduled call between President Trump, Secretary Raffensperger, and lawyers on both sides. If Mr. Raffensperger didn't want to receive calls about the election, he shouldn't have run for secretary of state."
This post has been updated with comment from CREW.
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just four days to go in our Spring Campaign, we are not even halfway to our goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
On day two of former President Donald Trump's historic second Senate impeachment trial, the New York Times revealed Wednesday that Fulton County prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into a January 2 phone call in which Trump asked Georgia GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" over 11,000 votes.
The Fulton County probe comes after Raffensperger's office on Monday opened an administrative inquiry into the call and as the former president faces not only the Senate trial but also civil and criminal investigations of his business empire in New York state as well as lawsuits from two women who say he sexually assaulted them.
Trump could face legal trouble for his leaked call to Raffensperger as well as a December call to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in which Trump reportedly pressured the Republican to call a special election to reverse his electoral loss of the southern state to the Democratic candidate, President Joe Biden.
During the January call, the recording of which was obtained by The Washington Post, Trump said: "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."
At the time, as Common Dreams reported, the effort by the president was immediately seen by critics as attempted "criminal extortion" and demands went up for Trump to be prosecuted under state election statutes.
According to the Times:
On Wednesday, Fani Willis, the recently elected Democratic prosecutor in Fulton County, sent a letter to numerous officials in state government, including Mr. Raffensperger, requesting that they preserve documents related to Mr. Trump's call, according to a state official with knowledge of the letter. The letter explicitly stated that the request was part of a criminal investigation, said the official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal matters.
[...]
Former prosecutors said Mr. Trump's calls might run afoul of at least three state laws. One is criminal solicitation to commit election fraud, which can be either a felony or a misdemeanor; as a felony, it is punishable by at least a year in prison. There is also a related conspiracy charge, which can be prosecuted either as a misdemeanor or a felony. A third law, a misdemeanor offense, bars "intentional interference" with another person's "performance of election duties."
The Fulton County investigation was welcomed by critics of Trump who have demanded accountability for his lies about election fraud in the wake of his November loss--which led to a violent mob storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, the event that provoked Trump's unprecedented second impeachment by the U.S. House.
In a statement, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) president Noah Bookbinder, a former federal corruption prosecutor, welcomed the Fulton County probe.
"Last month we sent a criminal complaint to the Fulton County district attorney laying out the multiple laws Donald Trump appeared to violate by pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to overturn the results of Georgia's presidential election, and called on prosecutors to begin a criminal investigation into Trump," Bookbinder noted. "They are now doing exactly that."
"Trump's conduct violates not only the law, but the foundation on which our democracy is built," Bookbinder said. "He may have been able to evade facing criminal charges as president, but he is no longer president. We applaud Fulton County District Attorney Willis for launching this investigation and showing that no one is above the law."
As for the probe by the secretary of state's office, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted Monday that "election investigations can take months or years before they're referred to the State Election Board, where Raffensperger is the chairman. The board can dismiss cases, levy fines or refer cases to the attorney general's office for potential criminal investigation."
Walter Jones, a spokesperson for Raffensperger's office, said Monday that "the secretary of state's office investigates complaints it receives. The investigations are fact-finding and administrative in nature. Any further legal efforts will be left to the attorney general."
Jones confirmed that investigation was prompted by a Monday complaint from George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf, who told Reuters that he had filed four complaints about Trump's call to Raffensperger since January 2.
Trump adviser Jason Miller responded to the that probe by telling Reuters: "There was nothing improper or untoward about a scheduled call between President Trump, Secretary Raffensperger, and lawyers on both sides. If Mr. Raffensperger didn't want to receive calls about the election, he shouldn't have run for secretary of state."
This post has been updated with comment from CREW.
On day two of former President Donald Trump's historic second Senate impeachment trial, the New York Times revealed Wednesday that Fulton County prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into a January 2 phone call in which Trump asked Georgia GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" over 11,000 votes.
The Fulton County probe comes after Raffensperger's office on Monday opened an administrative inquiry into the call and as the former president faces not only the Senate trial but also civil and criminal investigations of his business empire in New York state as well as lawsuits from two women who say he sexually assaulted them.
Trump could face legal trouble for his leaked call to Raffensperger as well as a December call to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in which Trump reportedly pressured the Republican to call a special election to reverse his electoral loss of the southern state to the Democratic candidate, President Joe Biden.
During the January call, the recording of which was obtained by The Washington Post, Trump said: "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."
At the time, as Common Dreams reported, the effort by the president was immediately seen by critics as attempted "criminal extortion" and demands went up for Trump to be prosecuted under state election statutes.
According to the Times:
On Wednesday, Fani Willis, the recently elected Democratic prosecutor in Fulton County, sent a letter to numerous officials in state government, including Mr. Raffensperger, requesting that they preserve documents related to Mr. Trump's call, according to a state official with knowledge of the letter. The letter explicitly stated that the request was part of a criminal investigation, said the official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal matters.
[...]
Former prosecutors said Mr. Trump's calls might run afoul of at least three state laws. One is criminal solicitation to commit election fraud, which can be either a felony or a misdemeanor; as a felony, it is punishable by at least a year in prison. There is also a related conspiracy charge, which can be prosecuted either as a misdemeanor or a felony. A third law, a misdemeanor offense, bars "intentional interference" with another person's "performance of election duties."
The Fulton County investigation was welcomed by critics of Trump who have demanded accountability for his lies about election fraud in the wake of his November loss--which led to a violent mob storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, the event that provoked Trump's unprecedented second impeachment by the U.S. House.
In a statement, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) president Noah Bookbinder, a former federal corruption prosecutor, welcomed the Fulton County probe.
"Last month we sent a criminal complaint to the Fulton County district attorney laying out the multiple laws Donald Trump appeared to violate by pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to overturn the results of Georgia's presidential election, and called on prosecutors to begin a criminal investigation into Trump," Bookbinder noted. "They are now doing exactly that."
"Trump's conduct violates not only the law, but the foundation on which our democracy is built," Bookbinder said. "He may have been able to evade facing criminal charges as president, but he is no longer president. We applaud Fulton County District Attorney Willis for launching this investigation and showing that no one is above the law."
As for the probe by the secretary of state's office, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted Monday that "election investigations can take months or years before they're referred to the State Election Board, where Raffensperger is the chairman. The board can dismiss cases, levy fines or refer cases to the attorney general's office for potential criminal investigation."
Walter Jones, a spokesperson for Raffensperger's office, said Monday that "the secretary of state's office investigates complaints it receives. The investigations are fact-finding and administrative in nature. Any further legal efforts will be left to the attorney general."
Jones confirmed that investigation was prompted by a Monday complaint from George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf, who told Reuters that he had filed four complaints about Trump's call to Raffensperger since January 2.
Trump adviser Jason Miller responded to the that probe by telling Reuters: "There was nothing improper or untoward about a scheduled call between President Trump, Secretary Raffensperger, and lawyers on both sides. If Mr. Raffensperger didn't want to receive calls about the election, he shouldn't have run for secretary of state."
This post has been updated with comment from CREW.