Georgia prosecutors open criminal investigation into Trump’s attempt to influence election results

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In a letter sent Wednesday to numerous election officials in the state of Georgia, including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked that they preserve the related documents Trump’s phone call last month in which he urged Raffensperger to “find” electoral loss votes.

The investigation comes as Raffensperger’s office launched its own investigation into Trump’s attempts to quash the election, an investigation that includes a review of that appeal and another phone call the then president made to an election official in Georgia.

Willis said his “investigation includes, but is not limited to, potential violations of Georgia’s electoral law prohibiting solicitation of electoral fraud, making false statements to state and local authorities, conspiracy, racketeering , violation of the oath of office, and any involvement in violence threats related to the administration of the elections. ”

“This matter is of high priority, and I am confident that as law enforcement colleagues who have sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States and Georgia, our acquisition of information and evidence of potential crimes via interviews, documents, videos and electronic recordings will be cooperative, ”the letter read.

Trump himself is not named in the letter, but Willis’ office confirmed to CNN that the investigation concerned his phone call with Raffensperger. The letter also said that Fulton County authorities “currently have no reason to believe that a Georgian official is a target” in the investigation.

The investigation had previously been reported by the New York Times.
The criminal investigation adds to a growing list of important legal pressures Trump faces, including a Senate impeachment trial in which House Democrats are pushing to convict him for inciting the deadly insurgency on Capitol Hill US, and the investigation launched by Raffensperger’s office into Trump’s electoral conduct. .

In that inquiry, Raffensperger, the state’s top election official, also investigates Trump’s hour-long phone call, in which Trump lambasted his fellow Republican for refusing to falsely say he had won the election in Georgia and has repeatedly touted baseless allegations of electoral fraud.

Another call took place on December 23 between Trump and a Georgian election investigator in the Secretary of State’s office who was investigating allegations of voter fraud in Cobb County. In that call, Trump asked the investigator to “find the fraud,” saying the official would be a “national hero,” according to a source with direct knowledge of the call.

There were 18 attempted White House calls to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office between the election and the Jan. 2 phone call between Trump and Raffensperger, a Georgia state official confirmed to CNN .

There were no credible allegations of voting issues that impacted the election, as claimed by dozens of judges, governors, election officials, the Electoral College, the Justice Ministry, of the Department of Homeland Security and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Michael J. Moore, the former US attorney for the Middle District of Georgia between 2010 and 2015 under President Barack Obama, told CNN that the multiple appeals “were sort of starting to tell the story that they were. not an official trying to talk to another official, problems he or she might see in an election. ”

“It’s more about how to get to the point where I can win the race,” he said, adding that the now infamous call “looks like any other call you might have with a organized crime ring or a drug conspiracy ring or something.

“And it’s that you’ve almost got code talking – that’s what I need from you, if you could just help me out here,” Moore told CNN.

This story has been updated with additional reports, background information, and feedback.

Jim Acosta of CNN contributed to this report.

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