Criminal Solicitation to Commit Election Fraud?
Georgia prosecutors are opening up a criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump’s demand Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger find him 11,780 more votes, so he could overturn the results of that state’s election.
“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 New York Times reports.
“The letter explicitly stated that the request was part of a criminal investigation, said the official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal matters.”
It has been widely reported Trump’s call, audio of which has been publicly released (below), and his other actions in the state, may have violated Georgia statutes.
“Former prosecutors said Mr. Trump’s calls might run afoul of at least three state laws,” the Times adds. “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.'”
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,” he lied.
“There’s no way I lost Georgia,” he added, falsely. “There’s no way. We won by hundreds of thousands of votes.”
Audio: