Georgia Prosecutor Begins Criminal Investigation Into Trump Election Interference

A prosecutor in Georgia has taken steps to launch an investigation into Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the state’s presidential election results. Election officials in the state have been asked to preserve documents (including phone call transcripts) related to “an investigation into attempts to influence the administration of the 2020 Georgia General Election.” From the New York Times:

For two months after Joseph R. Biden Jr. was declared the winner, Mr. Trump relentlessly attacked election officials in Georgia, including Mr. Raffensperger and Mr. Kemp, claiming they were not doing enough to uncover instances of voting fraud that might change the outcome.

In addition to the phone call to Mr. Raffensperger, he also called Mr. Kemp in early December and pressured him to call a special legislative session to overturn his election loss. Later that month, Mr. Trump called a state investigator and pressed the official to “find the fraud,” according to those with knowledge of the call.

The inquiry makes Georgia the second state after New York where Mr. Trump faces a criminal investigation. And it comes in a jurisdiction where potential jurors are unlikely to be hospitable to the former president; Fulton County encompasses most of Atlanta and overwhelmingly supported President Biden in the November election.

This new investigation is in addition to a criminal fraud inquiry into Trump’s finances by the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., and a civil fraud inquiry by the New York attorney general.

The beginning of many more trials for Trump.

In wake of Trump calls to state officials, Georgia prosecutors open criminal investigation into efforts to subvert election results https://t.co/Wa8XwntpM4

— Michelangelo Signorile (@MSignorile) February 10, 2021