Former President Donald Trump is also facing an impeachment trial which can ensure that he never gets to run for an election again.
Apart from facing an impeachment trial after the end of term, former President Donald Trump, 74, is facing another investigation. Prosecutors in Georgia started a criminal investigation into the former president's attempts to overturn Georgia’s election results, according to the New York Times. They are also investigating a phone call Trump made to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger where he pressured the official to "find" enough votes to win in the state.
Fani T. Willis, the recently elected Democratic prosecutor in Fulton County, sent a letter on February 10 to numerous officials in state government, including Raffensperger, asking them to preserve documents related to "an investigation into attempts to influence” the state’s 2020 presidential election. The letter doesn't mention the 74-year-old former head of state's name but the investigation is about his attempt to change the result of the election in Georgia, as per a state official with knowledge of the matter.
The letter mentions potential violations of state law include "the solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local governmental bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office and any involvement in violence or threats related to the election’s administration."
This is the letter Georgia AG Carr’s office received this morning from Fulton County DA Fani Willis notifying them of a criminal investigation into attempts to influence the 2020 election. pic.twitter.com/CGxLIEO44d
— Charlie Gile (@CharlieGileNBC) February 10, 2021
In the letter, Willis said that "this matter is of high priority," and that her office would be requesting subpoenas to be issued by the next grand jury in the county when it begins meeting in March, as per CNBC. The subpoenas will be for testimony, or documents as well as other evidence. Raffensperger's office is also conducting an investigation into the call.
The investigation will also include other Georgia officials Trump contacted in order to flip the result. Trump reportedly called a top elections investigator in which he asked the official to "find the fraud," according to the New York Times. The investigation also includes the former president urging Governor Brian Kemp to call a special session of the legislature to review the election results; and a conversation with the attorney general of Georgia, Chris Carr. Trump had warned the official to not interfere in a Texas lawsuit that sought the results in Georgia and other states to be overturned.
During the infamous call, Trump told Raffensperger, "All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes." That was the number of votes needed by him to overturn the election. The call came in the wake of the former president sharing baseless rumors that there was ballot fraud in Georgia and other states.
The investigation is also looking at the sudden resignation in January of Atlanta’s federal prosecutor, Byung J. Pak. Trump had complained to Justice Department officials that the prosecutor didn't look into his claims of election fraud.
The investigation came after the Senate started conducting an impeachment trial of Trump. This would prevent him from ever running for the White House again. The government advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said they had sent a criminal complaint to the DA’s office "laying out multiple laws Donald Trump appeared to violate by pressuring" Raffensperger “to overturn the results of Georgia’s presidential election."
"They are now doing exactly that," said CREW President Noah Bookbinder. "Trump’s conduct violates not only the law, but the foundation on which our democracy is built," Bookbinder told CNBC. "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."
Trump is also facing a trial for inciting an insurrection by encouraging thousands of supporters to march on the Capitol on January 6. It was the same day the Congress had gathered to certify Democrat Joe Biden's victory in the presidential race. House Democrats said that the former president didn't try to stop his supporters while the march turned into a riot, even when Republicans asked him to call it off, as per ABC AU.
References:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/10/us/politics/trump-georgia-investigation.html
