Fulton County DA Issues Criminal Investigation Into State Election Fraud
Fani Willis, the District Attorney of Georgia’s Fulton County, has opened a criminal investigation into allegations of election fraud in the state. Willis has shared a letter with state officials that explains the investigation will probe into the details of attempts made to influence the 2020 Georgia elections.
Although the former U.S. president is not mentioned by name, the investigation is expected to explore the incriminating phone call that Trump had with Georgia officials early this year. The investigation will also explore the sudden resignation of Atlanta’s federal prosecutor Byung J. Pak after Trump alleged that Pak was not taking the allegations of election fraud seriously.
The DA's letter reads in part, "This investigation includes, but is not limited to, potential violations of Georgia law prohibiting 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."
As part of the investigation, the DA's office has asked that relevant documents be "set aside and preserved" as they could be "evidence of attempts to influence the actions of persons who were administering that election." Willis makes it clear that the investigation is of “high priority” and that the DA’s office will be requesting subpoenas when necessary. Willis does not single out any official specifically. Her letter states, “ At this stage, we have no reason to believe that any Georgia official is a target of this investigation.”
While Willis is taking a very broad approach in the investigation, much of its focus will likely be on former President Trump’s communication with Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger. In that phone call, Trump made repeated attempts to redirect votes in his favor.
Trump Touts Election Fraud in Phone Call
The former president wrapped up his campaign week at the start of January with a now-infamous phone call that essentially solicited the Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, to find votes that would swing the election results in favor of Trump.
In the phone call, Trump argues that the state voted in his favor by saying, "...so we've spent a lot of time on this. And if we could just go over some of the numbers, I think it's pretty clear that we won. We won very substantially, Georgia."
Trump goes on to add, “You even see it by rally size, frankly, we'd be getting 25 - 30,000 people a rally and the competition would get less than a hundred people. And it never made sense.”
Trump appeals to the Secretary of State himself saying, "So, tell me, Brad. What are we going to do? We won the election and it's not fair to take it away from us like this. And it's going to be very costly in many ways." Trump appeals to the Secretary of State asking him to “recalculate” the votes because according to the president he wanted “to find 11,780 votes."
Throughout the phone call, President Trump continues to perpetuate the narrative that there was a presence of election fraud. Trump singles out the technology voting company Dominion, saying that the company was “moving fast to get rid of their machinery.” Dominion has since filed a lawsuit against former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell for perpetuating false claims about election fraud. Dominion's rival company Smartmatic has also sued Giuliani and Powell along with Fox News and some of their leading news anchors for perpetuating the narrative of election fraud without evidence to support the claim.
In his communication with Georgia officials, Trump also alleged that election fraud occurred because ballots registered to dead individuals were cast, further skewing the results in favor of Biden. In the phone call, Trump alleges that at least 5,000 deceased individuals voted in the election. Trump goes on to explain that “at least two or three anywhere from 250 to 300,000 ballots were dropped mysteriously into the rolls.” Trump specifically targets Fulton County saying that there was not a legitimate voting counting process that occurred.
The Secretary of State challenged the president's assertion of voter fraud in the state. After Trump was adamant that it was inconceivable he lost Georgia because according to him they had won by hundreds of thousands of votes, Raffensperger responded, “Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is, the data you have is wrong.”
The president later turned to Twitter condemning the Secretary of State's position on the votes cast in Georgia and the county. Trump tweeted on January 3rd, “I spoke to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger yesterday about Fulton County and voter fraud in Georgia. He was unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as the 'ballots under table' scam, ballot destruction, out of state 'voters,' dead voters, and more. He has no clue!”
Trump's former senior advisor Jason Miller stands by the former president, stating that this investigation has no merit. He explains, “This is simply the Democrats’ latest attempt to score political points by continuing their witch hunt against President Trump, and everybody sees through it.”
