Georgia secretary of state responds to Trump’s call. ‘We’re going to follow the law’
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says it’s unlikely his office will investigate President Donald Trump’s phone call during which he pressured officials to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
In audio of the hour-long phone call first released Sunday by The Washington Post, Trump asks Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” needed for him to win Georgia and makes false claims that the election was stolen from him. But Raffensperger throughout the call refutes Trump’s claims and maintains that the results of the election are accurate.
“Well, Mr. President,” Raffensperger, a Republican, responded at one point during the call, “the challenge that you have is the data that you have is wrong.”
Trump appeared to threaten Raffensperger with legal consequences while pushing him to “reexamine” the vote.
“You know what they did and you’re not reporting it,” Trump said in the recording. “That’s a criminal offense and you can’t let that happen, that’s a big risk to you.”
The phone call sparked a deluge of backlash, with some legal experts and lawmakers sounding the alarm about the implications of the call and others calling for a criminal investigation.
Raffensperger on Monday threw cold water on his office opening an investigation after The New York Times reported that David Worley, a Democratic member of the State Election Board in Georgia, wrote a letter to the secretary of state urging him to do so.
“I believe that because I had a conversation with the president, also he had a conversation with our chief investigator after we did the signature match audit of Cobb County last week, there may a conflict of interest,” Raffensperger told ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Raffensperger also told “Good Morning America” an investigation by the Fulton County district attorney may be “the appropriate venue for it to go.”
”It is my understanding from news reports that a member of the State Election Board has requested that the Secretary’s Elections Division investigate the call, after which the board can refer the case to my office and the state attorney general,” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said in a statement to NBC News.
Willis wrote that she will “enforce the law without fear of favor.”
“Anyone who commits a felony violation of Georgia law in my jurisdiction will be held accountable,” Willis wrote.
When asked if he thinks Trump’s request was “lawful,” Raffensperger said, “I’m not a lawyer.”
“All I know is that we’re going to follow the law, follow the process,” he told “Good Morning America.” “Truth matters, and we’ve been fighting these rumors for the last two months.”
Biden carried Georgia with 49.5% of the vote to Trump’s 49.3%. There’s been no credible evidence of widespread voter fraud in Georgia or any other state, elections officials have said. But Trump and his allies have refused to accept the outcome of the election while touting baseless claims in an attempt to challenge the results in multiple battleground states.
His campaign has filed dozens of election-related lawsuits, the vast majority of which have been unsuccessful.
Georgia has also completed multiple ballot recounts and audits since the Nov. 3 election, each time upholding Biden’s victory in the state.
The leaked phone call is the latest in Trump’s numerous attacks lodged against Georgia officials over their handling of the election and its aftermath. The president has criticized Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, by falsely saying he’s allowing Georgia “to be scammed.”
Two Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives have also called for an investigation into the call.
Reps. Ted W. Lieu from California and Kathleen Rice from New York wrote a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray urging him to open an investigation.
“As Members of Congress and former prosecutors, we believe Donald Trump engaged in solicitation of, or conspiracy to commit, a number of election crimes,” the letter said, citing multiple federal laws.
The two lawmakers also filed a criminal referral with the FBI.
“The evidence of election fraud by Mr. Trump is now in broad daylight,” the letter says. “The prima facie elements of the above crimes have been met. Given the more than ample factual predicate, we are making a criminal referral to you to open an investigation into Mr. Trump.”
The push for an investigation comes after multiple lawmakers spoke out against Trump’s call.
“The truth’s on tape,” wrote Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., on Twitter. “For those who’ve joined the effort to subvert the election, you still have a choice: you can either side w/someone who is asking officials in your own party to break the law or you can side with our republic. There is no middle ground.”
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., called the call “absolutely appalling.”
“To every member of Congress considering objecting to the election results, you cannot — in light of this — do so with a clean conscience. #RestoreOurGOP,” he tweeted.
Others have also called for the president to be impeached, The Independent reports.
This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 10:33 AM with the headline "Georgia secretary of state responds to Trump’s call. ‘We’re going to follow the law’."
