Atlanta DA looking to charge Trump for attempting to overturn election
Fulton County's DA may hire an outside special assistant to oversee a Trump investigation
Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis is currently considering opening a criminal investigation of President Donald Trump for his previous attempts to overturn Georgia’s results in the 2020 presidential election.
The New York Times reports that a source who is familiar with the office’s deliberations says Willis is considering hiring an outside special assistant to help oversee the investigation. David Worley, a Democratic member of Georgia’s election board, said he plans to ask the board to make a referral to Willis by February 10, the election board’s next scheduled meeting.
Worley noted that if the election board, where he’s the sole Democrat, declines the referral, he would personally asks Willis’s office to begin an inquiry on Trump.
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Michael J. Moore, former United States attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, is one of the Georgia prosecutors who believed that Trump violated the law for pressuring Georgia officials, including Brad Raffensperger, to find the votes needed to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
“If you took the fact out that he is the president of the United States and look at the conduct of the call, it tracks the communication you might see in any drug case or organized crime case,” Moore said. “It’s full of threatening undertone and strong-arm tactics.”
Trump’s interference violates at least three state criminal laws including criminal solicitation to commit election fraud — which can result in a felony or a misdemeanor.
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Joshua Morrison, former senior assistant district attorney in Fulton County, noted that Atlanta especially is not right-leaning and would it would reflect in the results of a trial if he were to face a grand jury.
“My feeling based on listening to the phone call is that they probably will see if they can get it past a grand jury. It seems clearly there was a crime committed,” Morrison said.
If the inquiry in Georgia pass, it will be the second criminal investigation against Trump, who is currently being investigated for his organization’s finances by the Manhattan district attorney.
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