Georgia’s secretary of state office initiates inquiry into Trump pressuring Raffensperger to find votes
Trump called Raffensperger in January in a bid to overturn the Georgia presidential election results
The office of Georgia’s secretary of state has begun an inquiry over former President Donald Trump’s pressuring Brad Raffensperger to find him votes in an attempt to overturn the state’s presidential election results.
The New York Times reported that the investigation began on Monday over Trump’s attempt to interfere in the presidential results. In January, Trump placed a call to Raffensperger and asked him to find “votes” that would declare him the victor in Georgia.
Read More: Georgia’s Brad Raffensperger ‘never believed’ Trump call was appropriate
President Joe Biden won Georgia with 49.47% of the vote, giving him the state’s 16 electoral votes. He became the first Democrat in over 28 years to win the Peach State. Trump called various Republican officials to persuade them to find votes to make him the winner, which resulted in various complaints being filed over “intentional interference” with another person’s “performance of election duties,” and possible election fraud.
Some prosecutors have charged that these are criminal offenses that could place Trump behind bars. But Raffensperger’s office decided to pursue an exploratory investigation.
“The secretary of state’s office investigates complaints it receives,” Walter Jones, a spokesman for the office, said in a statement on Monday. “The investigations are fact-finding and administrative in nature. Any further legal efforts will be left to the Attorney General.”
David Worley is the lone Democrat on Georgia’s state election board. He had planned to introduce a motion on Wednesday to have the Fulton County district attorney’s office review the matter. He will no longer do so now that Raffensperger’s office has taken up the issue.
“Any investigation of a statutory violation is a potential criminal investigation depending on the statute involved,” he said, adding that for Trump, “The complaint that was received involved a criminal violation.”
Read More: Pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood being investigated if he voted in Georgia illegally
This is just the latest fallout from Trump’s refusal to accept his election loss last November. After the race was called in Biden’s favor, Trump spread false voter fraud claims and accused Georgia Republicans like Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp of not doing enough to help him.
Additionally, Trump is set to be tried by the Senate for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. He has been charged with inciting the insurrection. As theGrio reported, some of the protesters who have been charged insisted that Trump told them to siege the Capitol to try to block Biden’s Electoral College win certification.
“We were invited here. We were invited by the president of the United States,” the rioters chanted in one video uploaded to social media.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!
