Atlanta DA seeks special grand jury in Trump Georgia election interference probe

Trump’s pressure on Raffensperger to find votes for him was part of a sustained effort to get legislators and judges in several swing states to reverse Biden’s victories in those states, and erase his edge over Trump in the Electoral College tally. The Electoral College results, not the popular vote, determine the winner of a presidential election.

On Jan. 6, 2021, during the joint session of Congress called to confirm those results, a mob of Trump supporters invaded the Capitol complex, disrupting the proceedings for hours.

A number of Republican House members objected to the acceptance of Biden electors from Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin, but none of those efforts obtained the support of at least one senator required to join a challenge and force a debate and vote.

Six GOP senators voted to sustain a challenge to Biden’s electors from Arizona, and seven Republican senators voted to sustain objections to his Pennsylvania electors. But those challenges failed after more than 280 House members voted to approve the acceptance of those states’ electors.

Trump in his statement Thursday said that his call with Raffensperger “was perfect, perhaps even more so than my call with the Ukranian President, if that’s possible.”

Trump’s 2019 call with Ukraine’s president, in which he pressured that leader to announce an investigation into Biden and Biden’s son Hunter, led to Trump’s first impeachment later that same year. Trump was acquitted at trial in the Senate.

“I knew there were large numbers of people on the line, including numerous lawyers for both sides,” said Trump on Thursday, referring to the Raffensperger call.

“Although I assumed the call may have been inappropriately, and perhaps illegally, recorded, I was not informed of that. I didn’t say anything wrong in the call, made while I was President on behalf of the United States of America, to look into the massive voter fraud which took place in Georgia.”

“What this Civil Special Grand Jury should be looking into is not my perfect phone call, but the large scale voter fraud that took place in Georgia,” Trump said. “Then they would be doing a great job for the people. No more political witch hunts!

No court has sustained Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud, which also were disputed by his then-Attorney General William Barr.

Georgia last year passed a new voting law that would allow state officials to take over county election boards. The law was quickly used to launch a probe in Fulton County, which is Georgia’s biggest source of Democratic votes, and which for years has had problems with election management.

Critics of the law fear it will be used to undercut Democratic chances in this year’s governor’s race, and in races for two U.S. Senate seats, which in a surprise were won last year by Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, both Democrats.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/20/atlanta-da-seeks-special-grand-jury-in-trump-election-interference-probe.html