WASHINGTON – Georgia prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn state election results, NBC News confirmed on Wednesday.
The investigation by Fulton County prosecutors will analyze a damn phone call Trump made to Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger while he was still president, in which Trump begged him to “find” votes to reverse President Joe’s victory Biden.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis sent a letter on Wednesday to state government officials, including Raffensperger, asking his offices to preserve the documents related to the call, according to a state official with knowledge of the letter.
NBC News checked the letter’s content, which explicitly states that the request is part of a criminal investigation into various charges, from false statements to “any involvement in violence or threats related to the administration of the election”.
A spokesman for the office of the Attorney General of Georgia, Chris Carr, confirmed that they had received the letter and “are in the process of reviewing and synthesizing the letter”.
Georgia is now the second state, after New York, where Trump faces a criminal investigation.
Raffensperger’s office also opened a separate investigation into the phone call, NBC News reported earlier this week. The office confirmed that it opened the investigation after receiving a complaint about Trump’s conduct.
During the January 2 call, Trump said to Raffensperger: “All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”
Georgia reaffirmed Biden’s victory several times after the November election.
Willis suggested that they could start an investigation in a statement last month, in which he described the call as “disturbing”.
“Anyone who violates Georgian law in my jurisdiction will be held responsible. Once the investigation is completed, this matter, like everyone else, will be dealt with by our office based on the facts and the law,” said Willis at Tempo .
Willis and Raffensperger did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp also did not immediately return requests for comment.
The criminal investigation, first reported on Wednesday by The New York Times, comes as the Senate conducts its impeachment trial against Trump for his role in the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill. Democratic House managers who are suing the case against the ex-president will present their opening arguments on Wednesday, which will include video footage “never seen before” of the deadly Capitol riot.
Meanwhile, Manhattan district attorney Cy Vance is investigating “possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct in the Trump Organization,” the Trump family’s business, which may involve falsifying business records, tax fraud and insurance fraud. New York Attorney General Letitia James is also investigating four different Trump Organization real estate projects and the former president’s failed attempt to buy the Buffalo Bills from the NFL.
Charlie Gile contributed.