“I have 182 unexcused homicides involving 222 defendants,” she said. “I have a sex crime unit that is protected. But I am very capable of identifying great people to work in this office who are dedicated to the cause of making this municipality more secure, and I cannot be left helpless in my duty, because I have other responsibilities. “
Clark D. Cunningham, a law professor at Georgia State University in Atlanta, said it looked like Willis could be “pulling all the stops” for the Trump case, “because of the variety of types of crimes mentioned in that letter,” he said , adding, “and particularly the talk of extortion and conspiracy”.
The pressure campaign to overturn Georgia election results began on November 13, when Graham, a South Carolina Trump ally, made a call to Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state. Raffensperger, a Republican, later said that Graham asked him if he had the authority to reject all votes sent by mail from specific counties, a suggestion that the Secretary of State rejected. (Mr. Graham disputed Mr. Raffensperger’s account.)
On December 3, Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, appeared before a Georgia State Senate committee, saying “there is more than enough evidence to conclude that this election was a scam”, and made a series of false claims. Two days later, Trump called Brian Kemp, the Republican governor of Georgia, to pressure him to call a special session of the legislature to annul the election. Mr. Trump then called Georgia Republican Attorney General Chris Carr and urged him not to oppose a legal attempt to challenge the election results in Georgia and other undecided states.
Because of the flood of calls from Trump, Willis said he believes he is the only authority with jurisdiction that has no conflict of interest. As she wrote in her letters to other public officials, “this office is the only agency with jurisdiction that is not a witness to the conduct that is the subject of the investigation”.
Even after Raffensperger recertified the election results on December 7, Trump’s efforts intensified. Three days later, Giuliani testified virtually before a state House committee, repeating false claims that polling officials in an Atlanta arena counted improper ballots stuffed into suitcases, when they were simply using normal containers. “They seem to be distributing drugs,” he said during the hearing.
Gabriel Sterling, one of Mr. Raffensperger’s top advisers, ridiculed the claims as an “Oceans 11 type” scheme, adding, “This has been totally unmasked.”