In Georgia, a criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump’s post-election conduct is expanding to include Trump’s next ally, Senator Lindsey Graham, according to a Washington Post Friday report.
The investigation, which was opened by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis earlier this month, will investigate whether Trump – and now Graham – violated state law during Trump’s attempt to overturn Georgia’s election results after the election 2020 presidential election.
According to Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, Graham – a Republican from South Carolina – asked Raffensperger in November whether the secretary of state had the power to retrieve all ballots in certain Georgia counties, a measure that could potentially have diverted the state, and its 16 electoral votes, to Trump in the November election.
Raffensperger would have been “surprised” by Graham’s question and rejected the idea, which would be beyond his power as secretary of state. After several recounts, President Joe Biden defeated Georgia by 11,779 votes, becoming the first Democratic presidential candidate to do so since Bill Clinton in 1992.
A spokesman for Graham told the Post that Graham did nothing wrong and suggested that the investigation may be politically motivated.
“Sen. Graham was asking how the signature verification process worked, ”said the spokesman. “He never asked the Secretary of State to disqualify a ballot released by anyone. The timing of this is also quite curious. It appears to be a less than transparent effort to marginalize anyone who helps President Trump. “
The Graham-Raffensperger conversation was first revealed by Raffensperger himself in a November interview for the Washington Post, and subsequent Post reports also revealed a conversation between Trump and Raffensperger in early January this year.
In that call, Trump explicitly asked Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to launch the election for him.
“I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Trump told Raffensperger, who was called by his department’s general counsel, Ryan Germany, and Assistant Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs.
Trump also repeatedly denied that he had lost the Georgia election and raised a number of discredited conspiracy theories.
“They are destroying ballots, in my opinion, based on what I heard,” Trump told Raffensperger, according to a transcript of the call. “And they are removing machines and moving them around as fast as they can, both of which are criminal discoveries. And you can’t let that happen, and you’re letting it happen. “
It is unclear exactly how much legal danger Trump and Graham are facing, but a letter from Willis on Wednesday indicates that his investigation will conduct a comprehensive analysis of possible criminal violations involving the Georgia election, including “electoral fraud solicitation, production from false statements to state and local government agencies, conspiracy, extortion, breach of oath and any involvement in violence or threats related to the election administration. “
Neither Trump nor Graham are mentioned by name in the letter, but Willis signaled that prosecutors will examine the actions of both men. According to the New York Times, the investigation will also include electoral fraud conspiracies spread by Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, as well as the dismissal of Byung J. Pak, then US attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
Pak was reportedly forced to step down by the White House in early January for refusing to open an investigation into non-existent electoral fraud.
According to Ian Millhiser of Vox, it is the request for electoral fraud that may be of most concern to Trump. As he explained on Wednesday:
[Georgia law] it is a crime to ask another person to commit a crime “with the intention that another person will engage in conduct that constitutes a crime”.
Therefore, as Trump tried to recruit Raffensperger, or anyone else, to alter election results, he could face criminal charges. Someone convicted of requesting a crime in Georgia “will be punished with imprisonment for no less than one or more than three years” (although the penalty may be greater if you request a crime punishable by life imprisonment or death).
In addition, Georgia law makes it a crime to engage in “criminal solicitation to commit electoral fraud”.
In an interview with the New York Times, Willis also highlighted the possibility that extortion, more used to deal with organized crime, could come into play.
“If you have several acts open for illegal purposes, I think you can – you can – get there,” she said of possible extortion charges.
Trump is in legal trouble from all directions
As the Fulton County investigation points out, Trump and Graham may have already managed to land in warm waters in Georgia. But Trump’s potential legal exposure goes far beyond that, and covers issues other than the 2020 election.
Specifically, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance are conducting investigations into various Trump properties and possibly financial crimes committed by Trump and his company.
On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Vance’s investigation had expanded to include loans linked to four Trump buildings in New York: Trump Tower, 40 Wall Street, Trump International Hotel and Tower and Trump Plaza.
This is in addition to an existing investigation by Vance’s office into possible bank fraud and insurance by the Trump Organization, according to the WSJ.
Meanwhile, James is investigating a possible fraud related to Trump’s property in Seven Springs, Westchester County, New York, as well as other properties. This investigation seeks to find out whether Trump manipulated property assessments to ensure a reduction in conservation taxes after plans to develop the land failed, according to the New York Times.
At least one of Trump’s sons, Eric Trump, has already been deposed in the case after his testimony was forced by a judge last year.
As with Willis’ investigation in Georgia, it is unclear how much legal risk New York’s investigations could take Trump – but now that he is a private citizen again, he is unquestionably more vulnerable to such action.
“In some of the investigations, the U.S. Department of Justice even intervened, although the subject was about Trump’s private actions,” Andrea Bernstein of WNYC told NPR on Friday. “But now Trump doesn’t have these extra tools. He’s just an ordinary citizen. So while he can and is arguing that the investigations are politically motivated, he has to defend himself now like everyone else. ”