- Georgia’s Secretary of State is opening an investigation into a call made by former President Donald Trump.
- On the call, Trump pressured state election officials to “find votes” and “find more fraud.”
- David Worley, a Democrat on the Georgia electoral council, told Reuters the investigation could precede criminal charges.
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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has opened an investigation into former President Donald Trump’s efforts to pressure Georgia’s state officials to illegally overturn legitimate election results, Reuters reported.
Raffensperger’s office said the investigation was “of an administrative and fact-finding nature,” and that the findings will be forwarded to the state-run Republican majority council.
The investigation revolves around a call Trump made to Raffensperger in January, where he demanded that the state official “find 11,780 votes” to help him win Georgia.
During the call, Raffensperger resisted Trump’s demands. Election officials across Georgia contested Trump’s claims that the election was fraudulent or unfair.
Once the state has completed its investigation of the call, it can forward the results to the state attorney general or elsewhere for prosecution.
“The secretary of state’s office is investigating complaints it receives,” Walter Jones, a spokesman for the cabinet, told Reuters in a statement on Monday. “The investigations are of an administrative and fact-finding nature. Any other legal efforts will be left to the Attorney General.”
The New York Times reported that Fani Willis, the Democratic prosecutor in Fulton County, is also considering opening a criminal investigation into Trump’s actions.
Trump also repeatedly called and lobbied Republican Governor Brian Kemp, and insulted him on Twitter, in an attempt to get Kemp to call a special legislative session to overturn the election results.
David Worley, the only Democrat on Georgia’s electoral council, told Reuters that the administrative inquiry could precede criminal charges.
“Any investigation of a statutory violation is a potential criminal investigation, depending on the statute involved,” he said, adding: “The complaint received involved a criminal violation.”
Worley also explained that he would personally initiate a motion at Wednesday’s electoral council meeting to formally forward the inquiry to the Fulton county attorney’s office.
Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump, told the AP that there was “nothing improper or unpleasant about a scheduled liaison between President Trump, Secretary Raffensperger and lawyers on both sides”.
Insider contacted the Trump Organization, the Georgia Secretary of State’s office and the state electoral council for comment.