Georgia’s top election official on Monday systematically rejected false claims made by President Trump and his allies about the election, calling it “anti-Monday.” The press conference by Gabriel Sterling came just hours after two House Democrats called on the FBI to open a criminal investigation into President Trump. Explosive call l With Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Refenceperger for possible violations of federal and state election laws.
“All of this is easily, clearly wrong. Nevertheless, the president continues,” Sterling said, as he went through various false and misleading claims about the Dominion voting systems and numerous ballots.
California Congressman Ted Liu and New York Congresswoman Kathleen Rice made the request in a letter to FBI Director Chris Warren on Monday, followed by an audio dio of Mr. Trump’s hours-long call with Rafansperger and aired by CBS News on Sunday. . . In this case, the president forced the secretary of state to “seek 11,780 votes” to offset his loss in Georgia’s presidential election.
Both Democrats wrote that “evidence of election fraud by Mr. Trump is now in the wider light.” “The first elements of the above crimes have been found.”
Liu and Rice, both former prosecutors, believe the president was “involved in a number of election offenses or conspiracy theories.” The pair cited two federal laws that violated Mr. Trump, as well as one Georgia state law on electoral fraud.
During his conversation, Mr. Trump told Raffinsperger, “I just have to do this. I just want to get 11,780 votes, which is more than us. Because we won the state.”
“The people of Georgia are angry, the people of the country are angry,” the president said. “And there’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, you’ve re-calculated.”
President-elect Joe Biden defeated Mr. Trump by 11,779 votes in Georgia, and the ballots cast in the state were counted three times in total, each time confirming Mr. Biden’s victory.
The president has repeatedly claimed in the caucus that he won the election in Peach State and suggested that voting in Fulton County be cut. The president also claimed that Dominion voting systems suppliers of electoral technology were removing or tampering with the machinery.
Raff Fensperger and his general adviser Ryan Germany, who were also on the call, repeatedly pushed against Mr. Trump’s claim, with the secretary of state saying the state’s election results were “accurate.”
“Mr. President, the challenge you have is that the data you have is incorrect,” Rafensperge told the President.
November November, the day after the election, Riff Fensperger’s office fee received 18 attempted phone calls from the White House. Saturday’s call, however, was the Secretary of State’s first phone call with Mr. Trump since election day.
Mr Trump’s remarks have raised questions about whether he could come under legal scrutiny.
Raff Fensperger told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday that his office would not launch an investigation because it could be a conflict of interest, but he believes the Fulton County District Attorney “wants to see it.”
“Maybe it’s the right place to go,” he said.
Fulton County District Attorney Funny Willis said in a statement that he found the case “disturbing” and cited news reports that a lone Democrat from the state election board had asked the election department to investigate the call, after which the board could send the case to Willis’ office fee. And the Attorney General of the State.
“As a district attorney, as I promised Fulton County voters last year, I will enforce the law without fear or favor. Anyone who seriously violates Georgia law in my jurisdiction will be held accountable.” “Once the investigation is complete, this matter, like all matters, will be handled by our office fees on the basis of facts and law.”
Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University, said the president violated federal law and possibly broke the law of the state of Georgia.
He told CBS News, “It largely turns to what the president honestly believes at this point, and the sole choices are not great.” He told CBS News. “Either he understands the reality and knows that there aren’t 11,800 ballots somewhere that are Trump’s votes and not counted in the counts and his dits in which he committed the crime. If he really understands the real form of the world, he can discern the facts from an imaginary point of view.” Yes, he probably committed a crime. “
But, “if it doesn’t, then we’ve got a chief executive who is still in power for 16.5 days who can’t confidently distinguish between fact and literature based on the information he receives,” Levitt added.
“It’s not a great consolation prize,” he said, adding that there is “plenty” in Mr. Trump’s call with Rafanssperger, a frightening indication that the president cannot tell the fact from fiction, that he has bought into his own conspiracy theories. “
Levitt suggested that President and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who was on the call, would also have violated the 1871 law on criminal plots to violate civil rights, if he agreed to the call’s goal “if we can convince him.” To see if. To make a fake calculation. “
“If Meadows knows, if he can tell the difference between fact and fiction and has the same purpose as the president, then all those conspiracies are necessary,” he said.
Former Attorney General Eric Holder, who headed the Justice Department under President Obama, tweeted on Sunday that listeners to Mr. Trump’s call “should consider this federal criminal law” and included an image of the law stating that any person In federal elections that “knowingly and intentionally deprives, deceives, or attempts to deprive or mislead state residents through a fair and impartial election process …”, by obtaining a known ballot, voting, or tabulation Physically incorrect, fictitious, or fraudulent under state laws in which elections take place “will result in a fine or up to five years in prison.
The report was contributed by Adam Brewster
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