Former President Donald Trump defended his infamous January 2021 phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as 'per...
Former President Donald Trump defended his infamous January 2021 phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as 'perfect' on Thursday after a state district attorney formally requested a grand jury in her investigation into whether the ex-president and his allies tried to interfere in the 2020 vote count.
He suggested such a panel should instead investigate 'large scale voter fraud' in the Peach State, despite there being no evidence of widespread fraud in the last presidential race.
'My phone call to the Secretary of State of Georgia was perfect, perhaps even more so than my call with the Ukrainian President, if that's possible,' Trump said, recalling his phone conversation with President Volodymyr Zelensky that was at the center of his first impeachment.
'I didn't say anything wrong in the call, made while I was President on behalf of the United States of America, to look into the massive voter fraud which took place in Georgia.'
Leaked recordings of the January 2, 2020 phone call feature Trump telling Raffensperger, in charge of running Georgia's election, 'What I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have.'
The ex-president had lost the state to Biden by a razor thin 0.2 percent margin.
He said on Thursday: 'What this Civil Special Grand Jury should be looking into is not my perfect phone call, but the large scale voter fraud that took place in Georgia. Then they would be doing a great job for the people. No more political witch hunts!'
Trump and his ally Senator Lindsey Graham are at the center of a 2020 election interference probe by Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis
Today Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis sent a letter to Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Christopher Brasher asking him to impanel a special grand jury.
She wrote in the letter that her office 'has received information indicating a reasonable probability that the State of Georgia's administration of elections in 2020, including the State's election of the President of the United States, was subject to possible criminal disruptions.'
Willis has declined to speak about the specifics of her investigation, but in an interview with The Associated Press earlier this month she confirmed that its scope includes -- but is not limited to -- the phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a November 2020 phone call between US Senator Lindsey Graham and Raffensperger, the abrupt resignation of the US attorney in Atlanta on January 4, 2021, and comments made during December 2020 Georgia legislative committee hearings on the election.
At one point during their January phone call Trump appeared to threaten Raffensperger after indirectly accusing him of ignoring potential election fraud.
'That’s a criminal, that’s a criminal offense. And you can’t let that happen. That’s a big risk to you and to Ryan, your lawyer,' Trump had said.
Raffensperger told the Washington Post in November 2020 that Graham had called him shortly after the election to ask whether Georgia's signature-match requirement could fall prey to partisan actors who accept ballots without verifying their sign-offs.
Hours after Willis formally requested a grand jury for her investigation, Trump released a statement vehemently defending his January 2020 call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger
He said the South Carolina Republican also asked if it was possible to throw away all mail-in ballots, which largely went to Biden, in counties with high concentrations of mismatched signatures.
A Trump spokesman has previously dismissed the investigation as a politically motivated 'witch hunt.' Graham has also denied any wrongdoing.
Federal and state officials have repeatedly said there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Georgia or elsewhere in the country during the 2020 election.
Willis' office has tried to interview multiple witnesses and gather evidence, but some witnesses and prospective witnesses have refused to cooperate without a subpoena, she wrote in the letter to Brasher.
For example, Willis wrote in the letter that Raffensperger, whom she calls an 'essential witness,' has 'indicated that he will not participate in an interview or otherwise offer evidence until he is presented with a subpoena by my office.' A special grand jury would have the power to subpoena witnesses.
Raffensperger's office did not immediately respond to an email Thursday asking whether he would decline to participate without a subpoena.
Special grand juries, which are not used often in Georgia, can help in the investigation of complex matters. They do not have the power to return an indictment but can make recommendations to prosecutors on criminal prosecutions.
Willis said the special grand jury is needed because it can serve a term longer than a normal grand jury term.
It would also be able to focus on this investigation alone, allowing it to focus on the complex facts and circumstances. And having a special grand jury would mean that the regular seated grand jury wouldn't have to deal with this investigation in addition to their regular duties, Willis wrote.
She also asked that a superior court judge be appointed to assist and supervise the special grand jury in its investigation.
Willis, who took office in January 2021, sent letters to top elected officials in Georgia in February instructing them to preserve any records related to the general election, particularly any evidence of attempts to influence election officials.
The probe includes 'potential violations of Georgia law prohibiting the solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local government bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office and any involvement in violence or threats related to the election's administration,' the letters said.
A November 2020 phone call between Raffensperger and Senator Lindsey Graham is also part of Willis' investigation
Willis, a longtime prosecutor, has repeatedly said that she's aware of the intense public interest in her investigation, but she's said she won't be rushed. She told the AP that a decision on whether to seek charges in the case could come in the first half of this year.
In her letter to Brasher, Willis said her office has learned that people who may have tried to influence Georgia's election have had contact with the secretary of state, the state attorney general and the US attorney's office in Atlanta. That means her office is the only one with the authority to investigate these matters that is not also a potential witness.
It's the second instance of legal peril for the former first family within just hours.
Earlier today Ivanka Trump, the ex-president's only daughter, was asked on Thursday to sit down with the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, after reports that she had been in the White House and attempted to reason with her father while a mob was storming the United States Capitol.
And in New York, Trump, Ivanka and his oldest son Donald Trump Jr. are grappling with subpoenas in state Attorney General Letitia James' civil probe into possible tax fraud on the part of their family business.
In a Tuesday evening court filing, James accused the Trump Organization of 'fraudulent or misleading' representations of their real estate values in order to secure loans or other deals.
It's unclear when her team of prosecutors could launch a formal lawsuit against the Trumps, but this week's filing is the first time the Democratic attorney has levied such specific charges against them.
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