Donald Trump (left) and Brad Raffensperger.Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty; Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty
AsDonald Trump’s unprecedentedsecond impeachment trialbegan this week, the former president landed at the center of two investigations surrounding his infamous Jan. 2 phone call to Georgia’s secretary of state, demanding the official “find” votes to overturn the election.
Trump, 74, is the subject of a state probe and a Fulton County criminal investigation over the call.
Walter Jones, a spokesman for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, confirmed the initial probe in a statement to PEOPLE.
Jones said the state is focused on an infamous Jan. 2 phone call between Trump and Raffensperger, 65, in which the former president aired his conspiratorial theories about how he lost the election and asked the secretary of state to “find” enough votes to declare him the state’s winner. (Raffensperger oversees Georgia’s elections.)
“So look, all I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Trump told Raffensperger, a noted Republican, during their call, which was soon leaked toThe Washington Post.
Raffensperger declined to take up Trump’s baseless claims of fraud.
Jones described the investigation to PEOPLE and other media outlets as “fact-finding and administrative in nature.”
“Any further legal efforts will be left to the Attorney General,” the spokesman said.
According to theAJC, Trump would be forced to stand trial just as a normal citizen would if Willis charges the former president with any crime.
Donald Trump.MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Brad Raffensperger.Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty
The professor tells PEOPLE it was the fourth time he made the effort in recent weeks, “finally” triggering an investigation.
“Such a criminal investigation, and prosecution if appropriate, is required and necessary in the public interest, given the outrageous nature of the two telephone calls,” Banzhaf says.
In addition to the Jan. 2 call, Trump also spoke with a Georgia official in December and made similar entreaties.
The investigators handling the case are veteran law enforcement officials, according to a source familiar with the process. Some are former homicide and burglary detectives.
Brad Raffensperger.Paras Griffin/Getty
Trump senior advisor Jason Miller said in a statement that “there was nothing improper or untoward” about the Jan. 2 call, in which the former president is heard on tape pressing the election official to “find” votes in order to swing the contest in his favor.
“If Mr. Raffensberger didn’t want to receive calls about the election, he shouldn’t have run for secretary of state,” Miller added.
Investigations may take months or longer, the source familiar says.
Once completed, officials will provide their findings to the state’s election board, which can then dismiss the case, issue a fine or recommend the matter for criminal prosecution.
source: people.com
