Georgia prosecutors open criminal investigation into Trump's attempt to influence election

A prosecutor in Fulton County, Georgia, has opened a criminal investigation into former US President Donald Trump for his “attempts to influence the administration of the 2020 Georgia general election”. According to The Guardian, in a letter to numerous Georgia state election officials, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis requested that they preserve documents related to Trump’s phone call last month in which he pushed Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” votes to reverse his election loss. 

In the letter, Willis said that her investigation includes potential violations of Georgia election 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 of threats related to the election’s administration. She called the matter a “high priority” and added that she is confident that as fellow law enforcement officers sworn to uphold the constitutions of the US and Georgia, the accusation of information and evidence of potential crimes via interviews, documents, videos and electronic records will be cooperative. 

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Trump’s legal battle 

The letter also says that Fulton County authorities currently “have no reason to believe that any Georgia official is a target” in the probe. The investigation comes as Raffensperger’s office launched its own probe into Trump’s attempts to overturn the election, an inquiry that includes a review of both that call and another phone call the then-president made to Georgia election official. Raffensperger’s had said that any further legal efforts would be up to the state’s attorney general. 

Meanwhile, Trump is already facing criminal and civil fraud investigations in New York, with an ongoing criminal inquiry into his finances by the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance, and a civil investigation by New York attorney general, Letitia James. Trump is also facing Senate impeachment trial in which House Democrats are pushing to convict him for inciting the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol. It is worth noting that a two-thirds majority is required to convict Trump in the evenly split 100-seat Senate. Tuesday’s vote implies loyalty toward the former President in his party remains high enough to avoid a conviction. However, if convicted, Trump could be barred from holding office again. 

(Image: AP) 

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