The Donald called down to Georgia.
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow interviewed Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis Thursday evening regarding her investigation there into the former president. Willis will begin with Trump’s Jan. 2 call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to pressure him to “find” enough votes to reverse Trump’s election loss.
Trump was specific. “I just want to find 11,780 votes,” he told Raffensperger. Just one more than the margin by which he lost Georgia. That is an indicator of Trump’s state of mind during the hour-long conference call Raffensperger recorded. Mens rea and all that.
Willis has notified Raffensberger’s office to preserve documents relating to the call. But not only the secretary of state’s office. Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and Attorney General Chris Carr all found themselves pressured by Trump:
Willis told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday that her office was best suited to handle the investigation since all other relevant state investigative agencies have conflicts. In her letter, Willis said her office “is the one agency with jurisdiction that is not a witness to the conduct that is the subject of the investigation.”
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“This investigation includes, but is not limited to, potential violations of Georgia law prohibiting the solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local governmental bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office and any involvement in violence or threats related to the election’s administration,” Willis wrote.
Calling it a “matter of high priority,” Willis said the next Fulton County grand jury is set to convene in March and added “this office will begin requesting grand jury subpoenas as necessary at that time.” She said investigators have no “reason to believe that any Georgia official is a target of this investigation.”
Trump falsely alleged Fulton County had counted “hundreds of thousands” fraudulent ballots.
Trump also claimed “hundreds of thousands” of signatures on Fulton County ballots were forged. But that would be impossible, since only 147,000 ballots were mailed in Georgia’s largest county, a reliable bastion for Democratic votes. And a claim that a Fulton election worker fed ballots through a tabulating machine three times was debunked by multiple recounts, including one by hand, that showed no discrepancy among the ballots.
Willis told Maddow her investigation might not be limited to the Raffensperger call but “seems that it will go past just this one phone call.” She would follow the evidence where it leads.
With Trump no longer shielded by the presidency, he (and/or his family business) faces possible civil or criminal prosecution at the federal and state level for an assortment of offences.
He could still face multiple obstruction of justice charges stemming from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. As ”Individual No. 1‘,’ Trump could face federal charges in the Southern District of New York related to the campaign finance violations that sent his former attorney Michael Cohen to prison.
New York Attorney General Letitia James could bring charges against the Trump Organization if it “improperly inflated the value of its assets for loan or insurance purposes, and then deflated the value for tax purposes.“
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has an ongoing investigation into possible insurance or financial fraud involving Trump and his company.
The New Republic observed in November, such cases “represent the floor, not the ceiling” for Trump’s civil and criminal exposure.
Then there are defamation lawsuits filed by two women who allege sexual assault — allegations Trump denies.
And while the most Trump faces from an unlikely impeachment conviction is being barred from holding office again, he possible federal and local charges relating to inciting a riot in the District of Columbia — difficult but not impossible to charge. “Because of First Amendment protections for freedom of speech, prosecutors would have to meet a particularly high burden of proof,” Charlie Savage wrote for the New York Times.
Even so, Trump looks like he is in “a heap of trouble.”