ATLANTA – The breadth, speed and seriousness of the criminal investigation into the electoral interference of former President Donald J. Trump and his associates in Georgia were underscored Friday with the revelation that two pro-Trump state senators and President of the state’s Republican Party were sent letters by an Atlanta prosecutor informing them that they could be charged, according to a person familiar with the investigation.
Fulton County Attorney Fani T. Willis is also considering whether to cite Mr. Trump and asked for her testimony before a grand jury a few days after she cited seven of her advisers, including Rudolph W. Giuliani and Sen. Lindsey Graham of the South. Carolina, in an investigation into efforts to nullify Mr. Electoral defeat. Trump in 2020 in Georgia. The grand jury is investigating a number of potentially criminal acts, including the selection of a list of pro-Trump voters in the weeks following the election and the famous call by Mr. Trump to Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, asking. him to “find” about 12,000 votes that would reverse his loss there.
Letters to David Shafer, president of the Republican Party of Georgia, and state senators Burt Jones and Brandon Beach were first reported by Yahoo News. The men and their lawyers could not be reached for comment on Friday.
The possible exposure of Republican officials could have serious ramifications in the November election in Georgia, where Mr. Jones is the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor. On Friday, his Democratic opponent, Charlie Bailey, issued a statement accusing Mr. Jones of being “anti-American and unpatriotic” for participating in a “failed attempt to overthrow the U.S. government.”
Mr. Shafer’s loyalty to Mr. Trump and his baseless claims of a stolen election have put him at odds with Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, as well as with Mr. Raffensperger, creating an unusual schism within the Republican Party. state. Both Mr. Kemp as Mr. Raffensperger easily defeated Trump-backed primary challengers this year.
Trump’s investigations
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Numerous inquiries. Since Donald J. Trump left office, the former president has faced civil and criminal investigations across the country about his business and political activities. Here’s a look at the highlights:
Westchester County Criminal Investigation. The Westchester County, NY District Attorney’s Office appears to be focused at least in part on whether the Trump organization tricked local officials into the value of a golf course, the Trump National Golf Club Westchester, to reduce their taxes.
The so-called letters of destination are the latest indication that the Georgia investigation could be one of the most dangerous legal issues for Mr. Trump and some of his allies. Congressional television hearings about the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters have caught the attention of many Americans, but it is unclear whether they will lead to Justice Department charges. And a high-profile investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office into allegations that Mr. Trump inflated the value of his assets collapsed this year.
Some legal observers have argued that Mr. Trump, including his post-election phone calls to Georgia officials like Mr. Raffensperger, put him at risk of being charged with violating Georgia’s relatively simple criminal statutes, including the criminal application for electoral fraud. Ms. Willis, in court documents, has indicated that there are other possible charges, such as extortion and conspiracy, that could include a broad list of pro-Trump associates both inside and outside Georgia.
“I think the high probability is that it will lead to an indictment,” said Norman Eisen, who served as a special attorney for the House Judiciary Committee during Trump’s first ouster, and who co-wrote a lengthy review of the case. Georgia by Georgia. the Brookings Institution. Among other things, he said, “there is powerful evidence of violations of Georgian law in the form of the smoking gun tape of him demanding 11,780 votes, when from that tape it is perfectly clear that he knows that these votes do not exist “.
The name of Mr. Beach was mentioned in an email that a Georgia Trump campaign official sent to pro-Trump voters on December 13, 2020, the day before voters met at the Georgia State Capitol. That email, which was described in articles by The Washington Post and CNN last month, ordered them to meet with “complete secrecy and discretion” and advised them to tell Capitol security staff they were attending a meeting. with Mr. Beach and Mr. Jones.
Robert N. Driscoll, counsel for Mr. Shafer, has argued that there was “nothing secret or surreptitious” about the pro-Trump voters’ meeting. Driscoll noted that Mr. Shafer had filed a lawsuit challenging the results of the Georgia election that had not been held on Dec. 14, the date on which presidential voters must vote.
Pro-Trump alternative voters were summoned “for the sole purpose of preserving a remedy in case the lawsuit succeeds,” Driscoll said in a statement.
But Ms. Willis’ office, in recent citations to possible witnesses in the case, has characterized pro-Trump voters as “part of a multistate plan coordinated by Trump’s campaign to influence election results. November 2020 in Georgia and elsewhere. ”
On Wednesday, an independent journalist, George Chidi, testified before the grand jury in downtown Atlanta, Mr. Chidi in an interview Friday.
Mr. Chidi has previously written about finding the pro-Trump group of voters in a room at the State Capitol on December 14, 2020 and asking a woman in the room what the meeting was about. “Education,” the woman told him. Mr Chidi said he was quickly taken out of the room and a person was placed next to the door to watch over him.
On Friday, Mr. Jones, the state senator and Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, filed a motion arguing that Ms. Willis, the district attorney, and her office should be disqualified from any investigation by Mr. Jones because he had given money. and participated in a fundraiser for Mr. Bailey, the Democratic lieutenant governor candidate.
Jeff DiSantis, an assistant district attorney acting as a spokesman for Ms. Willis’ office, said in a statement that the motion was “without merit.” DiSantis said the campaign’s political problems have nothing to do with “Ms. Willis’ compliance with her oath of office to investigate and prosecute crimes committed in Fulton County.”