ATLANTA — The breadth, speed and seriousness of the criminal investigation into election interference by former President Donald J. Trump and his associates in Georgia were highlighted on Friday by the revelation that two pro-Trump state senators and the chairman of the state GOP had been sent letters by an Atlanta prosecutor informing them they could be indicted, according to a person familiar with the matter. the investigation.
Fulton County Prosecutor Fannie T. Willis is also considering whether to subpoena Mr. Trump himself and seek his testimony before a grand jury, just days after she subpoenaed seven of his advisers, including Rudolph W. Giuliani and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, in an investigation into efforts to overturn Mr. Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia. The special grand jury is looking into a range of potentially criminal acts, including the election of pro-Trump voters in the weeks after the election and Mr. Trump’s now-famous call to Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, asking him to “find” nearly 12,000 votes , which would reverse his loss there.
The letters to David Schafer, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, and state senators Bert Jones and Brandon Beach were first reported by Yahoo News. Neither the men nor their attorneys could be reached for comment Friday.
The potential exposure of Republican officials could have serious ramifications in the November election in Georgia, where Mr. Jones is the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor. On Friday, his Democratic opponent, Charlie Bailey, released a statement accusing Mr. Jones of being “anti-American and unpatriotic” for participating in a “failed attempt to overthrow the American government.”
Mr. Schafer’s devotion to Mr. Trump and his baseless allegations of a stolen election have put him at odds with Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, as well as Mr. Raffensperger, creating an unusual rift in the state Republican Party. Both Mr. Kemp and Mr. Raffensperger easily defeated Trump-backed primary challengers this year.
The Trump investigations
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Numerous inquiries. Since Donald J. Trump has left office, the former president facing civil and criminal investigations across the country into his business dealings and political activities. Here’s an overview of the notable queries:
Westchester County Criminal Investigation. The district attorney’s office in Westchester County, New York, appears to be focused at least in part on whether the Trump Organization misled local officials about the value of a golf course, Trump National Golf Club Westchester, in order to reduce its taxes.
The so-called targeting letters are the latest indication that the Georgia investigation could be one of the most dangerous legal problems for Mr. Trump and some of his allies. The televised congressional hearings on the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol by Mr. Trump’s supporters have drawn the attention of many Americans, but it is unclear whether they will lead to charges from the Justice Department. 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 say Mr. Trump’s actions, including his post-election phone calls to Georgia officials like Mr. Raffensperger, put him at risk of being indicted on charges of violating Georgia’s relatively straightforward criminal laws, including criminal inducement to commit electoral fraud. Ms. Willis has indicated in court documents that a number of other charges, including racketeering and conspiracy, are possible, which could cover a broad list of Trump-supporting associates both inside and outside of Georgia.
“I really believe there’s a strong possibility that he’s headed for impeachment,” said Norman Eisen, who was special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during Trump’s first impeachment and co-authored a lengthy investigation into the case. in Georgia from the Brookings Institution. Among other things, he said, “there is powerful evidence of violations of Georgia law in the form of a smoke tape in which he claims 11,780 votes when it is abundantly clear from that tape that he knows those votes do not exist. “
Mr. Beach’s name was mentioned in an email sent by a Trump campaign representative in Georgia 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, instructed them to meet in “complete secrecy and discretion” and advised them to tell Capitol security staff that they would be attending a meeting with Mr. Beach and Mr. Jones.
Robert N. Driscoll, a lawyer for Mr. Shaffer, argued that there was “nothing clandestine or clandestine” about the meeting of pro-Trump voters. Mr. Driscoll noted that Mr. Shaffer had filed a lawsuit challenging the results of the Georgia election, which had not been decided by Dec. 14, the date presidential electors are scheduled to cast their ballots.
The pro-Trump alternative voters were convened “for the sole purpose of preserving a remedy in the event the case succeeds,” Mr. Driscoll said in a statement.
But Ms. Willis’ office, in recent subpoenas to potential witnesses in the case, characterized the Trump-supporting voters as “part of a multistate coordinated plan by the Trump campaign to influence the results of the November 2020 elections in Georgia and elsewhere.” “
On Wednesday, independent journalist George Chiddy testified before a grand jury in downtown Atlanta, Mr. Chiddy said in an interview on Friday.
Mr. Chidi has previously written about finding the group of pro-Trump voters in a room at the state Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, and asking a woman in the room what the meeting was about. “Education,” the woman told him. Mr Chidi said he was then quickly ushered out of the room and a man was stationed at the door to guard it.
On Friday, lawyers for 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 of Mr. Jones because she donated money and participated in fundraising for Mr. Bailey, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.
Jeff DiSantis, a deputy district attorney who serves as a spokesman for Ms. Willis’ office, said in a statement that the suggestion was “without merit.” The political campaign issues, Mr. DiSantis said, had nothing to do with Ms. Willis’s “fulfilment of an oath to investigate and prosecute crimes committed in Fulton County.”
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