Top GA GOP officials, false electors targeted in Trump election probe
Top GA GOP officials, false electors targeted in Trump election probe
"Alternate electors" now entangled in Atlanta investigation
The slate of 16 Republicans who falsely declared themselves to be Georgia’s presidential electors in 2020 are now subjects of the Atlanta investigation into former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory.
Among those “alternate electors” are two prominent Georgia Republican Party officials: state party chairman David Shafer and State Sen. Burt Jones, the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia, have both been informed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis that they could soon face criminal charges in the investigation, Yahoo News first reported last Friday.
Willis’ office revealed that all of the fake electors are under investigation after Jones filed a motion seeking to remove her from the probe.
Charlie Bailey, Jones’ Democratic opponent in the race for Lieutenant Governor, was quick to lash out at his involvement in the fake elector scheme. “Burt is not fit to teach social studies, much less hold public office,” Bailey said on Twitter. He has also called Jones “anti-American.”
Shafer has yet to respond publicly. But Jones quickly fired back in court, arguing that the Fulton DA should be “disqualified” from overseeing the investigation because she recently hosted a campaign fundraiser for Bailey — a former prosecutor who also used to work alongside Willis in the Fulton DA’s office.
“This is clearly a politically motivated attack from the same district attorney who just weeks ago hosted a political fundraiser for Burt’s opponent,” Jones’ campaign responded on Friday. They say that he has nothing to hide and is happy to answer questions from prosecutors.
A spokesperson for Willis has maintained that her endorsement of Bailey and Jones’ involvement in the investigation are not related. Her office says that Jones is not being treated any differently than the other subjects of the investigation.
Lawyers for the other electors have said that their clients have been advised to invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
These fake electors played a central roll in the former President’s attempts to overturn his defeat. In the aftermath of the 2020 election, he and his supporters urged Republican state legislators in swing states won by President Biden to invalidate the popular vote and instead approve a slate of Trump electors.
No states made any such effort, but when the electoral college met in December 2020, several Trump electors in swing states signed official documents declaring themselves to be electors, which were turned over to the national archives.
Fake electors did ultimately meet on Dec. 14, 2020, in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Nevada, and Wisconsin, she said. At the request of the Trump campaign, the electors signed documents falsely asserting that they were the "duly elected" electors then submitted them to the National Archives and to Vice President Mike Pence in his capacity as president of the Senate.
It’s the latest sign of an escalating investigation into the former President and his allies — one that could lead to criminal charges. Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and several close Trump allies have received subpoenas recently. Graham is challenging his subpoena in court, and several other witnesses are likely to do the same.
We also learned this week that U.S. Rep. Jody Hice has also been subpoenaed. The far-right Congressman unsuccessfully ran in the Republican primary for Secretary of State and was one of the loudest election deniers in Congress. Prosecutors have not specified what information that they are seeking from Hice, and he is also challenging his subpoena in court.
Several prominent Georgia leaders have testified before prosecutors. Georgia House Speaker David Ralston spoke with the grand jury last Thursday, but his spokesperson declined to share any details of his testimony. Weeks after the 2020 election, Trump allies urged Ralston to call a special session to overturn President Joe Biden’s Georgia victory and install Trump’s slate of electors.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a frequent target of the former President, has cooperated with local prosecutors and has also testified before the congressional committee investigating the events leading up to the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Atlanta is not the only jurisdiction where former President Trump is facing lawsuits and/or investigations. But it is widely regarded as the one that has the greatest potential to result in someone being criminally charged — which could complicate his inevitable third run for the White House in 2024.
“…while much attention has been focused on the House hearings in Washington into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and the extent to which the Justice Department will investigate, it is a local prosecutor in Atlanta who may put Mr. Trump and his circle of allies in the most immediate legal peril.”
Interesting article young man. Continue to bring behind the scenes pertinent news in a understandable manner. 👏🏾💯