Trump's Raffensperger call is 'incredibly strong evidence' to support criminal charges: former US attorney
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger appeared before the special grand jury in Fulton County on Thursday to answer questions about former President Donald Trump's effort to overthrow the 2020 election.
While it's not known what Raffensperger was asked about specifically, he likely faced questions about Trump's infamous phone call asking him to "recalculate" his state's vote total.
"I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state," Trump told Raffensperger in a recorded call. "And flipping the state is a great testament to our country because, you know, this is — it’s a testament that they can admit to a mistake or whatever you want to call it. If it was a mistake, I don’t know. A lot of people think it wasn’t a mistake. It was much more criminal than that. But it’s a big problem in Georgia, and it’s not a problem that’s going away. I mean, you know, it’s not a problem that’s going away."
Michael Moore, the former U.S. Attorney for the middle district of Georgia, explained that whether or not the former president could be indicted hinges on intent.
"I do think it is an incredibly strong piece of evidence and the question will be whether or not it is admissible in a trial," Moore explained. "There is a lot of legal argument about that. One party to the conversation had to give consent prior to the recording for the recording to be admissible. And so, we know that Brad Raffensperger said he did not know it was being recorded. He said some months back. I'm sure Trump is going to say that."
He explained that there were others on the call at the time, and if one of those people on the call recorded it then it could fall under a one-party consent to the recording.
"I think what [they] should be looking for today from him is to button that up, to find out who was present, ultimately who made the call who participated in the call, have to ask if he knew it was being recorded, ask him how he felt about the president's threats," Moore continued. Did "he feel like he was being intimidated, was he in fear of some reprisal if he did not find the votes, and did criminal prosecution weigh on his mind? Did he feel like his duties of secretary of state were being influenced by the president?"
Moore explained that Trump was both the president and the candidate. When candidates call an official asking for polls or details it's one thing. "If you're the leader of the free world and say 'you may find yourself in a criminal case if you don't find the votes,'" it's another.
He also explained that there are political implications the longer the grand jury continues and the more it could impact the 2022 midterm elections.
"We may not get to this case actually until they're through with all the appeals in the appellate court until 2024," said Moore. "At that time the question will be does the case hand Trump the megaphone to play the victim card or does it influence the election in another way?"
Trump said in one interview this week that his call to Raffensperger was "perfect."
See the full conversation below or at this link.
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