Trump forced out Georgia prosecutor for rejecting his voter fraud conspiracy theories: report

The mystery of the abrupt resignation of a federal prosecutor in Georgia before the state's runoff elections has been solved, according to a new report by The Wall Street Journal.

"White House officials pushed Atlanta's top federal prosecutor to resign before Georgia's U.S. Senate runoffs because President Trump was upset he wasn't doing enough to investigate the president's allegations of election fraud," the newspaper reported Saturday, citing "people familiar with the matter."

"A senior Justice Department official, at the behest of the White House, called Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney Byung J. Pak and told him he needed to step down because he wasn't pursuing vote-fraud allegations to Mr. Trump's satisfaction, the people said. Mr. Pak resigned abruptly on Monday—the day before the runoffs—saying in an early morning email to colleagues that his departure was due to 'unforeseen circumstances,'" The Journal reported. "The pressure on Mr. Pak was part of Mr. Trump's weekslong push to try to alter presidential election results favoring President-elect Joe Biden, which included his win in Georgia. Mr. Trump this week, following the U.S. Capitol riot, said he would leave office on Jan. 20 when Mr. Biden is inaugurated."

Pak resigned the day after audio was released of Trump pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to overturn the November election results. Trump's efforts to overturn the election were unsuccessful, Georgia certified that President-elect Joe Biden won the state and Congress confirmed the outcome following Wednesday's fatal rally by Trump supporters refusing to accept the will of the voters.