'Trump should be nervous': Georgia prosecutor has the easiest path to a criminal indictment
With former president Donald Trump facing criminal investigations by a House select committee, the Manhattan district attorney's office, New York Attorney General Letitia James and possibly the Justice Department, the Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin suggests all eyes should be on Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis.
As the columnist notes, Willis' office seems to be farther along than the higher-profile investigations where Trump has been using delaying tactics and witnesses are refusing to heed subpoenas, with Willis stating she expects to make an announcement in the first half of 2022.
That, Rubin insisted, should make Donald Trump nervous.
As the columnist points out, the facts in the case against Trump for attempting to steal Georgia's electoral votes in 2020 are there for all to see and to hear, with the release of the former president's infamous phone call where he demanded Georgia election officials -- including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger -- find just enough votes to declare him the winner.
"The prosecutor has Trump on tape implicitly threatening the secretary of state, saying that failure to find extra votes would be 'a criminal offense' and 'a big risk' to Raffensberger and his lawyer. Moreover, then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who was on the call, was likely present for any discussion leading up to it, as were Trump’s lawyers, who would not be able to invoke attorney-client privilege if the court determines it was a criminal conspiracy," Rubin wrote.
Adding, "Unlike the federal case concerning instigation of a violent insurrection, Trump’s direct participation is not at issue in Georgia. While intent is still a hurdle for prosecutors in the Georgia case, the nature of Trump’s demand suggests he was not seeking an accurate vote count, but a count that would make him the winner," Rubin quoted constitutional law scholar Laurence Tribe stating, "It’s very hard to understand that conversation any other way when he says ‘you and your lawyer’ are going to be in basically criminal trouble if you don’t somehow, ‘find’ one more vote than the number by which I lost to Biden, according to your count.”
Backing Tribe, former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance suggested, "The key evidence necessary to prove election interference is the taped phone call of Trump asking Georgia’s secretary of state to find him 11,780 votes. Yes, the prosecution will still have to prove his state of mind, knowing that he was seeking fraudulent, not legitimate, votes.”
Vance added “it seems likely the Fulton County DA will be able to get there.”
Conceding, "No case is a slam dunk," Rubin wrote, "given the overwhelming evidence and the availability of so many legal theories, the DA may well find a basis for prosecution. It will then be up to her judgment whether she has a case she can prove beyond a reasonable doubt.," before predicting, "As remarkable as it may be, a single state district attorney may have the best shot to hold Trump criminally liable and deter future failed candidates from trying to overthrow an election again."
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