The indictment charges former President Donald Trump with “unlawfully soliciting” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to violate his oath of office during their now-infamous January 2, 2021, call in which Trump asked Raffensperger to help him flip Georgia’s results in the 2020 election.
“So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state” Trump said to Raffensperger during the call.
Trump and his then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows – who was also on the call and charged in the indictment – are accused of unlawfully soliciting, requesting and importuning Raffensperger in his capacity as a public officer, according to the indictment.
Trump is also charged with knowingly making false statements to Raffensperger during that call.
The indictment lists 13 false statements Trump “knowingly, willfully and unlawfully” made on the January 2 call, including “that close to 5,000 dead people voted in the November 3, 2020, presidential election in Georgia.”
The indictment echoes an accusation made by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith in his earlier federal indictment of Trump, in which Smith’s office claimed Trump lied to Raffensperger during the call while trying to enlist the official’s support.
The indictment also cites a letter Trump wrote to Raffensperger months after leaving office, dated September 17, 2021 — in which Trump asked him to de-certify the 2020 election results — as another example of a knowingly-false statement Trump made to Georgia’s chief election officer.
Raffensperger testified before the special grand jury in Fulton County in June 2022.
Former President Donald Trump has been charged with 91 crimes in four criminal cases, in four different jurisdictions.
The new indictment returned Monday by the Fulton County grand jury accuses Trump of 13 crimes.
The Atlanta-based prosecution is one of four criminal cases Trump is facing – two federal, and two state cases.
In the New York case brought by Manhattan prosecutors, Trump has been charged with 34 counts stemming from the alleged 2016 campaign hush money scheme.
Trump faces 40 charges in special counsel Jack Smith’s Mar-a-Lago documents case, after a superseding indictment was unveiled last month.
Smith’s separate federal election subversion case against Trump levied four criminal charges against the former president.
Overview of the cases
Manhattan prosecutors’ hush-money case: 34 counts against Trump
DOJ special counsel’s classified documents case: 40 counts against Trump
DOJ special counsel’s election subversion case: 4 counts against Trump
Atlanta prosecutors’ Georgia election meddling case: 13 counts against Trump
(CNN)
