Fulton County DA closer to seeking grand jury subpoenas in Trump election investigation
ATLANTA - The Fulton County District Attorney is closer to seeking subpoenas in what is expected to be a far-ranging investigation of an attempt by former President Donald Trump and others to overthrow the presidential 2020 election. This is according to sources familiar with the investigation.
District Attorney Fani Willis has already asked top Georgia elected officials to preserve any evidence they may have.
And one local law professor thinks there is plenty for a grand jury to investigate.
"It seems to me it’s the worst assault on our democracy, probably in American history," said GSU Law professor Clark Cunningham.
Cunningham has studied the various legal allegations involving then-president Donald Trump and others as they attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
SEE MORE: Fulton County DA talks to the FOX 5 I-Team about Trump grand jury investigation
Cunningham sees a nationally known and powerful cast of characters as potential targets of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' grand jury investigation.
"A case is like an onion. When you peel things back you learn different things," Fani Willis told FOX 5's Dale Russell in February.
Willis sent letters, obtained by the I-Team, to the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking them all to preserve any key evidence for possible prosecution. Possible crimes ranged from "the solicitation of election fraud" to "conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office."
"Yes, we will issue grand jury subpoenas," Willis said.
Cunningham expects subpoenas to be issued to Raffensperger for among other things, the two phone calls Trump made to the secretary of state’s office. One call was placed to an investigator and one call was placed to Raffensperger and his staff.
"I just want to find 11,780 votes which is one more than we have," Trump said during the January phone call to Raffensperger.
MORE: Fulton County DA opens criminal investigation of ex-President Donald Trump
In that recorded call, Trump directly urged Raffensperger to throw out what Trump considered to be fraudulent votes which would give Trump the electoral victory.
Cunningham points to a Georgia law that says it is criminal to command someone else to commit election fraud.
"It looks to me like it’s very, very strong evidence that he committed a crime," said the law professor.
Cunningham also thinks Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani faces scrutiny for appearing before Georgia senate committees insisting Dominion voting machines were flipping votes and the election was rigged. Giuliani also played for legislators an edited video of election workers doing their jobs and claimed it showed them committing fraud.
Raffesnperger told us the video was "sliced and diced."
Reporter: Do you feel like Mr. Giuliani lied?
Raffesnperger: I don't believe he was truthful.
Cunningham believes Giuliani's statements could break the law.
"If he knew it was false, then he has violated the Georgia statute against knowingly making a false statement to a public official," said Cunningham.
Cunningham also expects Willis to subpoena records relating to another phone call from Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina to Raffesnperger. In January, Raffensperger told FOX 5 Graham asked if Georgia could throw out all the absentee ballots in any county that had a high number of mismatched signatures on mail-in votes.
Reporter: Has anything changed in your mind about the call from Sen. Linsey Graham?
Raffensperger: No.
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Cunningham believes Graham and Trump wanted all absentee ballots thrown out in key Democratic strongholds like Fulton County to sway the election in Trump’s favor. He says Trump’s team was trying to do the same thing in other parts of the country.
"(It is) The same strategy that is being pursued in Michigan where he wants the Wayne County votes thrown out because that was also the major (Democratic) city," said Cunningham.
Graham’s spokesperson calls it "a ridiculous accusation." He said Graham "never asked the Secretary of State to disqualify a ballot cast by anyone."
Cunningham, says when he tabulated all the calls and appearances and comments, it adds up to what he believes could be a racketeering case. It is called the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) This is a law that allows the prosecutor to allege all these seemingly separate acts were part of an organized criminal venture.
"When you put it all together and say this is a racketeering enterprise, like organized crime, like the Russian Mafia that had a very ambitious goal which is to continue the control of the American government. That was the goal," said Cunningham.
FOX 5 tried to reach spokespersons for former President Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani through their companies and also on social media. We got no response.
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