Georgia elections board member says Trump could be charged for soliciting election fraud

The sole Democrat on Georgia’s state Board of Elections has called for a civil and criminal probe over a phone call in which President Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to “find” more votes for him.

“It’s a crime to solicit election fraud, and asking the secretary to change the votes is a textbook definition of election fraud,” David Worley told The Washington Post, which first published the audio of Trump’s call on Sunday.

Worley, in a letter to Raffensperger, said the call was “probable cause” for a probe into possible election code violations, citing a section of the state code criminalizing soliciting election fraud from someone else.

“Such an incident, splashed as it is across every local and national news outlet, cannot be ignored or brushed aside,” he wrote. Former U.S. Attorney Michael Moore cited the same law last year when he filed a complaint against Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), whom Raffensperger said had pressured him to exclude some ballots in the Peach State.

In the call to Raffensperger, Trump demands the Georgia secretary of state “find 11,780 votes,” citing unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud in the state. In the call, Raffensperger declines to help the president and questions the validity of the sources of his claims.

Trump has repeatedly targeted both Raffensperger and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) for refusing to aid his efforts to undo President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state. The call has prompted sharp criticism from both Democrats and some Republicans, including Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who called it “appalling” on Sunday.

Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, went further, saying the recording “merits nothing less than a criminal investigation,” while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) called it an impeachable offense.

The Hill has reached out to Raffensperger’s office for comment.