CREW files criminal complaint against Trump over Georgia call

President Trump appears to have violated multiple laws by pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to overturn the results of Georgia’s presidential election, according to a criminal complaint sent by CREW to the Department of Justice and Fulton County District Attorney.

Trump appears to have illegally conspired to deprive the people of Georgia of their right to vote and have their votes counted, conspired to intimidate Georgia election officials in an effort to falsify the count of votes in the presidential election, attempted to deprive or defraud the residents of Georgia of a fair election process by falsely tabulating ballots and attempted to cause Georgia officials to engage in conduct that constitutes a crime under the state election code. 

“President Trump’s conduct violates not only the law, but the foundation on which our democracy is built,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said. “This is some of the most egregious conduct we’ve ever seen from a US president, raising the question of whether this country is to continue as a democracy with our leaders chosen by the American people, or a dictatorship in which the leaders choose the election results they want.”

Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump has repeatedly attempted to use federal resources to boost his candidacy for re-election. President Trump’s January 2, 2021 call with Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger provides clear and incontrovertible evidence that he attempted to pressure Georgia state officials to overturn the will of Georgia’s voters in the 2020 presidential election.

“This conduct is not only a gross abuse of power, but also represents clear violations of federal and state laws designed to protect our elections from unscrupulous interference,” Bookbinder said. “This needs to be investigated immediately.”