Trump's Georgia Law-Breaking: What You Need To Know

Former US President Donald Trump may have broken a US federal law and a Georgia state law against election tampering by pressuring Georgia's top election official, Brad Raffensperger, to find enough votes to overturn his loss to Joe Biden in the state. Legal experts have said Trump may have violated one or both of these laws, with one professor calling the phone call a flagrant federal criminal violation. Trump's lawyers have since moved to dismiss the case, citing a Justice Department legal memo that held that presidents can't be prosecuted while they're in office.

Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to find votes to overturn the election result

On January 2, 2021, then-U.S. president Donald Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes" and overturn the state's 2020 election results. Trump had refused to accept his defeat to Joe Biden in the election and had made a months-long effort to overturn the results.

During the hour-long conference call, Trump attempted to pressure Raffensperger into reinvestigating the election results, despite being repeatedly told that there was no electoral error. Trump's repeated efforts to convince Raffensperger to find some basis to overturn the election results were perceived as pleading and threatening. At one point, Trump told Raffensperger:

> "What 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 also falsely suggested that Raffensperger could have committed a criminal offense by refusing to overturn the state's election results. Legal experts have suggested that Trump's behaviour and demands could have violated state and federal laws.

Raffensperger's office opened a fact-finding and administrative investigation of potential election interference regarding Trump's efforts to overturn the results in Georgia, and Fulton County prosecutors opened a criminal investigation in February 2021. On August 14, 2023, Trump, along with 18 co-defendants, was indicted in Fulton County on charges including racketeering and fraud. The phone call was a central element of the indictment.

In addition to pressuring Raffensperger, Trump also pressured other Republican local and state officials in Georgia, including Governor Brian Kemp, to recount the votes, throw out some of the ballots, or replace the Democratic slate of electors with a Republican slate. He also called the chief investigator for the Georgia secretary of state's office on December 23, 2020, and asked her to scrutinize the ballots, saying she would find "dishonesty".

Trump's attempts to overturn the election in Georgia were part of a broader effort to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election. He and his campaign falsely claimed that voting fraud had cost him electoral victory in several states, including Georgia. These claims were rejected and found to be baseless by numerous state and federal judges, elected officials, governors, and government agencies, including his own administration's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Trump's attempts to overturn the election cost taxpayers $519 million, according to an analysis by The Washington Post.

Trump may have violated federal law and Georgia's state law against election tampering

On January 2, 2021, then-President Donald Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" enough votes to overturn his loss to President-elect Joe Biden in the state. According to legal experts, Trump may have violated federal law and Georgia's state law against election tampering with this action.

Georgia has a state law against "criminal solicitation to commit election fraud," which makes it illegal for a person to intentionally solicit or attempt to cause another person to engage in election fraud. A separate federal law prohibits attempts to "deprive or defraud" people of a "fair and impartially conducted election process."

Legal experts argue that Trump may have violated one or both of these laws. Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in California, described the phone call as a "flagrant federal criminal violation," suggesting that Trump was using threats to push Raffensperger to alter the legitimate vote count.

Trump's potential defense could be that he genuinely believed the election was rigged against him and that he was simply offering his views on the election results. However, some experts argue that the request for a specific number of votes—just enough to put him ahead of Biden in Georgia—indicates an attempt to change the election outcome and threaten Raffensperger.

The case, "The State of Georgia v. Donald J. Trump, et al.," is a pending criminal case against Trump and 18 co-defendants. It alleges that Trump led a "criminal racketeering enterprise" to unlawfully change the outcome of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Georgia. While Trump's lawyers have moved to dismiss the case, citing presidential immunity, the case remains pending, and Trump may face legal consequences for his actions.

Trump's lawyers argued that a sitting president is immune from criminal prosecution

In January 2024, Trump's lawyers argued that he had "absolute immunity from criminal prosecution" for acts that were "at the heart of his official responsibilities as President". This was in relation to a criminal case against Trump and 18 co-defendants, alleging that they had led a "criminal racketeering enterprise" to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.

The Supreme Court ruled in July 2024 that presidents have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts within their "exclusive sphere of constitutional authority". They also enjoy presumptive immunity for acts within the "outer perimeter of official responsibility". For unofficial acts, there is no immunity.

This ruling has set a precedent that some argue gives presidents a "blank check to break the law". It grants immunity from prosecution for criminal acts committed while in office, which means Trump could escape criminal accountability for acts that undermine democracy, such as resisting the peaceful transition of power.

The court emphasized that their opinion was restrained, and that they rejected Trump's claim that presidents could only be prosecuted for crimes for which they had already been impeached. However, Justice Sotomayor pointed out that the court grants absolute immunity for any of a president's "core" executive acts, including the use of the Justice Department.

The immediate consequence of this decision is the disarray of the federal prosecution of Trump for interfering in the 2020 election. While the Supreme Court only conclusively disqualified one set of allegations, the fact-laden inquiry will take months, if not years, to resolve before any trial can commence.

Trump's team withdrew legal challenges in Georgia, spreading disinformation

On January 6, 2021, the Trump campaign withdrew all of its legal challenges to the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. The legal team of then-President Trump and Chairman David Shafer withdrew their challenges a day before they were due to present their evidence in court. Despite dropping the lawsuits, Trump and his campaign "continue to spread disinformation," according to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

The Trump legal team falsely characterised the dismissal of their lawsuits as "due to an out-of-court settlement agreement." However, Raffensperger clarified that there was no such agreement, and that the Trump team had voluntarily dismissed their lawsuits to avoid presenting their evidence in court.

Three other lawsuits were also voluntarily dropped by Trump's lawyers: Trump v. Kemp, Still v. Raffensperger et al, and Boland v. Raffensperger et al.

Raffensperger wrote a letter to Congress disputing Trump's legal claims. Despite the riots and break-in at the Capitol, lawmakers peacefully accepted Georgia's Electoral College votes. Only Congressman Jody Hice objected to Georgia's electors.

Raffensperger stated:

> "Spreading disinformation about elections is dangerous and wrong. It was wrong when Stacey Abrams and her allies made false claims about Georgia's election processes following the 2018 election and run-up to the 2020 election, and it's wrong when the President and his allies are doing it now."

Trump may have broken a U.S. federal law and a Georgia law against election tampering by pressuring Georgia's top election official, Brad Raffensperger, to "find" enough votes to overturn his loss to President-elect Joe Biden in the state. Legal experts outlined a potential defence for Trump and predicted that a prosecution of him arising from the telephone call would be unlikely.

Trump and 18 co-defendants are charged with violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute

The State of Georgia v. Donald J. Trump, et al. is a pending criminal case against former US President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants. The prosecution alleges that Trump led a "criminal racketeering enterprise" in which he and the other defendants knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the 2020 US presidential election in Georgia. All defendants are charged with one count of violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute, which carries a penalty of five to twenty years in prison.

The indictment stems from Trump's broader effort to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election. The historic 41-count indictment accuses Trump and the other defendants of being part of a broad conspiracy to attempt to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia. The indictment states:

> "The enterprise constituted an ongoing organization whose members and associates functioned as a continuing unit for a common purpose of achieving the objectives of the enterprise...The enterprise operated in Fulton County, Georgia, elsewhere in the State of Georgia, in other states, including, but not limited to, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and in the District of Columbia."

The criminal actions that form the basis of the racketeering conspiracy charge include: making false statements, filing false documents and forgeries, impersonating officials, computer breaches, and attempts to influence witnesses.

Trump and his co-defendants have all pleaded not guilty.

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