Georgia's Secretary of State's office formally opened an investigation on Monday into then-President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the presidential election, including a Jan. 2 phone call in which Trump pressured Georgia's top elections official to "find" over 11,000 votes that would overturn the results of the election in the state.


What You Need To Know

  • Georgia's Secretary of State's office formally opened an investigation on Monday into Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the presidential election

  • The investigation includes a Jan. 2 phone call in which Trump pressured Georgia's top elections official to "find" over 11,000 votes that would overturn the results of the election in the state

  • The investigation stems from a complaint by George Washington University Law School professor, who claims Trump may have committed one or more violations of Georgia law

  • Investigators will present their findings to the state election board, which will then decide how to proceed

Reuters was the first outlet to report on the probe.

“The Secretary of State’s office investigates complaints it receives," Walter Jones, a spokesman for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, said, confirming the investigation. "The investigations are fact-finding and administrative in nature. Any further legal efforts will be left to the Attorney General."

The call audio, first released by The Washington Post, featured Trump pleading with Raffensperger to alter the vote total, as well as launching into an onslaught of false claims and debunked conspiracy theories about the election.

Trump had refused to accept his loss to Joe Biden and focused much of his attention on Georgia, a traditionally red state that he lost. During the Jan. 2 phone call, Trump repeatedly argued that Raffensperger could change the certified results, an assertion the secretary of state firmly rejected.

Throughout the call, Raffensperger and Ryan Germany, his office's general counsel, pushed back on Trump's claims, maintaining that Biden won the state.

At one point, Trump said, "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.”

The investigation stems from a complaint by George Washington University Law School professor John Banzhaf III, who said he requested "that this matter be fully investigated, and action be taken to the extent appropriate."

Banzhaf's complaint alleges that Trump may have committed one or more violations of Georgia law, including conspiracy to commit election fraud, criminal solicitation to commit election fraud and intentional interference with the performance of election duties, the release says.

Trump went on to ask Raffensperger about a "rumor" that ballots were being "shredded" in Fulton County, as well as whether or not Dominion, a voting machine company that has been a target of conspiracy theories, removed voting machines.

“Fellas, I need 11,000 votes," Trump said. "Give me a break. We have that in spades already."

“The people of Georgia are angry, the people in the country are angry,” Trump said. “And there’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you’ve recalculated.”

Raffensperger responded, saying, "Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is, the data you have is wrong."

In a statement, senior Trump adviser Jason Miller, said that there was "nothing improper or untoward about a scheduled call between President Trump, Secretary Raffensperger, and lawyers on both sides."

There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the November election. Then-Attorney General William Barr said in December that the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Republican governors in Arizona and Georgia, key battleground states crucial to Biden’s victory, have also vouched for the integrity of the elections in their states. Nearly all the legal challenges from Trump and his allies have been dismissed by judges, including two tossed by the Supreme Court, which includes three Trump-nominated justices.

“There’s no way I lost Georgia,” Trump said on the call, despite losing by nearly 12,000 votes. "There’s no way. We won by hundreds of thousands of votes."

Investigators will present their findings to the state election board, which will then decide how to proceed. If the board believes there's evidence that a crime occurred, it could take action ranging from issuing a letter of reprimand to referring the case to Georgia’s attorney general.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.