Fulton County DA Presents Damning Case of Trump’s Illegal Election Intimidation to Rachel Maddow
Fani Willis, the Fulton County County District Attorney, joined The Rachel Maddow Show on Thursday evening for her first national TV appearance and outlined in specific detail why former President Donald Trump is under criminal investigation for election interference and intimidation.
News broke earlier this week that President Trump was under criminal investigation, centered around a leaked phone call between Trump and the Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. On the call, Trump was heard asking Raffensperger to find just enough votes to turn the state to Trump.
Host Rachel Maddow played a portion of the hour-long phone call for her viewers. She called it “obviously a unique piece of evidence because the whole country has heard it and because it has caused such political — such a political uproar. ”
She then asked Willis about the “state of mind” and “intent” as “a key part of determining whether, in fact, a crime was committed in a call like that?” She then explained the reason for her curiosity is whether or not her guest is “going to expect to, for instance, depose the former president to try to understand what his state of mind and his intent might have been behind that call.”
Willis noted that firstly that she rarely does depositions in criminal law, only “in very, very, very rare occasions. So that’s not something we could use,” adding, “Obviously, if one is charged with a crime, they’re a defendant and so they have a right to remain silent. And so, no, there would be no intent to depose.”
As for the state of mind of Trump, Willis offered the following.
“Detailed facts become important like asking for a specific number and then going back to investigate and understand that that number is just one more than the number that is needed. It lets you know that someone had a clear mind. They understood what they were doing, and so, when you’re pursuing the investigation, facts like that that may not seem so important become very important.”
Trump could be heard on the phone call pleading with Raffensperger, saying, “So look. 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.”
President Joe Biden won Georgia’s state with 2,473,633 to Trump’s 2,461,854, a difference of 11,779 votes. That is exactly one less vote than the number of votes Trump asked Raffensperger to find.
When asked by host Rachel Maddow if her investigation would go beyond that, Willis responded: “Yes, the investigation seems that it will go past just this one phone call that we’ve discussed and that you played for your viewers.”
Later in the interview, Willis was asked about receiving threats from Trump supporters since opening the investigation, to which she replied, “Interestingly enough, the comments are always racist, and it’s really just a waste of time and foolishness. It’s not going to stop me from doing my job, and I don’t think it’s an insult to remind me that I’m a black woman.”
She added, “But I took an oath. I made a commitment to the citizens in my community, and I’m going to do my job.”
Willis was asked whether the second impeachment trial influenced her investigation. “Whether there was an impeachment or not, an impeachment would not change the fact that something occurred here within my jurisdiction that may be criminal,” she replied. “And if that is the case, it needed to be investigated.”
Many accounts suggest that former President Trump will likely skate from the current impeachment trial for inciting the deadly insurrection led by a mob of his supporters, and not because there isn’t sufficient evidence, but because the Republican caucus of Senators will vote to acquit on a process argument.
Watch above via MSNBC.
