And you are going to find that they are — which is totally illegal — it is more illegal for you than it is for them because, you know, what they did and you’re not reporting it. That’s a criminal, that’s a criminal offense. And you can’t let that happen. That’s a big risk to you and to Ryan, your lawyer. And that’s a big risk.,,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.
This is from the transcript of Trump's hour-long phone call with Raffensperger.
There is no doubt that Trump is obsessed with his election loss in Georgia. And his principal scapegoats are GOP Georgia Governor Kemp and Secretary of State Raffensperger, ironically Trump supporters. Trump has vowed to primary both of them next state election for not abusing their positions to secure him the election.
I'm not going to go through the tedious litany of crackpot conspiracy theories Trump raises during the phone call: illegal out-of-state voters, biased voting machines, alleged dead voter ballots, shredded ballots, etc. For the interested reader, these have been repeatedly debunked, e.g., here.
Vox has identified at least 4 criminal laws that Trump likely violated in the phone call:
- 52 USC 20511: (2) knowingly and willfully deprives, defrauds, or attempts to deprive or defraud the residents of a State of a fair and impartially conducted election process, by- (B) the procurement, casting, or tabulation of ballots that are known by the person to be materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent under the laws of the State in which the election is held
- 18 U.S. Code § 241. conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person ... in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States. [Trump and his lawyers on the call sought to exclude certain legal ballots.]
- Georgia Code § 21-2-566/§ 16-4-7 "Willfully tampers with any electors list, voter's certificate, numbered list of voters, ballot box, voting machine, direct recording electronic (DRE) equipment, or tabulating machine" "A person commits the offense of criminal solicitation when, with intent that another person engage in conduct constituting a felony, he solicits, requests, commands, importunes, or otherwise attempts to cause the other person to engage in such conduct"
- GA § 21-2-604 "A person commits the offense of criminal solicitation to commit election fraud in the first degree when, with intent that another person engage in conduct constituting a felony under this article, he or she solicits, requests, commands, importunes, or otherwise attempts to cause the other person to engage in such conduct."
