The chairman of Georgia The Republican Party is one of them GOP Officials facing a criminal probe over allegations they tried to overturn Joe Biden‘s 2020 win.
David Shafer has been said to be one of 16 electors in the Peach State who may now face charges for allegedly vowing to sway the last presidential election in favor of Trump.
Shafer and his unnamed fellow voters were previously said to be “witnesses” to an ongoing investigation by Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis.
CNN reported that they have now been told they are targets of the investigation over allegations that they have attempted to subvert the US Electoral College.
As part of the electoral college process, electors cast their ballots for candidates, but actually select a group of representatives, or electors, for those candidates.
Georgia, like most states, has a winner-take-all system in which the candidate who wins the popular vote is represented by all voters. They meet and cast their votes in Parliament. The candidate who received the most votes receives these votes.
These votes are then endorsed by the governor and sent to Congress.
Georgia Republican leader David Shafer is under investigation for fraudulently claiming to be an elector for former President Trump
Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis filed a motion stating that 16 state Republicans are under investigation into the ballot
Former President Donald Trump was recorded on the call urging Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to secure victory
President Joe Biden won 2,473,633 votes to Trump’s 2,461,854.
Despite the close race, Biden won the state. The loss of Georgia was particularly painful for Trump, as Biden’s win marked the first time the state had gone Democratic since Bill Clinton won it in 1992.
Trump became infamous on the phone with Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger when he urged him to “find” another 11,870 votes to lead him to victory.
It is now alleged that Shafer and 15 other Republicans sent fake filings to Congress and the archives claiming they were the voters and cast their ballots for Trump.
“Each of the sixteen individuals who signed the unofficial voter’s certificate that was eventually submitted to the National Archives received a similar target letter advising that individual both that their testimony was required by the grand jury for special purposes and that she was the target of the investigation,” the Fulton County Attorney wrote in her filing.
Georgian Foreign Minister Brad Raffensperger heard from Trump and his ally Senator Lindsey Graham (RS.C.) after the election.
Because the vote was so close, the former commander-in-chief reached out to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who oversees the vote count, and asked him to “find” enough votes in a recorded phone call to win the battleground state.
“I just want to find 11,780 votes,” Trump said, according to a transcript of the call.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
The former president had claimed that there was widespread voter fraud in the state.
The prosecutor has convened a special grand jury to investigate the former president’s efforts to overturn the outcome.
Georgia State Senator Burt Jones has also asked the court to disqualify Willis from her role in the case.
Lawyers representing the men filed a motion alleging a conflict of interest for throwing their political support behind an opponent of Jones.
“The inevitable conclusion is that the nominee voters’ change in status was prompted not by new evidence or a genuine belief that they were facing crime, but by an unreasonable desire to compel them to publicly invoke their rights, at best as a publicity stunt,” the attorneys wrote.
In response, the district attorney’s office said, “Jones has taken no action to establish an actual conflict of interest in the case.”
The next hearing in the case is July 21, and Jones is scheduled to testify before the grand jury on July 26.
The Justice Department has been investigating a plan to use fake victory declarations to topple Biden’s victory in several other states, including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, Nevada and New Mexico.
The Jan. 6 committee summoned 14 people involved in the effort and said they had information on “who is behind this plan.”
“The existence of these alleged alternate voters’ votes was used as justification for delaying or blocking confirmation of the election during the Jan. 6, 2021 joint session of Congress,” wrote panel chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss. ). .
