Image via Twitter
Meet Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis. The newly elected prosecutor announced her office was opening up a criminal investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of Georgia 2020 presidential election.
Playing a large role in the investigation is the leaked phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. You’ll recall two now-former Biglaw attorneys were also on the call, Cleta Mitchell and Alex Kaufman. Appearing on the Rachel Maddow show last night, Willis noted that Trump’s request on the call for a very specific number of additional ballots to be found could go a long way to establishing mens rea.
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D.A. Willis: 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. pic.twitter.com/vH46bBaAyD
— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) February 12, 2021
But Willis has cautioned that despite the infamy of that particular call, she’s keeping an open mind as she begins the investigation:
“I have no idea what I’ll find. I think a good law enforcement officer, a good prosecutor, you walk in with an open mind, you get the facts for what they are, there will be some statutes that we’ll look at.
“If those facts meet the elements of those statutes then we’ll bring charges.”
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Of course… she has a hypothesis as to what she’ll find (hint: moar!):
Willis: “What I know about investigations is they're kind of like peeling back an onion. And as you go through each layer, you learn different things. To be a responsible prosecutor, you must look at all those things in an investigation, to be fair to everyone involved.” #gapol pic.twitter.com/HBAJN3RNfV
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) February 12, 2021
You might be wondering exactly how this investigation got started, and you can thank a law school professor. George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf III reportedly filed the initial complaint.
Willis has stressed that criminals charges are far from a certainty. But we do know that Donald Trump’s legal problems are going to get a lot stickier.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).