Law Prof’s Complaint Over Trump’s Phone Call Could Send Him to Prison

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Law Prof’s Complaint Over Trump’s Phone Call Could Send Him to Prison; Exclusive Report – It’s Likely to Trigger Criminal Investigations

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Trump's Phone Call To Corrupt Georgia's Election Results

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 28, 2021) -  In an "exclusive report," Reuters says that a motion before Georgia's election board will urge state attorney general Chris Carr to open a criminal investigation of the former president over his efforts to corrupt Georgia's election results, and also call for a similar investigation by Fulton County DA Fani Willis who has promised that she will "enforce the law" regarding Trump's phone call.

Reuters reports that DA Willis has discussed launching a criminal investigation of Trump's alleged interference, notes public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

This is expected rather than surprising, says Banzhaf, because it is almost unheard of for either the attorney general or the district attorney to refuse a formal request by the election board to investigate an election case.

According to Reuters, the apparent trigger for the investigations, which involve both felonies and misdemeanors, was a complaint filed by Prof. Banzhaf:

"The board bases its motions seeking investigations on complaints from the public and election officials about improprieties. The complaint that prompted Worley’s motion came from John Banzhaf, a George Washington University law professor with a long history of public-interest legal work, which includes playing a role in driving cigarette commercials off the air. Banzhaf, 80, said he grabbed his laptop immediately after hearing reports of Trump’s phone call to Raffensperger and started typing out the complaint from his vacation home in Florida. 'I thought it was a good idea to force the issue,” he said in an interview. “Bottom line: I think there’s a strong case against Mr. Trump.'”

Banzhaf says that he filed the complaint, not because of concern that authorities would not know about the telephone calls, or that the calls probably constituted violations of at least three Georgia criminal statutes, but because formal complaints often pressure officials to take actions they might otherwise be reluctant to initiate on their own.

If there's a formal complaint, they often feel compelled to act, he says.