{"slug":"trump-raffensperger-georgia-call-find-votes","title":"Georgia Call: Trump Pressured Secretary of State to 'Find' Votes to Overturn Election","date":"2021-01-02","lastUpdated":"2024-08-15","description":"On January 2, 2021 — 18 days before Biden's inauguration — Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and asked him to 'find' 11,780 votes, one more than Biden's winning margin. The call was recorded. Trump made explicit and implicit threats; he told Raffensperger he was taking a 'big risk' and suggested he could face criminal liability. The call was the subject of a Fulton County, Georgia criminal indictment in August 2023, charging Trump with 13 felony counts including racketeering.","summary":"Trump spent approximately an hour on the call with Raffensperger, his deputy, and Trump's attorneys, pressing Raffensperger to reverse Georgia's certified presidential election results. He made multiple false claims about fraud that Raffensperger repeatedly corrected in real time. Trump told Raffensperger 'there's nothing wrong with saying, you know, that you've recalculated' and that finding 11,780 votes would put Trump ahead in Georgia. Raffensperger refused. The call recording was published; Trump's Georgia indictment in August 2023 cited it as a central piece of evidence.","category":"rule-of-law","severity":"critical","ongoing":true,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/03/us/politics/trump-brad-raffensperger-call-transcript.html","title":"Full Transcript: Trump's Jan. 2 Phone Call With Georgia Secretary of State","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-raffensperger-call-transcript-georgia-vote/2021/01/03/2768e0cc-4ddd-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html","title":"Read the full transcript of Trump's phone call with Georgia Secretary of State","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/trump-georgia-indictment-raffensperger","title":"Trump indicted in Georgia over 2020 election interference","publisher":"The Associated Press"},{"url":"https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2023/08/FINAL-Cover-and-Indictment-including-RICO.pdf","title":"State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump et al. — Indictment","publisher":"Fulton County Superior Court"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["Georgia","Raffensperger","election","find-votes","first-term","rule-of-law","RICO"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2021-01-02","title":"Trump calls Raffensperger — find 11,780 votes","summary":"Trump calls Raffensperger and over approximately one hour asks him to find votes, make false fraud claims, and threatens him with criminal liability for refusing. Raffensperger refuses. The call is recorded."},{"date":"2021-01-03","title":"Trump tweets mischaracterizing the call; Raffensperger publishes recording","summary":"Trump tweets that Raffensperger refused to discuss fraud and that he was 'unwilling' to answer questions. Raffensperger's office responds by publishing the recording and transcript, demonstrating Trump's characterization was false."},{"date":"2023-08-14","title":"Grand jury indicts Trump and 18 others on RICO charges","summary":"Fulton County DA Fani Willis secures a 41-count indictment against Trump and 18 others for their efforts to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results. Trump faces 13 counts including racketeering under Georgia RICO statute."},{"date":"2024-08-15","title":"Case delayed by immunity and disqualification appeals","summary":"The case remains on hold as appellate courts consider: (1) whether Trump's conduct is covered by presidential immunity after the Supreme Court's July 2024 ruling, and (2) whether DA Fani Willis should be disqualified following revelations about her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade."}],"location":{"name":"Atlanta, GA / Washington, D.C.","lat":33.749,"lng":-84.388},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"active-litigation","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Democratic processes; Georgia voters whose certified election results were subject to pressure to be reversed; election officials threatened with criminal liability for refusing to reverse results","structuredVictims":[{"name":"Brad Raffensperger","group":"Georgia Secretary of State","status":"Pressured to fabricate votes; refused; cooperated with subsequent investigation"}],"structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"President; personally called Secretary of State to demand vote reversal","institution":"White House"},{"name":"Mark Meadows","role":"Chief of Staff; participated in the call; later indicted","institution":"White House"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2024-08-15","summary":"Updated with case status and immunity appeal delays."}]}}