Associated Press
The prosecutor who’s investigating whether Donald Trump and others broke the law by trying to pressure Georgia officials to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential election victory is asking the FBI for security help after the former president railed against prosecutors investigating him.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Sunday wrote a letter to the FBI office in Atlanta asking for a risk assessment of the county courthouse and government center. She also asked the FBI to provide protective resources, “to include intelligence and federal agents.”
Willis last year opened an investigation into any potential attempts to improperly influence the 2020 general election in Georgia by Trump and his associates. A special grand jury is set to be seated May 2 to aid in that investigation and Willis asked the FBI to take the steps she requested well in advance of that date.
“My staff and I will not be influenced or intimidated by anyone as this investigation moves forward,” Willis wrote.
She added that her office has already taken steps to address security concerns “considering the communications we have received from persons unhappy with our commitment to fulfill our duties.” She said she’s also working with county officials on the need for extra security measures as the investigation progresses.
But she said security concerns were “escalated” over the weekend as Trump lashed out at prosecutors looking into his actions, calling them “vicious, horrible people.”
“If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal, I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protest we have ever had in Washington, D.C, in New York, in Atlanta and elsewhere,” Trump said during the Saturday night rally in Texas.
The rhetoric is especially alarming, Willis wrote, in light of statements Trump made at the same event saying that if he returns to the White House, he could give pardons to people who stormed the U.S. Capitol last year in an effort to block the certification of Biden’s win.
“We must work together to keep the public safe and ensure that we do not have a tragedy in Atlanta similar to what happened at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” Willis wrote in the letter to the FBI.
Willis has declined to speak about the specifics of her investigation, but in a recent interview with The Associated Press, she confirmed that its scope includes — but is not limited to — a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a November 2020 phone call between U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and Raffensperger, the abrupt resignation of the U.S. attorney in Atlanta on Jan. 4, 2021, and comments made during December 2020 Georgia legislative committee hearings on the election.
In a statement earlier this month, Trump said his call to Raffensperger was “perfect” and said he did not say anything wrong. Graham has also denied any wrongdoing.
Reposted with permission from The Associated Press.
3 comments
Kathy
January 31, 2022 at 11:38 am
Go get him Ms. Willis. Of course he broke the law and we all heard him trying to coerce Mr. Raffensperger into “finding” just enough votes for the win. Once again, trump is giving another subtle call to arms to the leftovers from January 6th. He is inciting “protests” which are never protests, they are threats against our Democracy. Perhaps he will, again, tell these loving, peaceful people that he will march with them then go and hide. I wish there was one amnesty day for everyone who had to sign an NDA with trump. I know of one family business that was wiped out by having to take “pennies on the dollar” for work completed on a casino or “get nothing” and tie them up in Court for years. How many others has he ruined with no repercussions? He is an immoral bully. So, you “radical, vicious, racist Prosecutor, go get him. If he had nothing to hide he would not protest so loudly.
PeterH
January 31, 2022 at 1:47 pm
Apparently there are many more Trump followers that need to be locked up!
Kathy
February 1, 2022 at 9:46 am
Peter H. If it were you or me….nope, not showing up, not testifying, not helping my Country, I won’t cross trump because I’m afraid of his dirty tactics, after all he did win the election…..we would be locked up. Side note, our local Oath Keeper was just released on his own recognizance (he does not pose a threat and crime was not violent?!) and must get permission to travel outside the continental United States. “Above the law” has become the norm and it is disgusting and sad. Half of these idiots were in the military and, along with trump, took an oath which means nothing. They are not protecting us from terrorists “foreign and domestic”, they are the domestic terrorists. Lock them up and let them out. There are people wasting away in our jails unable to make bail for nonviolent, petty crimes threatening no one. I digress, sorry, just a pissed off and disappointed old lady.
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