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The Legal Questions Raised By President Trump’s Call To ‘Find’ Votes In Georgia

US President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in support of Republican incumbent senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue ahead of Senate runoff in Dalton, Georgia.
US President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in support of Republican incumbent senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue ahead of Senate runoff in Dalton, Georgia.

The Washington Post obtained a recording of a phone call between President Donald Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which the president pressed Raffensperger to “find” 11,870 votes marked for him. 11,870 votes is exactly what it would take to reverse Trump’s presidential election loss in Georgia.

The president also threatened Raffensperger with vague references to legal consequences if he doesn’t doctor the vote. And now, legal experts say the president could be in trouble.

Raffensperger and his staff spent much of the call explaining to the president that his assertions of voter fraud are based on conspiracy theories. The recording was released right before the conclusion of the Jan. 5 runoffs in Georgia, two races which will determine control of the Senate.

Could there be any consequences for the president? How have powerful Republicans responded? Could President Trump’s phone call affect the outcome of these runoff elections?

Copyright 2021 WAMU 88.5

Kaity Kline
Kaity Kline is an Assistant Producer at Morning Edition and Up First. She started at NPR in 2019 as a Here & Now intern and has worked at nearly every NPR news magazine show since.