A person, including an election official, who in any election for Federal office...
(2) knowingly and willfully deprives, defrauds, or attempts to deprive or defraud the residents of a State of a fair and impartially conducted election process, by...
(B) the procurement, casting, or tabulation of ballots that are known by the person to be materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent under the laws of the State in which the election is held...
shall be fined in accordance with title 18 (which fines shall be paid into the general fund of the Treasury, miscellaneous receipts (pursuant to section 3302 of title 31), notwithstanding any other law), or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.
(a) (1) A person commits the offense of criminal solicitation to commit election fraud in the first degree when, with intent that another person engage in conduct constituting a felony under this article, he or she solicits, requests, commands, importunes, or otherwise attempts to cause the other person to engage in such conduct.
And then this from the Washington Post:
President Trump urged fellow Republican Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, to “find” enough votes to overturn his defeat in an extraordinary one-hour phone call Saturday that legal scholars described as a flagrant abuse of power and a potential criminal act.
And:
At another point, Trump said: “So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”
He later added: “So what are we going to do here, folks? I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break.”
And then this from the NYTimes:
President Trump pressured Georgia’s Republican secretary of state to “find” him enough votes to overturn the presidential election and vaguely threatened him with “a criminal offense” during an hourlong telephone call on Saturday, according to an audio recording of the conversation.
And a few paragraphs down we learn of the threat:
“You know what they did and you’re not reporting it,” the president said during the call. “You know, that’s a criminal — that’s a criminal offense. And you know, you can’t let that happen. That’s a big risk to you and to Ryan, your lawyer. That’s a big risk.”
Hmm...a vague-ish threat for criminal prosecution (Trump IS still head of the DOJ, doncha know) unless Georgia officials "find" him just enough votes to win. All caught on tape for the entire world to hear.
I'm NOT a lawyer but it sure sounds to me like this runs counter to 52 U.S. Code § 20511 and Georgia Code § 21-2-562 (2016).
How is this not illegal? And in light of this, how can the hundred or so House members (including one from my neighboring district, Representative Guy Reschenthaler) or the dozen or so Senators looking to upend Biden's win in November still support the criminal in the White House?
And snarkier still, how will Wendy Bell spin it?
