Atlanta prosecutor appears to move closer to Trump inquiry

ATLANTA — Prosecutors in Georgia appear increasingly likely to open a criminal investigation of President Donald Trump over his attempts to overturn the results of the state’s 2020 election, an inquiry into offenses that would be beyond his federal pardon power.

The new Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis, is already weighing whether to proceed, and among the options she is considering is the hiring of a special assistant from outside to oversee the investigation, according to people familiar with her office’s deliberations.

At the same time, David Worley, the lone Democrat on Georgia’s five-member election board, said this week he would ask the board to make a referral to the Fulton County district attorney by next month. Among the matters he will ask prosecutors to investigate is a phone call Trump made in which he pressured Georgia’s secretary of state to overturn the state’s election results.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Jeff DiSantis, a district attorney spokesman, said the office had not taken any action to hire outside counsel and declined to comment further on the case.

Some veteran Georgia prosecutors said they believed Trump had clearly violated state law.

“If you took the fact out that he is the president of the United States and look at the conduct of the call, it tracks the communication you might see in any drug case or organized crime case,” said Michael J. Moore, the former U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. “It’s full of threatening undertone and strong-arm tactics.”

The White House declined to comment.

Worley said that if no investigation had been announced by Feb. 10, the day of the election board’s next scheduled meeting, he would make a motion for the board to refer the matter of Trump’s phone calls to Willis’ office. Worley, a lawyer, believes that such a referral should, under Georgia law, automatically prompt an investigation.

If the board declines to make a referral, Worley said he would ask Willis’ office himself to start an inquiry.

Worley said he would introduce the motion based on an outside complaint filed with the state election board by John F. Banzhaf III, a George Washington University law professor.