• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Rupert Everett claims to know who Prince Harry lost his virginity to
  • The year of Beyonce? Music’s elite head to the Grammys
  • It’s A Family Affair! Madonna’s Six Children Will Have Special Roles In Her ‘Celebration’ Tour

Members of Congress Demand Prosecution of Trump for ‘Open-and-Shut Federal (and State) Crime’ of Election Tampering

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams January 4, 2021 Leave a Comment

Trump flips out

Democratic members of Congress late Sunday joined the chorus denouncing outgoing President Donald Trump’s desperate attempt to pressure Georgia’s top election official to “find” enough votes to overturn the state’s November results, a failed effort that lawmakers and legal experts said amounts to an attack on democracy and a blatant criminal offense.

“This is clearly an impeachable offense and I believe there is nothing under the law giving Trump immunity from criminal process and indictment for this conduct,” said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). “The law and order party is a farce.”

At turns pleading and threatening, the lame-duck president’s hour-long Saturday call with Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger—a recording of which was obtained and published by several media outlets on Sunday—contained remarks that some legal experts said constitute clear violations of both state and federal law.

Ryan Locke, a criminal defense lawyer and former public defender in Atlanta, told the New York Timesthat Trump could be prosecuted under a Georgia law that makes it a felony to “solicit, request, command, importune, or otherwise attempt to cause another person to engage in election fraud.”

“He’s telling the secretary of state to ‘find votes so that I can win—votes that are not due to me,'” Locke said. “The recording alone is certainly enough to launch an investigation. It’s likely probable cause to issue an indictment.”

The Times noted that “at the federal level, anyone who ‘knowingly and willfully deprives, defrauds, or attempts to deprive or defraud the residents of a state of a fair and impartially conducted election process’ is breaking the law.”

“Donald Trump once again abused the power of his office, demanded interference in our elections, betrayed this country, and attacked our democracy,” tweeted Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “We must hold him fully accountable, even after he leaves office. There must be justice.”

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the number two Democrat in the Senate, called for a “criminal investigation” into what he described as Trump’s “disgraceful effort to intimidate an elected official into deliberately changing and misrepresenting the legally confirmed vote totals in his state.”

“Those who encourage and support his conduct, including my Senate colleagues, are putting the orderly and peaceful transition of power in our nation at risk,” said Durbin, referring to the Senate Republicans who plan to join 140 of their House GOP allies this week in attempting to contest President-elect Joe Biden’s decisive victory.

The burden of whether to pursue federal criminal charges against Trump for what one House Democrat called “illegal election tampering” will likely fall to the incoming Biden administration. In an August interview, Biden questioned whether attempting to prosecute Trump for crimes committed during his four years in the White House would be “good for democracy,” but added that he would not “interfere with the Justice Department’s judgment.”

Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.), who in November demanded that the DOJ prosecute Trump for his “innumerable crimes against the United States,” said Sunday that “this latest attempted election-rigging felony” should be added “to the bill of indictment.”

“Trump on tape yesterday asking Georgia’s top election official to ‘find’ new votes seems like an open-and-shut federal (and state) crime,” said Pascrell. “Trump must be prosecuted once he leaves office.”

Trump is on tape yesterday committing a federal crime https://t.co/PEzhb6Ph49 pic.twitter.com/gRT4iqY73Z

— Bill Pascrell, Jr. 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@BillPascrell) January 3, 2021

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement late Sunday that Trump may have “subjected himself to additional criminal liability” by threatening Georgia election officials in his effort to overturn his loss and remain in office.

“The American people will draw a straight line from President Trump’s phone call, where he implores a state official to ‘find’ the 11,780 votes he needs to overcome his margin of defeat in Georgia, to the efforts of certain members of the House and Senate to block President-elect Biden’s victory when the Electoral College results are certified,” said Nadler. “Both tactics are reckless, deeply selfish, and place love of power over commitment to our democratic process.”

Topics: Republicans More Posts About: 2020 Election, 2020 Election, Bill Pascrell, Brad Raffensperger, Dick Durbin, Donald Trump, Ilhan Omar, Jerrold Nadler, Pramila Jayapal, Ryan Locke

Related Posts
  • Trump outlines plan to attack trans rights if re-elected, vows to ‘protect children from left-wing gender insanity’
  • George Santos reported lots of spending in Florida. Here’s where he says he went
  • Stormy Daniels Declares It’s ‘Exhausting’ To Always Be Asked About Alleged Affair With Donald Trump: ‘I Wish He Would Go Away’
  • The year of Beyonce? Music’s elite head to the Grammys

    The year of Beyonce? Music’s elite head to the Grammys

    Published by AFP Beyonce, shown here attending the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, has the most chances at Grammy gold this year Los Angeles (AFP) – The brightest stars in pop music will vie for the …Read More »
  • It’s A Family Affair! Madonna’s Six Children Will Have Special Roles In Her ‘Celebration’ Tour

    It’s A Family Affair! Madonna’s Six Children Will Have Special Roles In Her ‘Celebration’ Tour

    Published by Radar Online Mega Madonna‘s “greatest hits” would tour will be a family affair — with all of her six children joining her on the stage and off, RadarOnline.comhas learned. “Lourdes, David, Mercy, Stella, and …Read More »
  • Channing Tatum needed make-up on his bum for Magic Mike’s Last Dance

    Channing Tatum needed make-up on his bum for Magic Mike’s Last Dance

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Channing Tatum had to cover up a blemish on his bum for ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’. Make-up artists on the upcoming movie had to spend 20 minutes every day rubbing concealer …Read More »
  • Security Denies Madonna’s Daughter Lourdes Leon Entry To Marc Jacobs Fashion Show Upon Late Arrival

    Security Denies Madonna’s Daughter Lourdes Leon Entry To Marc Jacobs Fashion Show Upon Late Arrival

    Published by OK Magazine mega Fashionably too late? Lourdes Leon was stopped by security and not allowed inside a Marc Jacobs fashion show event on Thursday, February 2, after she showed up exactly as the show …Read More »
Previous Post: « Airport Activity, Reports Fuel Speculation Trump May Be Planning to Skip Biden Inauguration, Fly to Scotland
Next Post: George Conway on Georgia Phone Call: Trump is Desperate Because ‘He Loses His Immunity from Criminal Liability on January 20th’ — WATCH »

Primary Sidebar

Adjacent News

  • Trans nonbinary Broadway star withdraws from Tony consideration over gendered categories

    Trans nonbinary Broadway star withdraws from Tony consideration over gendered categories

  • How Orlando’s gay community, after Pulse, helped spur proposed changes to blood donor rules

    How Orlando’s gay community, after Pulse, helped spur proposed changes to blood donor rules

  • Fabiola Santiago: Of course lying George Santos has ties to Florida. It’s where truth ‘comes to die’

    Fabiola Santiago: Of course lying George Santos has ties to Florida. It’s where truth ‘comes to die’

Good Trash: Going to Read It Somewhere, Y'know

  • Dennis Rodman On If He’d Ever Get Back With Ex-Girlfriends: “I Tried Madonna, I Tried Carmen Electra…”

    Dennis Rodman On If He’d Ever Get Back With Ex-Girlfriends: “I Tried Madonna, I Tried Carmen Electra…”

  • James Gunn Seemingly Confirms The DCU Will Finally Have Gay Superheroes

    James Gunn Seemingly Confirms The DCU Will Finally Have Gay Superheroes

  • Vanilla Ice Admits He Rejected Madonna’s Proposal Before They Split: ‘I Thought The Guy Was Supposed To Do That’

    Vanilla Ice Admits He Rejected Madonna’s Proposal Before They Split: ‘I Thought The Guy Was Supposed To Do That’

RSS Partner Links

  • Holly Madison Explains Why She Was Never On Birth Control While With Hugh Hefner
  • Kenneth Anger, First Out Gay Filmmaker, Turns 96
  • Kylie Jenner’s Getting Dragged For Throwing Her Kids An Astroworld-Themed Party (Again) Despite The Festival’s 2021 Crowd Surge Tragedy
  • In Ron DeSantis's Florida, Young Girls Have To Report Their Periods
  • Jane Fonda Didn't Think She Would Live Past 30 While Battling Eating Disorder
  • OMG have you heard: Ben Aldridge on his coming out
  • Nick Carter Countersues Women Who Accused Him of Sexual Assault

Most Recent

  • Rupert Everett claims to know who Prince Harry lost his virginity to

    Rupert Everett claims to know who Prince Harry lost his virginity to

  • The year of Beyonce? Music’s elite head to the Grammys

    The year of Beyonce? Music’s elite head to the Grammys

  • It’s A Family Affair! Madonna’s Six Children Will Have Special Roles In Her ‘Celebration’ Tour

    It’s A Family Affair! Madonna’s Six Children Will Have Special Roles In Her ‘Celebration’ Tour

  • Channing Tatum needed make-up on his bum for Magic Mike’s Last Dance

    Channing Tatum needed make-up on his bum for Magic Mike’s Last Dance

  • Security Denies Madonna’s Daughter Lourdes Leon Entry To Marc Jacobs Fashion Show Upon Late Arrival

    Security Denies Madonna’s Daughter Lourdes Leon Entry To Marc Jacobs Fashion Show Upon Late Arrival

  • Arriving Valentine’s Day: A Pair Of DC Comics Non-Binary Characters

    Arriving Valentine’s Day: A Pair Of DC Comics Non-Binary Characters

  • What is the #MascaraTrend and is it an adequate tool for free speech on TikTok?

    What is the #MascaraTrend and is it an adequate tool for free speech on TikTok?

  • ‘I don’t get canceled, really’: John Waters on his career, conservatives and taboos

    ‘I don’t get canceled, really’: John Waters on his career, conservatives and taboos

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · Log in

×