Report: Georgia prosecutor 'increasingly likely' to open criminal investigation into President Trump

A top Georgia prosecutor is reportedly considering whether to open a criminal investigation into President Donald Trump's alleged "attempts to overturn the results of the state's 2020 election," the New York Times reported. In fact, the Times reported that a criminal probe into Trump has become "increasingly likely."

According to the report, the central concern of a possible investigation would be Trump's call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) earlier this month in which Trump allegedly demanded that Georgia officials overturn Joe Biden's victory there.

The controversial phone call was cited in the new article of impeachment against Trump, which House Democrats passed this week.

From the New York Times:

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 that he would ask the board to make a referral to the Fulton County district attorney by next month.

Although Trump's supporters have defended his call with Raffensperger, others have claimed the call is evidence that Trump committed a crime.

In fact, Slate claimed that Trump broke federal and state laws, citing one federal law that prohibits one from "knowingly and willfully...attempts to deprive or defraud the residents of a State of a fair and impartially conducted election process, by...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."

Indeed, a former U.S. Attorney in Georgia, Michael J. Moore, told the Times that, in his legal opinion, there was "a clear attempt to influence the conduct of the secretary of state, and to commit election fraud, or to solicit the commission of election fraud" by Trump in his phone conversation with Raffensperger.

"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," Moore explained. "It's full of threatening undertone and strong-arm tactics."

What about impeachment?

The House voted to impeach Trump for a second time this week, charging him with "incitement of insurrection."

The impeachment article claims Trump's rhetoric about the election, that it was "stolen" or "rigged," incited the deadly violence on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, the same day a joint-session of Congress convened to certify Biden's Electoral College victory.

The impeachment resolution was approved by a vote of 232-197. Every Democrat supported the resolution, and they were joined by 10 Republicans, including Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the third-highest ranking House Republican.