WASHINGTON — Two House Democrats on Monday asked FBI Director Christopher Wray to investigate President Donald Trump's leaked hour-long phone conversation with Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Congresswoman Kathleen Rice (D-NY) wrote a letter to Wray saying they believe "Trump engaged in solicitation of, or conspiracy to commit, a number of election crimes. We ask you to open an immediate criminal investigation into the President."
During the phone call with Raffensperger on Saturday, Trump can be heard pressuring him to “find” enough votes to overturn Joe Biden's win in the state's presidential election, repeatedly citing disproven claims of fraud and raising the prospect of a “criminal offense" if officials did not change the vote count, according to a recording of the conversation.
The Republican president, who has refused to accept his loss to Democratic President-elect Biden, repeatedly argued that Raffensperger could change the certified results.
“I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have," Trump said. "Because we won the state."
Georgia counted its votes three times before certifying Biden's win by a 11,779-vote margin, Raffensperger noted.
“President Trump, we’ve had several lawsuits, and we’ve had to respond in court to the lawsuits and the contentions," he said on the call. "We don’t agree that you have won."
Trump's renewed intervention and the persistent and unfounded claims of fraud came nearly two weeks before he leaves office and two days before twin runoff elections in Georgia that will determine political control of the U.S. Senate.
"The evidence of election fraud by Mr. Trump is now in broad daylight," Reps. Lieu and Rice said in the letter. "The prima facie elements of the above crimes have been met. Given the more than ample factual predicate, we are making a criminal referral to you to open an investigation into Mr. Trump. Thank you for your attention to this urgent request."
View the full letter below: