During a Sunday appearance on CBS’s Face The Nation, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) directly pushed for action by the U.S. Justice Department in response to the efforts of Donald Trump and others to overturn the presidential election results of 2020. Recently, the House committee investigating the Capitol riot — on which Schiff serves — laid out in a court filing how evidence suggests that multiple violations of federal law may have unfolded amid Trump’s campaign to block Biden from taking his duly decided place as president. Explaining on CBS that the “former president and his campaign may have violated any number of federal laws, including obstructing an official proceeding — the joint session [of Congress to certify the presidential election outcome] and defrauding the American people,” Schiff added as follows:
‘And I do think that the Justice Department ought to be looking at these issues and ought to be investigating — in particular just to give one very graphic example, the former president on the phone with the secretary of state in Georgia demanding that he find 11,780 votes that didn’t exist, but [were] the precise number he would need to overtake President Biden. I think if anyone else had engaged in that conversation, they would be under investigation, and it should be no different for the former president. So I think the department is diligently pursuing those who attacked the Capitol that day, but there were multiple lines of effort to overturn the election that may have violated the law, which also should be investigated.’
Check out Schiff’s comments below:
Schiff on CBS says he thinks DOJ should be investigating "to give one very graphic example, the former POTUS on the phone w/ the secretary of state in Georgia demanding he find 11,780 votes … if anyone else had engaged in that conversation, they would be under investigation." pic.twitter.com/5d0K0vgiuT
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 6, 2022
At the federal level, confirmations of investigations into Trump-tied efforts to subvert the 2020 presidential election have been limited, although a top Justice Department official has confirmed that federal authorities were examining the multi-state scheme to essentially falsify electoral votes for Trump from states that Biden won after referrals were submitted to the feds from state authorities. The riot committee laid out its beliefs regarding Trump’s potentially criminal acts amid a court fight with ex-Trump lawyer John Eastman; investigators are going after Eastman’s communications, arguing that attorney-client privilege doesn’t apply because of the suggestion by the evidence that criminal activity went on. As committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) explained things, the “facts we’ve gathered strongly suggest that Dr. Eastman’s emails may show that he helped Donald Trump advance a corrupt scheme to obstruct the counting of electoral college ballots and a conspiracy to impede the transfer of power.”
Just a reminder that if Donald Trump was still president and making exactly the same moves, one for one, that Joe Biden is making now, Republicans would be calling him the second coming of Churchill.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) March 6, 2022
Elsewhere, Atlanta-area District Attorney Fani Willis has been investigating the Georgia component of Trump-aligned efforts to overturn the election outcome, and she recently scored approval for a special grand jury to work on the case. It’ll begin operations in May. In the meantime, Willis commented that “this is a criminal investigation. We’re not here playing a game… I plan to use the power of the law. We are all citizens… Mr. Trump, just as every other American citizen, is entitled to dignity. He’s entitled to be treated fairly. He will be treated fairly in this jurisdiction… But I plan to do my job and my job is to make sure that we get the evidence that gives us the truth. I’m not concerned at all about games to delay this.”
One other note on this: After he said it, Trump then changed his voice and acted like he was playing the role of a newscaster and said: "Russia and China are at war today." https://t.co/d1vlM8g2zC
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) March 6, 2022
