President Trump has filed two lawsuits against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for recording their phone call on Saturday in which the president demanded he commit a crime and “find” votes to overturn Trump’s loss in the state, Georgia Republican Party chairman David Shafer tweeted Sunday.
Trump claims the phone call he said was a “confidential settlement discussion” — which it wasn’t— and that the conversation was about pending legislation in the state.
In fact, the recording makes it clear that the call was a shakedown from Trump demanding that the Georgia Republican “find” votes.
Georgia is what’s called a “one-party consent” state, meaning that only one party on a phone call would have to be aware of the recording. Obviously, Raffensperger and his lawyer knew of the recording, which satisfied the one-party rule. So, Trump’s lawsuits will be dismissed.
The audio published by @TheWashingtonPost is heavily edited and omits the stipulation that all discussions were for the purpose of settling litigation and confidential under federal and state law.
— David Shafer (@DavidShafer) January 3, 2021
Legal experts called the claim absurd because if it was a secret call then Trump already violated that rule by tweeting about the call.
It wasn't a confidential settlement call.
That is a ridiculous claim. https://t.co/3oc9iVXx0e
— Elizabeth de la Vega (@Delavegalaw) January 4, 2021