Rep. Rice Urges FBI To Investigate Trump Over Georgia Phone Call

Garden City NY

04 January, 2021

6:30 PM

Description

GARDEN CITY, NY — On Monday, Representatives Kathleen Rice and Ted Lieu joined together to write a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray imploring him to investigate President Donald Trump's call with Georgia election officials. On Sunday, the tape of an hour-long phone call Trump had with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was made public. In the tape, Trump told Raffensperger to "find" more than 11,000 votes — which would turn Georgia from a loss to a win for him — and also threatened the secretary of state with legal action if he refused. Rice and Lieu are both Democrats. Rice represents New York's 4th Congressional District, and Lieu represents California's 33rd Congressional District. After hearing the tape, Rice and Lieu, who are both former prosecutors, penned a letter to Wray imploring him to begin an investigation of Trump's actions. "As Members of Congress and former prosecutors, we believe Donald Trump engaged in solicitation of, or conspiracy to commit, a number of election crimes," the letter reads. "We ask you to open an immediate criminal investigation into the president." In the letter, Rice and Lieu outline three statutes — two federal, one from Georgia — that they believe Trump violated on his call, all related to election fraud. Speaking to Patch, Rice said that she and Lieu sent the letter to the FBI not only because of the possible crimes that were committed by the president, but also to help make sure that kind of behavior doesn't become normalized and accepted by the public. "My fear is that we get immune, almost numb to this kind of behavior," Rice said. "And I think it's important to establish what kind of behavior is important in a person as president." Regardless of whether the FBI starts an investigation into the president's actions, Rice said she would support further action in the House of Representatives, including a formal censure of the president. "What would be a nice parting gift to the president would be a censure on the floor of the House," said Rice. "To say that we do not condone this kind of behavior. I think that if it is something that is brought to the floor, it would pass in a bipartisan way."