Ex-president’s calls to state officials could lead to unprecedented criminal charges

A special grand jury in Georgia reportedly heard a recording of Donald Trump attempting to get then-state House Speaker David Ralston to convene a special session of the legislature to overturn Joe Biden’s narrow 2020 election win in the state.

Ralston, who has since passed away, reportedly deflected the outgoing president’s request, allegedly telling Mr Trump, “I will do everything in my power that I think is appropriate,” according to jurors who spoke with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which first reported the news of the call.

A special session was never called, though Republicans in the state did organise a plan to serve as unauthorised fake electors and cast their votes in the Electoral College for Donald Trump, even though Mr Biden won the state’s vote.

The Independent has contacted Mr Trump for comment.

The jurors have previously focused on other calls Mr Trump made in 2020 to state officials, including an infamous recording of the president asking Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” him enough votes to win.

Since February 2021, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been investigating the former president’s attempts to influence the state’s 2020 presidential election results.

In January of this year, a grand jury convened by Ms Willis concluded its work, leaving the prosecutor in the unprecedented position of deciding whether Donald Trump will be the first former president in US history to be prosecuted for a criminal offence.

“You’re not going to be shocked. It’s not rocket science,” Emily Kohrs, foreperson of the jury, told the New York Times of its conclusions. “You won’t be too surprised.”

“We definitely started with the first phone call, the call to Secretary Raffensperger that was so publicized,” Ms Kohrs added.

In another recorded call, reported by The Washington Post, Mr Trump can be heard urging Frances Watson, Georgia’s chief election investigator, to uncover “dishonesty.”

“When the right answer comes out, you’ll be praised,” he says in the recording.