PRESS RELEASE Contact: [email protected]
For Immediate Release
Date: January 20, 2023
VIEW A RECORDING OF THE NEWS CONFERENCE HERE
Atlanta, GA – Today, former Ambassador Norman Eisen, noted legal scholar and counsel in the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump, and J. Tom Morgan, former DeKalb County District Attorney and criminal law professor at Western Carolina University, joined the Defend Democracy Project for a virtual press briefing to discuss the forthcoming final report from the Fulton County Grand Jury on their criminal investigation into Donald Trump and his allies, including for his efforts to defy the results of the 2020 election.
As these experts detailed in the call, Donald Trump and his allies engaged in a conspiracy in Georgia to influence elected officials and “find” 11,780 votes to turn the results of the 2020 presidential election in his favor. Not only was this an attack on our country, but also an attempt to strip Georgians of their right to choose their own leaders.
If not held accountable, election deniers and other extremists will continue to engage in conspiratorial activity and incite violence to take power. They threaten our most basic freedoms – choosing our leaders – and our democracy. They act as if they are above the law. They must be held accountable.
“I believe that the attempted coup by Donald Trump and his co-conspirators very likely exposes them to state and federal criminal liability for the reasons laid out by the January 6th committee in making its referrals on the federal side and for the reasons laid out in the state side in our Georgia report,” said Former Ambassador Norman Eisen, noted legal scholar and counsel in the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump. “I think it is vitally important for the future of our democracy that there be accountability for this very serious misconduct by Donald Trump and others to attempt to overthrow the legitimate outcome of election results.”
“I think it is a test of our democracy,” said J. Tom Morgan, former DeKalb County District Attorney and criminal law professor at Western Carolina University. “If the special grand jury finds that there is probable cause that a person or persons should be indicted for crimes, then they should be indicted and no one given any special privilege because of who they are or what positions they held.”
“Donald Trump and his allies, which include Georgia fake electors now serving in public office, engaged in a conspiracy in Georgia to influence elected officials and ‘find’ 11,780 votes in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in his favor,” said Liz Ernst of Defend Democracy Project Georgia. “Not only was this an attack on our country, but it also was an attempt to strip Georgians of their right to choose their own leaders.”
Watch the news conference here.
###
