ATLANTA — Georgia’s top election official spent more than four hours behind closed doors Wednesday with the Congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The committee wanted to talk to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger about attempts by former President Donald Trump and other prominent national Republicans to influence decisions being made here at Georgia’s Capitol.
In an exclusive interview, Raffensperger told Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray that he was asked and voluntarily agreed to head to Capitol Hill where he spent 4.5 hours with the committee
“They asked smart questions,” Raffensperger said.
Gray spoke with Raffensperger as he returned to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport from Washington, D.C.
The committee has issued more than 40 legal subpoenas, but Raffenspeger said he was not subpoenaed.
“It’s a lawful process and I’ve said that I always follow the Constitution. It seems like a bipartisan setup. Now, there’s an attorney on the Republican side asking a lot of questions, so I think that was good,” Reffensperger said.
“Can you tell us anything about what kinds of questions that were asked?” Gray asked Raffensperger.
“Well, obviously everyone knows I had a conversation a year ago and that’s out there. Anyone can listen to it, come to their own conclusions,” Raffensperger said.
On Jan. 3, Channel 2 Action News shared a recording of that phone call we obtained between Raffensperger and Trump.
“So, what are we gonna do here, fellas, I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break,” Trump said on the phone call.
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It also launched a separate parallel criminal investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, which is still underway. Raffensperger told Gray that he has not met with the DA.
“I haven’t been asked to provide any information to the DA. Our staff members have already,” Raffensperger said.
Raffensperger also filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the U.S. Department of Justice.
DOJ is suing Georgia over the state’s new election law. Raffensperger claims in his lawsuit that the federal government did not comply with a Freedom of Information Act request he filed related to that case.
As for the investigations into Jan. 6 and Georgia’s role in it, Raffensperger told Gray that he wanted to make sure the committee and the American people know that Georgia ran a fair election
“I think people need to understand that by and large across the entire country we have fair and honest elections. I know we do in Georgia,” Raffensperger said.
Raffenspeger said he expects the committee will also interview members of his staff and expects to soon be working out the logistics of that.
Some election staff members have already been interviewed by the Fulton County DA’s Office.
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