One of Newton County's two congressmen wants President Donald Trump to resign after he said Trump violated the law with his phone call requesting the Secretary of State change the results of Georgia's General Election to allow him to win the state and gain its 16 electoral votes.
U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia, was joined by more than 90 other House members in supporting a resolution today, Jan. 4, in the U.S. House.
The congressman, who represents Georgia's 4th Congressional District including western Newton County, tweeted that the president’s call to Secretary Brad Raffensperger Saturday, Jan. 2, was "a violation of state and federal law."
"Tomorrow, I will introduce a resolution of Censure. Trump should resign NOW!" Johnson wrote.
The resolution seeks to censure and condemn Trump "for attempting to overturn the results of the November 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia" by asking Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have" and give the election victory to Trump.
A news release from Johnson's office stated that Trump called Raffensperger Saturday, Jan. 2, "and asked him to illegally fabricate the votes needed for him to win the Georgia vote count."
"On Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, the entire audio of the call was reported in The Washington Post. The call lasted more than an hour and involved the President threatening Secretary Raffensperger with vague criminal prosecution threats if he didn’t cooperate.
"Rep. Johnson moved quickly to condemn President Trump's criminal actions and denounce his flagrant attempts to defraud a legal, fair, and free election.
"The resolution also calls on President Trump to retract and disavow this unlawful and unconstitutional behavior and acknowledge President-elect Joseph R. Biden as the victor of the November 2020 presidential election."
Supporters of Trump have denied the president violated the law and said he did little more than repeat what he has said publicly for weeks about what he claims was rampant fraud in an election in which he lost to Democratic challenger Joe Biden in Georgia.
