Judicial Watch, a conservative nonprofit that mainly deals in Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits, filed a pair of Georgia Open Records Act suits this week against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger regarding two high-profile incidents.
The first suit is an attempt to obtain all records related to the March 2020 consent decree signed by Raffensperger’s office with the Democratic Party of Georgia. The document in essence settled lawsuits made by Democrats over how signature matching was done. Pro-Trump Republicans have slammed Raffensperger over the settlement, arguing that it weakened anti-fraud measures related to absentee voting – or even changed Georgia law entirely.
Pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood referenced the consent decree in a lawsuit seeking to stop the state from certifying its election results, a suit which was dismissed by the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in December.
Judicial Watch’s suit looks to further dig into the decree and the discussions around it, “including but not limited to emails regarding the agreement sent to and from Raffensperger, State Election Board Vice Chair Rebecca N. Sullivan, State Election Board Member David J. Worley, State Election Board Member Matthew Mashburn, and/or State Election Board Member Anh Le.”
“We want to know more about what happened behind the scenes in Georgia during the 2020 election,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton Tuesday.
The second lawsuit pertains to the infamous phone call between then-President Donald Trump and Raffensperger, wherein the president allegedly questioned the secretary of state about election fraud and pushed him to search for fraud in the race, which he claimed to have won. That recording was leaked to news organizations and eventually to the public, and played a key role in Trump’s second impeachment proceedings. Currently Fulton County DA Fani Willis’ office is investigating the call as well.
Judicial Watch says it is looking to obtain all emails sent to and from Raffensperger, Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs and General Counsel Brian Germany regarding the January 2, 2021 telephone call.
“We want to know more about what happened behind the scenes in Georgia during the 2020 election,” said Fitton, regarding the suits. “Hiding key records about the controversial settlement agreement and the President’s leaked phone call with Raffensperger prevents Americans from knowing the full story and deciding for themselves whether the outcome in Georgia was fair.”
