“This is really the result of the ten weeks of misinformation that flowed in from former President Donald Trump,” Georgia Lieutenant General Geoff Duncan said on CNN’s “New Day.” ‘I went back over the weekend to really look at where it was starting to gain momentum in the legislature, and that was when Rudy Giuliani showed up in some committee halls and spent hours spreading misinformation and sowing doubt. of evidence. ‘
Giuliani did not immediately respond to a request for comment, responding to Duncan’s comments. But during his testimony in December, Giuliani falsely claimed that thousands of dead people had voted in the Georgian election, insisted that voting machines had changed people’s voices and suggested thousands of others had voted illegally.
“Those machines are like Swiss cheese. You can penetrate them. You can climb into them. You can change the mood,” Giuliani wrongly told lawmakers on December 30.
Giuliani also addressed Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who has refused to assist Trump in his run-off election, saying: “Your secretary of state is doing what I consider to be an illegal covered up. ‘
But these remarks still managed to get traction with the legislators of the IDP states, who passed a package of election reforms that imposed new requirement for voter identification for absentee ballots, restricted the use of ballot papers and it a committed crime to approach voters with food and water. they wait in line. The bill also removed the Secretary of State as chairman and voting member of the Georgia State Electoral Council and gave state legislators more control over elections.
Georgia GOP officials who helped thwart Trump’s efforts to block Georgia’s election results supported some components of the new legislation while enchanting other aspects of it, most notably attempts to curb the Secretary of State’s authorities.
“The foreign minister did a good job. I think that was also one of the topics that worried me about the final adoption of the law, which was ultimately a culmination of democratic and republican ideas,” he said. Duncan told CNN.
“But some of the punitive reactions to taking Raffensperger off the election board were just trying to tip their hat to Donald Trump, and I just did not think it was a necessary step.”
As for Giuliani, he is likely to get additional investigation from the district attorney in Atlanta area. While the core of Willis’ investigation is Trump’s attempts to interfere in the state election, she is also investigating Trump allies who may have assisted him in the efforts. According to one person familiar with the investigation, whether Giuliani violated the law by making false statements before the legislature, Willis is investigating.
Willis is also expected to request additional information from Duncan, which received a document retention request from her office earlier this year. The request noted that no officials in Georgia are expected to be the targets of her investigation.