Suspected of committing a criminal offense: Will the FBI launch an investigation against Trump?

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Two Democrats have asked the FBI to open a criminal investigation against Donald Trump for a phone call in which he pressured state officials from Georgia to overturn the presidential election in his favor.

The US President begged Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's top election official, to "find" enough votes to reverse Joe Biden's victory in the state, according to an audio recording released on Sunday.

The revelation has sparked a fierce debate about whether the call violated federal law prohibiting interference in elections. Ted Lieu of California and Kathleen Rice of New York, members of the House of Representatives, have called for a case to be opened, writes The Guardian.

"As members of Congress and former prosecutors, we believe that Donald Trump participated in soliciting or conspiring to commit numerous election crimes," they wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray.

"We ask you to immediately launch a criminal investigation against the President," they added.

Under US law, it is a criminal offense to "knowingly and willfully" deprive voters of free or fair elections. Eric Holder, former Attorney General, tweeted: "As you listen to the tape, consider this federal criminal law."

During the hour-long call on Saturday, Trump made unproven claims of fraud and highlighted vague prospects of a "criminal offense" if Georgia's Secretary of State and other officials did not change the certified vote count.

"All I want is this," said the US President. "I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state," he said in the phone call.

Raffensperger, a Republican, pointed out that Georgia had recounted its votes three times before Biden's victory was confirmed by 11,779 votes. "President Trump, we have had several lawsuits and had to respond to lawsuits and disputes in court," he said. "We do not agree that you have won," he replied.

Trump insisted: "I won this election by hundreds of thousands of votes. There is no way I lost Georgia."

He pushed conspiracy theories circulating in right-wing media, including that hundreds of thousands of ballots had mysteriously appeared in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta. Officials said there was no evidence for this.