Georgia: “find 11,780 votes”

In an hour-long call on 2 January 2021, Trump pressed Raffensperger and his lawyer with fraud claims they told him were false, then said: “So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have.” He also said it would be “a big risk” to Raffensperger if he did not act. [1]

Trump says the call was “perfect” and that he was asking officials to find votes he believed had been miscounted. Raffensperger’s office had already counted Georgia by hand and told him the claims were wrong. [1][2]

In 2024 it came out that Willis had a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the outside lawyer she hired to run the case. The trial judge let her stay if Wade left. The Georgia Court of Appeals went further in December 2024 and removed her and her office for an appearance of impropriety. [1]

Peter Skandalakis, head of the state prosecutors’ council, took the case himself. In November 2025 he moved to drop it. His motion called the call to Raffensperger concerning but ambiguous, said he would give the defendants the benefit of the doubt on intent, disputed several charging theories, and cited presidential immunity and the obstacles to trying a sitting president. He also called the fraud claims themselves unsubstantiated and disproved. Judge McAfee dismissed the case in its entirety the same day. [2][3]

Four co-defendants, including lawyers Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro and Jenna Ellis, had already pleaded guilty in 2023 to lesser charges. Those pleas remain part of the record.