New twist in the Georgia criminal investigation into Donald Trump

| 10:00 pm EDT March 14, 2021
Dear Palmer Report readers, we all understand the difficult era we're heading into. Major media outlets are caving to Trump already. Even the internet itself and publishing platforms may be at risk. But Palmer Report is nonetheless going to lead the fight. We're funding our 2025 operating expenses now, so we can keep publishing no matter what happens. I'm asking you to contribute if you can, because the stakes are just so high. You can donate here.

It turns out the recording between Donald Trump and state investigator Frances Watson was discovered in the trash folder of the state investigator’s computer. The Georgia Secretary of State’s office recently discovered the recording as a result of a public records request. We look forward to the state investigator explaining how it came to be in her trash folder.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis sent letters to Georgia state officials in February, asking the Georgia Secretary of State’s office to preserve documents relevant to election interference. Fani Willis is conducting a criminal investigation into Trump’s interference in the 2020 election results. The secretary of state’s office is separately investigating Trump for his attempts to overturn the state’s election results.

The investigator told CNN affiliate WSB-TV’s investigative reporter Mark Winne that she had recorded the call. She stated that she didn’t perceive any pressure from Trump to take action to change the results of the election. The recording does indicate that Trump suggested that she would benefit from finding votes to change the results of the election, that “we” could win Georgia if she changed the results. Perhaps others might take a dim view of Trump’s requests. They border on bribery and corruption and it will depend on how jurors or a judge hears the recording.

I wonder how, when and why that recording came to be in the investigator’s trash folder. Perhaps the investigator was more comfortable characterizing Trump’s phone call rather than allowing the phone call recording itself to speak for itself. Then again, maybe the investigator was saving the recording for posterity, copied it to other media, and decided to get rid of the original in order to be the only owner of such a recording. Nonetheless, it appears that since the recording has been found, it will remain in the hands of people who directed evidence be preserved, rather than the state investigator.