Sport Head of government in Georgia resigns

Georgia prosecutors open criminal investigation into Trump’s efforts to subvert election results

The Fulton County district attorney is examining a raft of potential criminal charges related to three calls the then-president made to state officials, as well as the abrupt resignation of the U.S. attorney. In a letter Wednesday to several state Republican officials including Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis did not mention Trump by name but stated that her office is examining a raft of potential criminal charges related to “attempts to influence” the administration of the 2020 election in the state.

Georgia's Prime Minister has resigned in the dispute over the planned arrest of an opposition leader. The domestic political crisis in the South Caucasus Republic is getting worse.

© Irakli Gedenidze / REUTERS He resigns: Prime Minister Giorgi Gacharia

In Georgia, the fronts are hardening after the parliamentary elections overshadowed by allegations of manipulation. Prime Minister Giorgi Gacharia resigned after only two months in office. "I have decided to vacate my post," said the 45-year-old in the capital Tbilisi, according to Georgian media. With this step he wanted to prevent a further polarization of the Georgian political landscape. That is a danger to the country.

L. Lin Wood spent months falsely claiming voter fraud cost Trump the election. Now Georgia is investigating whether he voted illegally.

Conservative attorney L. Lin Wood faces an investigation in Georgia over whether he illegally voted in the Nov. 3 elections after buying a home in South Carolina. Now, Georgia officials have launched a voter fraud probe with a new target: Wood.

"Life of our citizens is in danger"

Background is a court decision on Wednesday, according to which the opposition politician Nika Melia of the United National Movement (UNM) is to be taken into custody. If the opposition party is actually arrested, this would put "the health and life of our citizens" at risk, said Gacharia.

© David Mdzinarishvili / TASS / dpa / picture alliance Supporters of the opposition party UNM are combative in front of their party headquarters

According to reports, more than 200 supporters were at the party's headquarters to prevent arrest. After Gacharia's resignation, the country's interior ministry said that the court's decision should now be enforced at a later date.

opposition wants international partners

Melia belongs to the party of former President Mikhail Saakashvili, who was sentenced to several years imprisonment for abuse of office after being voted out of office in 2013. Melia is accused of being behind the attempted storming of parliament in June 2019. He said: "We are ready to sit down at the negotiating table with the authorities in the presence of international partners and to discuss the question of new parliamentary elections."

Georgia opened an inquiry into Trump's January phone call pressuring election officials to 'find 11,780 votes' to help him win the state

On the call, the former president pressured state election officials to "find votes" and "find more fraud."Raffensperger's office said that the inquiry is "fact-finding and administrative in nature," and that findings will be referred to the Republican-majority state Board of Elections.

© David Mdzinarishvili / TASS / dpa / picture alliance Supporters of the opposition party UNM hold a poster out of the window of the party headquarters

Since the parliamentary elections at the end of October, the opposition has boycotted the work of the new parliament of the ex-Soviet republic. She thinks the vote is fake. In the election, the ruling Georgian Dream party emerged victorious again and rejected a new vote. Since then there have been repeated mass protests.

nob / kle (dpa, afp)