Big developments this morning
and two different investigations
into former President Trump,
the election
interference probe in Georgia
and the Stormy Daniels
hush money investigation.
Here in New York,
we are now learning
there's another recording
of former President Trump
pressuring another Georgia official
to help overturn
his election loss this time.
It's a phone
call with the state's
Republican House speaker
and here in New York City.
Stormy Daniels met
with prosecutors yesterday
as they near
the end of that investigation.
Trump's former fixer,
Michael Cohen,
also finished testifying yesterday
before the Grand jury.
That makes two appearances
from him in a week.
Cohen will join us
right here on CNN this morning
in the 8:00 hour.
Let's get caught up on all of this.
With our senior legal affairs
correspondent, Paula Reid.
Wow.
So much in just a few days, right?
Even by Donald Trump's standards.
Yesterday was a wild day in court for him
and related to a court
proceedings in Georgia.
We had these members
of the special grand jury
revealing these incredible details
of the investigation.
And then here in New York,
you had his former alleged mistress
and his fixer both talking to prosecutors
two investigations
into former President Donald Trump
heating up
with possible indictments
coming down soon.
In New York,
the Manhattan
district attorney's office
speaking on Wednesday
to two key witnesses
as part of its investigation
into hush money
payments
made to adult film star Stormy Daniels
My position is that
at the end of the day,
Donald Trump needs to be held accountable
for his dirty deeds.
If, in fact,
that's the way that the facts play out.
Trump's former fixer
and personal attorney, Michael Cohen,
concluded a second day
of testimony Wednesday,
and Daniels attorney tweeted
that she also answered
prosecutors questions
and has agreed
to make herself available as a witness.
The investigation
is at a critical juncture
after the district attorney's office
invited Trump to testify last week.
Trump's
legal team says he will not testify,
and they're proclaiming his innocence
with one of his lawyers
making this striking prediction.
If his client is indicted,
I think it will will ultimately embolden
him, embolden his supporters
and give him more strength
because it will be proven
to be wrongly accused.
But on the other hand,
who in their right mind
wants to be indicted in charge?
False from the crime?
Nobody.
Over in Fulton County, Georgia,
the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
is reporting the grand jury
there heard a recording of a conversation
between Trump
and the late former Georgia House Speaker
David Ralston. In the recording.
Trump is pushing
for the speaker
to call a special session
to overturn Joe Biden's win in the state.
One of the jurors recalled Ralston
basically caught the president off,
telling Trump,
I will do everything in my power
that I think is appropriate.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
spoke with five jurors
who served on a grand jury
investigating Trump's
actions in Georgia
after the 2020 election.
One of those jurors says
they were presented
testimony about a meeting
then Senator and Trump
ally David Perdue
had with Republican Governor
Brian Kemp in December.
2020 or Camp was also urged to convene
a special session
to challenge Biden's election win.
You know what I'm saying or
really extraordinary insight
into the grand jury process there.
This is not the kind of information
we usually get, particularly before
there's been any sort of indictment
that we know this grand jury
has recommended multiple indictments.
And if you talk to the former president's
legal team,
they are concerned about Georgia
in terms of charges being brought.
They are not.
However, they say
worried about a conviction.
Paula. Fascinating.
Wild as you said, even.
I don't know how you compare
Trump standard with all of these.
It's a lot of coffee
rain in Brainiac over here.
Thank you, Paula.
This is why The New Yorker
is one of several investigates
of Donald Trump
new development and another one,
which is the Fulton County
special grand jury.
We now know
from Atlanta Journal-Constitution
reporting that there was a third
Trump call.
We knew of two previous Trump calls
the most infamous one
is to Brad Raffensperger,
the secretary of state.
There was another one
to one of the investigators.
And now we know there was a phone call
to the late speaker
of the Georgia House of Representatives
trying to get the speaker
to bring the legislature
back in to help Donald Trump.
What does that mean
if you're building a case?
I guess
if you're Trump, you could make the case
if you had one phone call.
He was upset.
He lost the election. He was venting.
He didn't mean anything. Nefarious.
If you have three phone calls
where he's asking for help
overturning the results.
How powerful is that evidence?
Well, so what the prosecutors, if again,
this is
in the pre indictment stage,
in this investigation in Georgia as well,
if they decided to bring the case,
then that would be
another piece of evidence
that they could use
to indicate that he had the intent
to try
to violate Georgia's election laws,
which is what this Georgia case
is all about.
And so, again,
another near decision point.
We believe when we get to decisions,
we'll have more interesting covers,
even more interesting conversations.