A district attorney in Georgia has requested backup from the Federal Bureau of Investigation following incendiary remarks from former president Donald Trump during a weekend rally in Conroe, Texas. 

What You Need To Know

  • A district attorney in Georgia has requested backup from the Federal Bureau of Investigation following incendiary remarks from former president Donald Trump

  • Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis is investigating whether Trump broke the law by pressuring Georgia officials to overturn the 2020 election results

  • Trump on Saturday held a Save America Rally in Texas, where he railed against the “vicious, horrible people” investigating his actions

  • Willis' request includes assistance from “intelligence and federal agents,” as well as a risk assessment of the Fulton County Courthouse and Government Center

Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis, whose office is investigating whether Trump and other administration officials broke the law by pressuring Georgia officials to overturn the results of the 2020 elections, penned a letter to the FBI Atlanta field office asking for protective resources that would include “intelligence and federal agents,” as well as a risk assessment of the Fulton County Courthouse and Government Center. 

“We must work together to keep the public safe and ensure that we do not have a tragedy in Atlanta similar to what happened at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” Willis wrote in a letter obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, adding that threats against her office had “escalated” following Trump’s remarks. 

Trump on Saturday held a Save America Rally in Texas, where he railed against the “vicious, horrible people” investigating his actions, without naming specific individuals. 

“If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal, I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protest we have ever had in Washington, D.C, in New York, in Atlanta and elsewhere,” Trump said during the Saturday night rally.

Willis last year opened an investigation into any potential attempts to improperly influence the 2020 general election in Georgia by Trump and his associates. A special grand jury is set to be seated May 2 to aid in that investigation and Willis asked the FBI to take the steps she requested well in advance of that date.

“My staff and I will not be influenced or intimidated by anyone as this investigation moves forward,” Willis wrote.

Trump’s rhetoric was especially alarming, Willis wrote, in light of statements Trump made at the same event saying that if he returns to the White House, he could give pardons to people who stormed the U.S. Capitol last year in an effort to block the certification of Biden’s win.

Willis has declined to speak about the specifics of her investigation, but in a recent interview with The Associated Press, she confirmed that its scope includes — but is not limited to — a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a November 2020 phone call between U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and Raffensperger, the abrupt resignation of the U.S. attorney in Atlanta on Jan. 4, 2021, and comments made during December 2020 Georgia legislative committee hearings on the election.

​​In a statement earlier this month, Trump said his call to Raffensperger was “perfect” and said he did not say anything wrong. Graham has also denied any wrongdoing.

Willis’ office is not alone in investigating Trump’s actions surrounding the 2020 elections and subsequent violent insurrection of Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021. 

The House committee investigating the Capitol Riot has succeeded, in recent weeks, in requesting testimony from top Trump advisers; the committee was also handed a victory from the Supreme Court when the body denied Trump’s request to block White House documents from being released by the National Archives.

New York State attorney general Letitia James is separately investigating the Trump Organization for “fraudulent or misleading” practices.