Officials investigating Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election are probing the role of a longtime police chaplain in an alleged attempt to extort a false confession from an election worker.
Steve Lee, a former California police sergeant and US Navy investigator, was billed as "the Ground Zero chaplain" for his work with first responders after the 9/11 attacks when he endorsed a Republican congressional candidate last year.
But now, Georgia prosecutors are investigating whether he helped allies of Mr Trump interfere in the state's election counting process, according to an investigation by Reuters.
The criminal probe was sparked by Mr Trump's infamous phone call with Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensberger on 2 January 2021, in which the defeated president attempted to pressure Mr Raffensberger into "finding" 11,780 votes in his favour.
Since then, the investigation has widened to encompass the role of top Trump allies such as Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, as well as alleged breaches of voting machines by people connected with Mr Trump.
No charges have yet been filed as part of the investigation. The Fulton County prosecutor's office, which is leading the probe, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr Lee's alleged role centres on a Georgia election worker called Ruby Freeman, who was inundated with harassment and threats from Trump loyalists after being falsely accused of pulling fake ballots from suitcases while counting votes.
A previous Reuters investigation last December found that Ms Freeman was visited on 4 January by Trevian Kutti, a publicist linked to Kanye West and, via speakerphone, a Trump campaign aide named Harrison Floyd.
The pair allegedly tried to pressure her into making a false confession of electoral fraud, telling her that she was "in danger" and they wanted to help her before "unknown subjects" turned up at her home.
“You are a loose end for a party that needs to tidy up," the publicist allegedly said. "I cannot say what specifically will take place. I just know that it will disrupt your freedom and... the freedom of one or more of your family members."
Mr Floyd later claimed that he had arranged the meeting with Ms Freeman at the request of a chaplain with connections to law enforcement, whom he did not name.
But according to records and body camera footage seen by Reuters, as well as interviews with Ms Freeman, that chaplain was Mr Lee, who had a long career in law enforcement before founding a Christian police officers' organisation called Peace Officer Ministries Inc.
Last October, Mr Lee endorsed a pro-Trump Republican congressional candidate, saying: "Today we're facing the extinction of America – at least the America that we know.”
Mr Lee allegedly visited Ms Freeman's home twice in December 2020. The first time, he left a message with a neighbour; the second time, she called 911, and two local police officers arrived.
"My name's Steve Lee, I'm a pastor, and I'm working with some folks who are trying to help Ruby out, and also get to some truth of what's going on," a man says in body camera footage released by Reuters.
"I'm prior law enforcement, a sergeant out of California," he says, adding: "I knocked on the door earlier. She's terribly spooked. I'm not here to hurt her, I'm not here to cause any problems or anything like that."
Mr Lee, Ms Kutti and Mr Floyd are reportedly all subjects of interest in Georgia's investigation, and Mr Floyd's comments about an unnamed chaplain are mentioned in a recent legal filing by Georgia prosecutors.
In an interview with Reuters, Mr Lee did not deny visiting Ms Freeman's house but refused to say why he went there. The Independent has asked for comment via his former company Peace Officer Ministries and through what appears to be his church.
Ms Kutti and Mr Floyd have previouly denied they were trying to pressure Ms Freeman into making a false confession.
