Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp contacted by Justice Department special counsel in 2020 election probe

Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith's team has contacted Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, whom former President Donald Trump pressured to overturn the 2020 election, a Kemp official told CNN.

"I can confirm our office has been contacted by Jack Smith's office, but we will decline to comment further at this time," Andrew Isenhour, a spokesman for the Republican governor, said in a statement.

Smith's team contacted Kemp's office this week, according to a person familiar with the outreach.

The Washington Post was first to report Smith's reach-out to Kemp.

Trump pushed Kemp to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in Georgia after he narrowly lost the state to Democrat Joe Biden. After Kemp refused, Trump tried to sink the governor's reelection efforts by recruiting a challenger in the 2022 GOP gubernatorial primary. Kemp was reelected despite Trump's efforts.

"He was mad at me. I was not mad at him. I told him exactly what I could and couldn't do when it came to the election, and I followed the law and the Constitution. And as I've said before, that's a lot bigger than Donald Trump. It's a lot bigger than me. It's a lot bigger than the Republican Party," Kemp told CNN earlier this week.

Smith's investigators have also recently contacted former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, whom Trump pressured to overturn the election after losing that state in 2020 as well.