Alice Barrett has logged in at 2023-12-28 16:28:23
Alice Barrett has logged in at 2023-12-28 16:28:23

Former President Donald Trump at a rally in Commerce, Georgia in March last year. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

A special Georgia grand jury investigating Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of that state’s 2020 election has submitted its report to local judges, paving the way for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to potentially Criminal charges will be brought against the former president and some of his allies in the next few months.

The special jury completed its work late last year after taking testimony from dozens of witnesses — including some, like former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and Senator Lindsey Graham, RS.C., who never appeared before the investigative committee of the… House of Representatives testified Jan. 6, 2021. But Willis never subpoenaed Trump himself to testify, apparently concluding that doing so would unnecessarily slow her investigation with legal motions and other court challenges to the former president.

Willis himself is expected to receive a copy of the report on Monday. Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney, overseeing the case, filed an order with the court Monday morning, declaring that the special grand jury — convened at Willis’ request and beginning testimony last June — had completed her work.

Robert McBurney, Fulton County Superior Court Judge.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney instructing potential jurors during the trial in May last year. (Ben Gray/AP)

“It is the DECLARATION of this Court that the Special Purpose Grand Jury now stands DISSOLVED,” McBurney wrote in his decision. “The court thanks the grand jury for their dedication, professionalism and significant investment of time and attention to this important matter. It was no small sacrifice to serve.”

McBurney has also scheduled a hearing for January 24 to determine whether parts of the report, or the entire document, can be released. Under Georgian law, special grand juries like that convened by Willis can conduct investigations and make recommendations on whether to bring charges. But for such indictments to be formally filed, Willis must present the evidence to a regular grand jury — a process that could take several more months.

“This is an important milestone,” Norm Eisen, a Brookings Institution fellow who served as an adviser to the House Judiciary Committee during Trump’s first impeachment, told Yahoo News. “I think it’s safe to say that charges against Trump and a single digit number of co-conspirators are likely – but not certain.”

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At the very least, the Willis investigation appears to be moving faster than a broader US Department of Justice probe into Trump’s conduct surrounding the 2020 presidential election and the events of Jan. 6. This investigation is now being overseen by a Special Counsel, Jack Smith, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland. (Smith, who had served as an international war crimes prosecutor in The Hague, only recently returned to the United States after recovering from a bicycle accident.)

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks with a member of her team in a courtroom.

Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis speaks with a member of her team during the trial of a special grand jury last May. (Ben Gray/AP)

Willis first announced her investigation in early 2021 after news of then-President Trump’s Jan. 2, 2021 phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger urging him to “find” enough votes to take the state’s electoral vote from Joe Biden to flip Trump. She has since expanded the investigation to include related plans in the state, including the appointment of so-called fake voters who had pledged to Trump and were convened by Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer on Dec. 14, 2020 in the state capital.

Willis has strongly indicated that she is considering using Georgia’s broad racketeering statute to press conspiracy charges against Trump and his allies. As with many other details in the still secret special grand jury report, it is not clear if the grand jurors themselves recommended this approach.

But Eisen said it was no surprise that Willis chose not to call Trump before the special grand jury. “We all know Trump would never have cooperated,” he said. “Why bother?”