The chief prosecutor in Fulton County, Georgia, has requested a special grand jury as part of her investigation into Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the state’s results in the 2020 presidential election.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who opened her investigation nearly a year ago, is tracing the former president’s phone call with Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which he appeared to pressure him to “find” votes that would topple the state of Joe Biden’s victory.
In a letter to the chief justice of the Fulton County Superior Court, first reported by The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Ms. Willis requested a special grand jury after a “significant number of witnesses and potential witnesses refused to participate in the inquest.” to cooperate without a subpoena requiring her to testify.”
A special grand jury cannot bring charges, but may subpoena witnesses, produce documents, and investigate other offices as part of the investigation.
In her Jan. 20 letter, Ms. Willis says her office has opened an investigation into “coordinated attempts to unlawfully alter the outcome of the 2020 election” in Georgia.
Mr. Raffensperger has told Fulton County prosecutors that he will not be participating in the investigation.
The latest move from Ms Willis’ office is a decision on whether criminal charges could arrive in the first half of 2022.
“I believe a decision will be made in this case in 2022,” Ms Willis told the Associated Press this month. “I definitely think decisions will be made in the first half of the year.”
The scope of the investigation includes a January 2, 2021 phone call between then-President Trump and Mr. Raffensperger, the abrupt resignation of the US Attorney in Atlanta on January 4, 2021, a November 2020 phone call between Mr. Raffenspberger and US Senator Lindsey Graham and comments made during the state’s 2020 legislative sessions during the committee hearings on the election.
“We’re just going to get the facts and the law, be very methodical, very patient and to an extent unemotional about this pursuit of justice,” she told the Associated Press.
The possible criminal investigation – which a spokesman for Mr Trump dismissed as a “witch hunt” – is not the only one the former president is facing; The House inquiry into the Capitol riot has accelerated its investigation into the events and individuals connected to the attack, and prosecutors in New York have issued subpoenas to the Trump family as part of an investigation into his business dealings.
In a recorded call with Mr. Raffensperger, the records of which were first obtained by The Washington Post, Mr. Trump said, “I just want to find 11,780 votes, that’s one more than we have.”
Mr Trump suggested the Secretary of State and his chief adviser Ryan Germany could be prosecuted if they fail to comply with his claims.
“You know what they did and you’re not reporting it,” the former president said during the call. “You know, that’s a criminal – that’s a criminal offense. And you know, you can’t let that happen. This is a big risk for you and Ryan, your attorney. That is a big risk.”
