Judge orders Georgia grand jury report on Trump’s election plans released in part

Georgia Election Investigation Legislature (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

A Georgia judge has ordered the partial release of a Fulton County, Georgia grand jury report into the efforts of former President Donald Trump and his allies to reverse his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden in the Peach State.

The members of the special purpose grand jury had asked the Fulton County Superior Court to authorize the release of their full work, which was commissioned at the request of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

But Judge Robert McBurney on Monday ordered portions of the report remain sealed, including a list of people the grand jury recommended special-purpose charges against.

“Upon review of the final report, the undersigned concludes that the Special Purpose Grand Jury did not exceed the scope of its mandated duties. In fact, it provided the district attorney with exactly what she requested: a list of who should (or should not) be charged and for what in relation to the conduct (and consequences) of the 2020 Georgia general election,” he wrote, adding that the law would superficially require publication of the report in its full form.

However, the judge said there were compelling reasons for withholding parts of the report from the public at this time, writing: “But like many things in the law, it’s not that simple”.

He added that due process requires that portions of the report containing the names of potential targets for indictment remain classified for the time being, as well as portions identifying those named in the report who were not allowed to appear before the grand jury . However, he stressed that these sections of the report will not be kept secret forever.

“The consequence of these flaws in due process is not that the grand jury’s final report is forever suppressed for special purposes, or that its recommendations for or against an indictment are in any way flawed or suspect. Rather, the consequence is that these recommendations are for the time being only for the eyes of the district attorney,” he said.

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Judge McBurney also noted that “three parts” of the report were “ripe for release,” including the “Introduction and Conclusion to the Final Report” and a section “in which the special-purpose grand jury discussed their concern that some witnesses lied.” could have under oath during her testimony before the grand jury”.

“Because the grand jury does not identify these witnesses, this conclusion can be made public at this time,” he said.

These parts of the report will be released on February 16th.