Photo: SAUL LOEB/ / AFP / Getty Images
The prosecutors chose 23 Fulton County residents to serve on the special grand jury to investigate whether former US President Donald Trump should be indicted for trying to pressure Georgia officials to overturn the results of the Georgia presidential election. 1200. Three of those 23 were chosen as alternates.
At the time the selection began, Judge Robert McBurney encouraged potential grand jurors to identify themselves as having a “conflict ” if they had already reached a conclusion about whether the former president committed a crime after Joe Biden won the presidency.
“Because this grand jury will investigate a specific situation, the elections of 2020, here in Georgia, it is important that the grand jury is made up of people who bring an open mind to the process,” said McBurney.
For its part, District Attorney Fani Willis asked the judges committee in January for the special jury due to “information indicating a reasonable probability” that the election “was subject to potential criminal disruption”.
The Fulton County District Attorney said in interviews that the investigation included a phone call from January of 2021, in which the tycoon told the Secretary of State of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, “I just want to find 11.780 votes”. It is precisely for that amount that Trump lost the state to Biden, a result that was reiterated in several recounts.
Special grand juries are unusual, they are single-investigation-oriented and can last much longer than typical grand juries, which often consider charging recommendations for multiple investigations.
This will have “an investigative approach appropriate to the complexity of the facts and circumstances involved,” Willis said in his January application.
Furthermore, the prosecutor wrote in the request that “a significant number of witnesses and potential witnesses have refused to cooperate with the investigation in the absence of a subpoena requiring their testimony.”
The judge stated that the members of the jury that they can expect their service to be long, probably over a year, sometimes meeting often. He stated that they may not have their first hearing until June.
The district attorney said in an interview last Tuesday 20 in April that will wait until after the state primary scheduled for 24 of May to issue citations to public officials.
“I don’t want anyone to say ‘oh, she’s doing this because she wants to influence the outcome of the next election,’” Willis told the newspaper.
Willis informed at least four state officials about his investigation in the month of February of last year and sent document preservation notices to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Attorney General Chris Carr.
Former President Trump issued a statement on January 20 in which he said that “my phone call to the Georgia Secretary of State was perfect.”
On the other hand, a spokesperson for the former president assured in a text message on Friday told CBS News that an “illegal ballot-trafficking network” had intervened in the outcome of the Georgia election, referring to unsubstantiated claims frequently made by Trump and his supporters.
“A grand jury should be opened for massive electoral fraud in Georgia in 2020,” said Liz Harrington, Trump’s spokeswoman.
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