ATLANA – Because the criminal investigation of Donald J. Trump’s Manhattan prosecutors appear to be stalled, with a separate investigation into whether the former president and his allies interfered illegally in Georgia’s 2020 election results a significant step forward on Monday as 23 people were selected to serve in the special investigative grand jury.
The court will focus exclusively on “whether there have been any illegal attempts to disrupt the administration of the 2020 election here in Georgia,” Judge Robert C. McBurney of Fulton County Supreme Court told 200 potential jurors. were summoned to the courthouse in downtown Atlanta, crowded with law enforcement officers.
The ability of the special grand jury to call witnesses and documents will help prosecutors who have met resistance from some potential witnesses who have refused to testify voluntarily. The court will have up to a year to issue a report advising District Attorney Fanny T. Willis on whether to prosecute.
Some legal experts have said the investigation could be dangerous for Mr Trump, who in a phone call in January 2021 asked Georgian Secretary of State Brad Rafensperger to “find” enough votes to put Mr Trump ahead of his rival. of the Democrats, Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the number of presidential elections in Georgia.
Georgia’s grand jury meeting comes after a criminal investigation in Manhattan apparently stopped. Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney, is said to be concerned about the strength of the New York case, which focuses on whether Mr Trump has exaggerated the value of assets in his annual financial statements. People close to the investigation told The New York Times that the investigation could lose its force if other witnesses did not step up their cooperation.
In the case of Georgia, a group of legal experts in an analysis published last year by the Brookings Institution wrote that a call to Mr Rafensperger and other post-election actions by Mr Trump put him at “significant risk” of criminal charges in Georgia, including racketeering. , imposition of electoral fraud, intentional interference in the performance of electoral duties and conspiracy to commit electoral fraud.
The investigation is also likely to look at Trump’s allies, who have joined Georgia’s election administration, including Mr Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolf W. Giuliani; Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina; and Mark Meadows, a former chief of staff to Mr. Trump. The investigation is under the jurisdiction of the Fulton County Attorney’s Office, as many of the actions in question were carried out or involve phone calls to Fulton officials, including the Capitol Building in downtown Atlanta and many government offices.
In addition to talking to Mr Rafensperger, Mr Trump publicly described calling Governor Brian Kemp after the election and asking him to call a special election to “get to the bottom” of a major problem with the integrity of the Georgian election. . ” Mr Trump also called Chris Carr, the Attorney General, to ask him not to oppose a case challenging the election results in Georgia and other states, and asked Mr Rafensperger’s chief investigator to found “dishonesty” in the elections.
Investigations into such issues are already under way, Judge McBurney told the court on Monday. “But now is the time for 26 members of our community to take part in this investigation,” he said, referring to the 23 jurors and three deputies.
Judge McBurney told potential jurors to declare that they had a potential conflict if they were convinced that a crime had definitely been committed in the 2020 election – or if they were convinced that there had been no crime at all. Approximately 25 said they had had such a conflict.
The special grand jurors will issue subpoenas, hear testimony and review documents. Meetings will be confidential and jurors will not have the right to discuss procedures outside their meetings. But the judge noted that witnesses could speak publicly about the trial if they wished.
In January, a majority of judges in the Fulton County Supreme Court system approved Ms. Willis’ request for a special grand jury, which allowed him to sit for up to a year on May 2. Once the commission has made recommendations on the prosecution, it will be up to Ms Willis, a Democrat, to return to the regular grand jury to seek criminal charges.
Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University, said the beating of the grand jury was a sign that prosecutors had recognized the complexity, sensitivity and unique nature of the case. Among other things, Ms. Willis raised the possibility that Mr. Trump and his allies violated the state’s Law on Organizations Influenced by Racketeers and Corrupt Organizations, known as the RICO. Like the RICO federal law, which has been used to target the mafia and other organized crime networks, Georgia’s racketeering status is a tool that can be used to prosecute a wide range of groups involved in patterns of criminal behavior. . Proving this case would require in-depth study of multiple moving parts.
Among them, potentially, are a call Senator Graham made to Mr Rafensperger, asking if the postal vote could be rejected in districts with a high percentage of suspicious signatures; a visit by Mr Meadows to the suburbs of Atlanta to observe the election audit there; and post-election appearances by Mr Giuliani before state legislatures calling for an alternative pro-Trump voter list.
“There is much more than just a phone call,” Mr Kreis said, adding that the case involved areas of the law that were “underdeveloped”.
“We don’t have many allegations or potential allegations that someone has broken Georgian law by asking for election fraud, because you have to be pretty crazy to go to the secretary of state to ask for a change in the scoreboard,” he said. “These are things so brazen that it’s almost impossible to believe.”
Trump’s investigations
Map 1 of 6
Many inquiries. There have been many investigations and investigations into his business and personal affairs since former President Donald Trump left office. Here is a list of those that continue:
Mr Trump has other legal challenges to overcome after his one-time presidency, all of which are becoming more important given that Mr Trump appears to be in a position to run for a new president in 2024.
In addition to the Manhattan investigation, New York Attorney General Leticia James is ready to file a civil lawsuit in her investigation into fraudulent and misleading business practices by the Trump Organization, its court officials said. A judge recently convicted Mr. Trump of contempt in this case for failing to fully comply with the summons and began fining him $ 10,000 a day.
The Westchester County Attorney’s Office is investigating financial matters related to a golf course owned by Mr. Trump’s company. And a federal grand jury has been formed to investigate the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters.
Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Mr. Trump, called the Fulton County investigation a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last month, Willis said she would wait until the May 24 primary in Georgia to bring witnesses to testify before a special grand jury in an attempt to avoid her desire to influence state policy.
Gov. Kemp, Mr. Rafensperger, and Mr. Carr, all Republicans, are facing major initial challenges from candidates who have reiterated Mr. Trump’s baseless allegations of election fraud in the state and who have received Mr. Trump’s approval.
Mr Trump plans to hold a televised rally Monday night against Mr Kemp’s opponent, former US Senator David Purdue, who falsely claims that Mr Kemp allowed the “radical Democrats to steal our election”.
Security at the city center courthouse was stepped up on Monday, with streets around the courthouse closed to traffic and increased law enforcement presence inside and outside the buildings. In January, Ms. Willis wrote to the FBI that her office had received reports from “individuals dissatisfied with our commitment to our duties,” and asked the FBI to provide “intelligence and federal agents” to the courtroom. Ms Willis said security concerns had “escalated” from Mr Trump’s comments at an event in Texas, in which he called prosecutors who focused on him “evil, horrible people” who were “racist” and “Mentally ill” and unfairly targeting him.
Ms Willis noted that Mr Trump had called for major protests in Atlanta and elsewhere if prosecutors were prosecuting him illegally.
Add Comment