Georgia Prosecutor Expected to Seek Grand Jury Indictment in Trump Election Investigation
Introduction
A Georgia prosecutor is expected to seek a grand jury indictment in the coming weeks as part of an investigation into efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the former president’s 2020 election loss. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis began investigating this matter more than two years ago, shortly after a recording was released of a phone call Trump made to Georgia’s secretary of state. Willis has hinted that any indictment would come between July 31 and August 18.
Potential Legal Troubles for Trump
If Trump is indicted by a Georgia grand jury, it will add to a growing list of legal troubles as he campaigns for president. Trump is set to go to trial in New York in March to face state charges related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign. He also has another trial scheduled for May on federal charges related to his handling of classified documents. Trump has pleaded not guilty in those cases. The Justice Department is also investigating Trump’s role in trying to halt the certification of the 2020 election results, which may overlap with the investigation in Georgia.
Investigative Threads Explored
Details of the Georgia investigation that have become public have fed speculation that Willis is building a case under the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Here are six investigative threads that Willis and her team have explored:
1. Trump’s Phone Call to Georgia Secretary of State
The Georgia investigation was prompted by a phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2, 2021. Trump suggested that Raffensperger could help “find” the votes needed to put him ahead of Joe Biden in the state. Trump has insisted he did nothing wrong and has repeatedly said the call was “perfect.”
2. Calls to Other Top State Officials
Trump also called other top state officials in his quest to overturn his election loss, including Gov. Brian Kemp, then-House Speaker David Ralston, Attorney General Chris Carr, and the top investigator in the secretary of state’s office. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham also called Raffensperger shortly after the November election to inquire about the power to reject certain absentee ballots.
3. Fake Electors from Georgia
On the same day that Georgia Democratic electors met to cast the state’s Electoral College votes for Biden, a group of Georgia Republicans signed a certificate falsely stating that Trump had won and declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors. Similar certificates were submitted in other battleground states that Trump lost. Prosecutors believe that Trump associates worked with state Republicans to coordinate and execute this plan.
4. False Claims of Election Fraud
During hearings held by Republican state lawmakers in Georgia in December 2020, Trump allies, including Rudy Giuliani, made unproven claims of widespread election fraud. They alleged that election workers at State Farm Arena in Atlanta had pulled out “suitcases” of unlawful ballots and began scanning them. State and federal officials investigated and found no evidence of election fraud at the site. Claims of ineligible voters casting ballots were also debunked by the secretary of state’s office.
5. Attempts to Pressure Election Worker
Two election workers seen in the State Farm Arena surveillance video, Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea Moss, faced relentless harassment as a result of the allegations made by Trump and his allies. In a bizarre episode, a woman traveled from Chicago to Georgia to meet with Freeman and initially offered to help her but then tried to pressure her into falsely confessing to committing election fraud.
6. Access to Election Equipment
Trump-allied lawyer Sidney Powell and others hired a computer forensics team to copy data and software on election equipment in Coffee County, Georgia. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into this alleged unauthorized access of election equipment at the request of the secretary of state’s office.
U.S. Attorney Resignation
U.S. Attorney BJay Pak, the top federal prosecutor in Atlanta, resigned abruptly after Trump called Raffensperger and a recording of that call was made public. Pak had reported back to then-U.S. Attorney General William Barr that he found no evidence of widespread election fraud. Pak later testified that he resigned after learning that Trump did not believe enough was being done to investigate the allegations of election fraud.
Conclusion
If Donald Trump is indicted by a Georgia grand jury, it will add to his growing list of legal troubles as he campaigns for president. The investigation in Georgia has explored various aspects of the efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results. Whether or not Trump will face indictment remains to be seen, but the investigation and potential legal consequences continue to loom over him.
