Parts of Georgia grand jury report on Trump and 2020 election aftermath to be made public

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CNN —

A judge in Fulton County, Georgia, will make public parts of a report from a special grand jury that investigated Donald Trump’s actions after the state’s 2020 election, but not specific charging recommendations.

In his order Monday, Judge Robert CI McBurney said the introduction and conclusion of the special grand jury as well as the panel’s concerns about witnesses lying under oath would be made public Thursday. Some of the information in those sections could still be redacted, the judge said.

Prosecutors in Georgia have aggressively investigated whether Trump or any of his associates broke the law while trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the closely contested state.

The special grand jury, barred from issuing indictments, wrote the much-anticipated final report at the end of its seven-month work, which included interviewing 75 witnesses from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham.

No one has been charged in the case, and another grand jury will make those decisions now that the special grand jury has presented its findings.

Other findings of the special grand jury have not yet been made public, especially the parts where the report makes recommendations about potential charges. That’s because some of the people named in those recommendations may not have appeared in grand jury proceedings at this time.

Here, however, for anyone named in the special purpose grand jury’s final report who was not given the opportunity to appear before the grand jury, none of the due process rights were satisfied, McBurney wrote in the eight-page order Monday. .

And for those who come forward voluntarily or involuntarily only the right to be heard (though without counsel or rebuttal) is protected, McBurney added.

A media coalition, which includes CNN, is looking for the full report to be made public.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis suggested last month that the special grand jury had recommended multiple indictments and said her decision on whether to file charges was imminent.

In a January court hearing in Atlanta on whether to make the special grand jury’s report public, Willis, a Democrat, said he opposed making it public at this time, citing his ongoing discussion of the charges.

We want to make sure that everyone is treated fairly, and we think for the next defendants to be treated fairly it is not appropriate at this time to release this report, Willis said last month.

On Monday, Willis praised McBurney’s order.

I believe Judge McBurney’s order is legally correct and consistent with my request. I have no plans to appeal today’s order, the DA said in a statement.

Willis’ sweeping investigation sought to determine not only whether Trump committed crimes but also whether there was a broader criminal conspiracy at play in efforts to overturn the Georgia election results. In document preservation requests filed with Georgia officials in February 2021, Willis said he was investigating potential crimes including solicitation of election fraud, making false statements to government bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office and violence or threats related to election administration.

The Georgia investigation was sparked by a one-hour phone call in January 2021 from Trump to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to find the votes needed for Trump to win the Peach State.

Over time, the investigation expanded beyond Trump’s phone call to include false claims of election fraud among state legislators, voter fraud, efforts by unauthorized individuals to -access to voting machines in a Georgia county and threats and harassment against election workers. Willis also investigated the sudden departure of Byung BJay Pak, the US attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

At the same time, Willis designated several people as targets of his investigation, including 16 Georgia Republicans who served as pro-Trump electors in 2020 and Giuliani, who works as a lawyer for Trump.

Although a special grand jury does not issue indictments, it possesses broader investigative powers than a regular state grand jury as well as the power to issue subpoenas for witness testimony, phone, email and other records. But how many make it into the final report is up to special grand jurors. If the special grand jury recommends any indictments, Willis can seek them from other grand juries regularly empaneled in Fulton County.

Willis previously said he could pursue Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) charges in the case, which would allow prosecutors to file charges against multiple defendants and make the case that Trump and his ally was part of a criminal enterprise, and brought in John Floyd, a lawyer with deep expertise in racketeering cases, to help his office.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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