Atlanta-area District Attorney Fani Willis is considering the convening of a special grand jury amid her criminal investigation of attempts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to undercut the presidential election outcome in Georgia, where Joe Biden was victorious. Those meddling efforts included a phone conversation that then-President Trump had with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, in which he implored the top elections official to “find” enough votes to flip the state. Doing so would have required fraudulent adjustments to the election results. Under Georgia procedures, a special grand jury could be focused entirely on the Trump investigation, and it could issue subpoenas, although criminal indictments would have to come from a regular grand jury.
As noted by The New York Times, “By convening a grand jury dedicated solely to the allegations of election tampering, Ms. Willis, a Democrat, would be indicating that her own investigation is ramping up.” Her team has been in touch with investigators associated with the House committee investigating the Capitol riot, but her inquiry is the only criminal investigation known to be focused on efforts by Trump and certain allies of his to meddle with the presidential election outcome, no matter the broad scope of such efforts. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who is on the riot investigation committee, recently said that he “think[s] the Justice Department should be doing a lot more than what I can see” about Trump’s behavior.
As for Willis, she is “likely to soon take the step” of convening a special grand jury for her investigation, per a source for the Times, although the publication notes that the decision is not final. The potential criminal charges that could emerge in connection to this criminal investigation are wide-ranging, and earlier this year, Willis said that “[anything] that is relevant to attempts to interfere with the Georgia election will be subject to review.”
A report by the Brookings Institution concluded that Trump’s potential charges over his Georgia meddling include “racketeering, election fraud solicitation, intentional interference with performance of election duties, and conspiracy to commit election fraud,” as the Times reported it. Trump’s machinations also included getting in touch with Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R), who he recently explained that he asked to hold a special election because of supposed fraud issues. No legitimate evidence of systematic election fraud has ever emerged — but that didn’t stop Trump from attempting to use the power associated with the presidency to obtain an outcome that he wanted.
