Georgia grand jury investigating Trump and 2020 election aftermath completes its work
By Sara Murray and Jason Morris, CNN
The Atlanta-area special grand jury investigating whether former President Donald Trump and his allies violated the law in their efforts to overturn the 2020 election has completed its work, according to a new court filing.
“Given the special purpose grand jury’s delivery of its final report, the undersigned’s recommendation, and the Superior Court bench’s vote, it is the ORDER of this court that the special purpose grand jury now stands DISSOLVED,” Judge Robert McBurney, who has been overseeing the Fulton County special grand jury investigation, wrote in Monday’s short court order.
Special grand juries in Georgia are not authorized to issue indictments. But the panel will issue a final report that serves as a mechanism for the special grand jury to recommend whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should pursue indictments in her election interference investigation. Willis can then go to a regularly empaneled grand jury to seek indictments.
Willis has already spent more than a year digging into Trump and his associates, kicking off her investigation in early 2021, soon after a January call became public in which Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the votes necessary for Trump to win the Peach State in the presidential election.
Over time, her investigation has expanded beyond that call to include false claims of election fraud to state lawmakers, the fake elector scheme, efforts by unauthorized individuals to access voting machines in one Georgia county and threats and harassment against election workers.
McBurney has scheduled a hearing on January 24 for the Fulton County District Attorney’s office and others to argue whether the special grand jury’s report should be made public. McBurney said that the special purpose grand jury recommended that it’s final report be published.
The special grand jury — which included 23 jurors and three alternates — was seated in May 2022 with the power to subpoena witnesses.
This story has been updated with additional details.
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