Georgia DA Fani Willis Asks For Grand Jury In Trump Election Interference Probe

Atlanta district attorney Fani Willis requested a special grand jury to help in her probe of former President Donald Trump and his allies’ alleged interference in Georgia’s election results.

In her letter of request to Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Christopher Brasher, she noted that her office had reason to believe that Georgia’s election results had fallen under “criminal disruptions.” She also referred to “essential witness” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), who refused to cooperate with the investigation unless he was subpoenaed. There was a Jan. 2, 2021 phone call between Raffensperger and Trump that Willis feels is crucial to the investigation.

“I didn’t say anything wrong in the call, made while I was President on behalf of the United States of America, to look into the massive voter fraud which took place in Georgia,” Trump responded. “No more political witch hunts!”

If Willis is allowed to convene a special grand jury, she will have investigative powers that no one else has in regard to Trump’s alleged election interference.

“She could subpoena Mark Meadows, for example. She could subpoena Rudy Giuliani. She could subpoena Donald Trump. I would expect that they would probably subpoena the former US Attorney BJay Pak,” Georgia State law professor Clark D. Cunningham told CNN. “The fact that this is a criminal investigation may give it a much higher priority than, for example, the work of the congressional January 6 committee.”

The attorney’s letter added that the reason she was asking for a special grand jury is that it could be seated for a longer period of time than normal grand juries. She also noted that they could be singularly focused on the investigation, which would allow them to go deeper into the intricacies of the case.

Willis has said that she would make the decision whether or not to prosecute Trump in the first half of this year.