A jury forewoman who spilled details of the Georgia grand jury's deliberations into Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election result could put the whole investigation into the former president in jeopardy, legal experts said.
The member of the Fulton County, Georgia special grand jury gave an interview earlier this week in which she unveiled some of the details of the investigation into election interference in the state, which looked at Trump's actions, as well as some of his allies like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
The juror, Emily Kohrs, did not reveal any charging recommendations, but did discuss some of the thoughts she and her fellow jurors had about the whole process.
Even revealing that much, however, was a hugely irresponsible decision, argued George Washington University law professor Randall Eliason in a Twitter thread on Wednesday. He said in many courtrooms, it would have been immediate grounds for sanctions against her.
"I'm not familiar with Georgia state rules on grand jury secrecy," he said. "But in the federal system, this woman could expect an order from a judge to show cause why she should not be held in contempt for discussing grand jury matters.
"Whether or not she would be subject to legal sanctions in Georgia, the point (as reflected by the federal rules) is that discussing grand jury proceedings like this is a really, really bad idea – for a whole host of reasons."
Other legal experts have also weighed in, with former federal prosecutors warning that Kohrs' media appearance could give Trump's attorneys grounds to challenge any indictment that might eventually be issued against him.
The Georgia investigation was conducted by an unusual body called a "special grand jury." Unlike normal grand juries, which investigate a potential crime for a fixed term and then issue indictments, a special grand jury has no fixed time limit and investigates a broader topic, but can only recommend indictments rather than issuing them; a district attorney may then empanel a normal grand jury to decide whether to issue the indictments the special grand jury recommended.
Fulton County DA Fani Willis' special grand jury has pursued several lines of possible crimes in Georgia related to the 2020 election, one of the largest being Trump's phone call with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger unsuccessfully ordering him to "find" extra votes so he could be declared the winner.
