Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was granted her request to a special grand jury investigation for the pressure campaign against Georgia officials after the 2020 general election. The proceeding will commence on May 2, 2022, and won't exceed 12 months, the court documents say.
The Fulton County D.A.\u2019s request for a special grand jury, to aide its investigation into Trump and election interference, has been granted.pic.twitter.com/E5oUVEIyix— Graham Kates (@Graham Kates) 1643060241
University of Alabama law professor and former federal prosecutor Joyce White Vance explained that the grand jury will have the power to compel the production of documents that previous witnesses may have been unwilling to hand over. It takes a very long time to summon a grand jury, she explained
CNN legal analyst Elie Honig explained that the information that is in the public sphere should have been enough to summon the grand jury but he said that she's been spending the past year doing her own investigation to make the case that there was fraud in the attempt to overthrow the election.
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He explained that unlike many grand juries, the "special grand jury" would issue a recommendation for prosecution, whereas a regular grand jury would file the indictment. Honig said that if they don't take that route, she still has the power to take it to a regular grand jury with the request to indict.
CNN host Alisyn Camerota noted that as Willis was doing her own investigation she was asking for cooperation from witnesses who refused to speak to her or turn over documents. With the special grand jury, these people can officially be subpoenaed in the probe.
The letter from Willis specifically cites Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who has refused to cooperate with the probe, but she also noted that there were others. Trump was recorded speaking to Raffensperger after the election demanding that he "find 11,780 votes" so he could overturn the Georgia election results.
This news comes only weeks after it was revealed former President Donald Trump's lawyers met with the prosecutors in the case last year, which then prompted a rant about Democrats being after him.
Watch below.
Fulton County DA gets her 'special grand jury' — here's what it means for Trump www.youtube.com
See the comments below:
This will be an investigative grand jury that can be used to take testimony & compel production of documents, etc from unwilling witnesses. Why so "slow"? It takes time to summon potential grand jurors & qualify the group.https://twitter.com/Acosta/status/1485712100408401921\u00a0\u2026— Joyce Alene (@Joyce Alene) 1643056654
There will soon be a GA Special Grand Jury looking at Trump\u2019s efforts to influence his reelection in GA. The Gand Jury appears to be supervised by an able GA judge, and a Harvard Law graduate. None of this is good for Trump but it is good for the USA!https://apple.news/ASIu2Obq7RsWL2PSmJFq83g\u00a0\u2026— John W. Dean (@John W. Dean) 1643061760
