Georgia prosecutor granted special grand jury in probe of Trump's efforts to overturn state

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

The Atlanta area prosecutor weighing whether former president Donald Trump and others committed crimes by trying to pressure Georgia election officials has been granted a special purpose grand jury to aid in her investigation.Fulton County Superior Court judges on Monday approved the request made last week by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, and said Willis will be allowed to seat a special grand jury on May 2, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The special grand jury can continue for a period “not to exceed 12 months,” Christopher Brasher, chief judge of Fulton County Superior Court, wrote in an order. “The special purpose grand jury shall be authorized to investigate any and all facts and circumstances relating directly or indirectly to alleged violations of the laws of the State of Georgia, as set forth in the request of the District Attorney referenced hereinabove,” he added. “The special purpose grand jury … make recommendations concerning criminal prosecution as it shall see fit.”

In a letter last week, Willis, a Democrat, told the chief judge of Fulton County’s Superior Court that the move was needed because a “significant number of witnesses and prospective witnesses have refused to cooperate with the investigation absent a subpoena requiring their testimony.”Willis cited Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) as an example. Willis has previously confirmed that part of her probe centers on the Jan. 2, 2021, phone call between Trump and Raffensperger in which Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the state’s presidential election.

Trump last week defended his call with Raffensperger, saying in a statement, “I didn’t say anything wrong in the call” and repeating his false claims of widespread voter fraud. Trump has baselessly alleged that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, and focused much of his attention after the election on Georgia, where Biden became the first Democrat to win the state since 1992.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/24/georgia-prosecutor-granted-special-grand-jury-probe-trumps-efforts-overturn-states-election-results/

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Full headline: Georgia prosecutor granted special grand jury in probe of Trump’s efforts to overturn state’s election results

[lamp_shade]

1. Yessssssss

[L. Coyote]

2. No surprise, but why the delay until May 2nd?

[Grins]

4. And 12-months...?

[BumRushDaShow]

10. There is apparently a separate type of process that goes on

with getting jurors in place (vs criminal/civil trials) and there are more than 12. Plus it's one of those things where it is the prosecutor's ballgame where they present all the evidence, with no "defendant" involvement to eventually deciding on the indictment. In this case, GA apparently has several types of "grand juries".

There's a good related article specifically about this case here -

EXPLAINER: What's a Special Grand Jury and How Does It Work?

A prosecutor who’s investigating possible attempts by former President Donald Trump and others to interfere in the 2020 general election in Georgia has called for a special grand jury to help move the case along.

By Associated Press | Jan. 20, 2022, at 1:48 p.m.


Fulton County Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis photographed in her office on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022. The prosecutor weighing whether Donald Trump and others committed crimes by trying to pressure Georgia officials to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential election victory said a decision on whether to bring charges could come as early as the first half of this year. Willis said in an interview with The Associated Press last week that her team is making solid progress, and she’s leaning toward asking for a special grand jury with subpoena power to aid the investigation. (AP Photo/Ben Gray) The Associated Press

By KATE BRUMBACK, Associated Press


ATLANTA (AP) — A prosecutor who’s investigating possible attempts by former President Donald Trump and others to interfere in the 2020 general election in Georgia on Thursday called for a special grand jury to help move the case along.

(snip)

WHAT IS A SPECIAL GRAND JURY?

A special grand jury, or special purpose grand jury, is impaneled specifically to investigate any alleged violation of the laws of the state of Georgia.

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM A REGULAR GRAND JURY?

A regular grand jury in Georgia is seated for a limited duration, one term of court — in Fulton County that’s two months. Grand jurors hear everything from felony shoplifting to murder cases and then decide whether to issue an indictment. A special grand jury has no set term and focuses on a single topic. Unlike a regular grand jury, a special grand jury can subpoena the target of an investigation to appear before it, former Gwinnett County district attorney Danny Porter said. When the investigation is done, a special grand jury produces a report on its findings but can’t issue an indictment.

WHY USE A SPECIAL GRAND JURY?

Special grand juries are used for an expansive topic that takes longer than a single term of court to investigate and often has to do with public corruption, Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia executive director Pete Skandalakis said. “It’s usually because it’s a very labor-intensive investigation that’s going to take a while to do,” he said, adding the investigation could involve calling witnesses, poring over documents and consulting experts. “The election case would be an ideal case for a special purpose grand jury,” Porter said. That’s because it’s likely a complex case with a lot of witnesses and potential logistical concerns that will take more time and focus than a regular grand jury is able to spend, he said.

(snip)

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/georgia/articles/2022-01-20/explainer-whats-a-special-grand-jury-and-how-does-it-work

So in the above case, using the "special grand jury" option, the session is open-ended and the seated jurors are in it for the long term vs a more limited 2-month time frame that is called for with regular grand juries. So it might take longer to seat.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

17. Thank you so much for that information. The judges authorizing this special jury for the

special purpose of investigating this very special seditious conspiracy in Georgia by an exPresident is also wonderful.

Will follow closely, a Georgia indictment may drop first before the federal ones.

…….

Unlike a regular grand jury, a special grand jury can subpoena the target of an investigation to appear before it, former Gwinnett County district attorney Danny Porter said.

[BumRushDaShow]

24. You are welcome

I had a former co-worker years ago who served on a federal grand jury for several years, and he described the process of coming in maybe once every month or couple months each year, to hear the evidence (where he was given leave from work to do so). So I expect it would be a similar process here, but focusing on evidence relating to possible violations of state law.

[IllinoisBirdWatcher]

27. K & R - Very clear and informative. N/T

[ProudMNDemocrat]

3. " I didn't say anything wrong in the call"

The ENTIRE phone call was WRONG, you orange fuck wad! And it was recorded too and is now evidence.

[iluvtennis]

5. Excellent news! Just excellent. n/t

[Alexander Of Assyria]

6. long arm of the law is slow for sure, but when it grips...

[Turbineguy]

9. Trump can take the campaign plane

to do his testimony and save a few bucks.

[monkeyman1]

21. The thing is, we get to listen to TFG shitting his diaper's more !!

love when he throws his irrelevant fit's !! just one step closer to " stroke out " ?

[Alexander Of Assyria]

22. Then U must listen to the npr radio interview...stupid man was completely unravelled by smart.

[monkeyman1]

25. would be hard to do , don't own a radio !!

[BumRushDaShow]

32. NPR usually streams their broadcasts

and is usually online on their webpage. This might be the one talked about - https://www.npr.org/2022/01/12/1072176709/transcript-full-npr-interview-former-president-donald-trump

[monkeyman1]

35. have enough trouble doing this , let alone doing that nonsense??? retired

had to go to night school when I was still working to teach me to the damn thing on !

[LoisB]

7. Good.

[monkeyman1]

23. my apology ! didn't mean to step on your reply !!!

[Walleye]

8. Let's hope we can keep the republic together until May

[Alexander Of Assyria]

14. By May the whole criminal seditious enterprise will have been fully exposed....we got this, np.

[Walleye]

15. Thanks. I needed a little positive attitude here

[Alexander Of Assyria]

18. The special grand jury can issue suphoenas, unlike a regular term limited jury. And no time limit.

The target is…. You know who.

[bluestarone]

11. Can this be appealed?

I hope not.

[L. Coyote]

12. No.

[BumRushDaShow]

16. Ths is not a "court case"

It's basically a body of "jurors" who will be seated to hear the evidence presented by the prosecutors of possible criminal wrong-doing, and then that jury will actually decide to recommend (or not) any charges based on state statutory code. Once any charges are recommended, then a decision to indict would be made by the prosecutors, after which defendants are charged, and THEN those so indicted can have an actual trial (assuming they plead not-guilty).

[bluestarone]

20. Gotcha TY

[BumRushDaShow]

33. YW

This process is gonna take awhile.

[Uncle Joe]

13. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread BumRushDaShow.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

19. This is a big fkon deal, yes sir. The law doesn't care if it's a media star, so I like that also.

The game is on.

The cant you find me just enough votes to win phone call…exhibit 1 for the jury.

[William769]

26. Sweet music to my ears.

[SheltieLover]

28. May?

Excellent news, despite the delay (for which there may be a good reason).

[OMGWTF]

29. My favorite thing is that two strong black women are poised to bring him D-O-W-N!

[Jon King]

30. I don't think anything will come from GA, but do from NY.

Unless they have a lot more than that call, I just do not see it. The call is scummy but he is blabbering so much its not really concrete. In one sentence he says the election was stolen. He says the votes were taken from him. Later he says find me the 12000 votes. SO not sure how they can find a jury where not a few would say he was just saying to 'find the votes that were taken from me'. I really hope they have more because I just do not see enough in that call for a jury to convict.

NY is a whole different thing. The Trumps lied and lied and lied about financial matters for decades.

[Shrike47]

31. Remember, the taped phone call is not 'evidence' until a foundation is laid and it's admitted.

You have to offer evidence of who was on it, who taped it, whether it has or hasn’t been altered. Foundations for admissibility can be complicated and, if indicted, it sounds like Trump’s layers will move to suppress or exclude it because Trump was not advised he was being taped. I doubt he would succeed but he would certainly delay any trial and conviction.

Just being indicted could happen this year, though.

[BumRushDaShow]

34. When that whole thing broke on the news last year

it was widely discussed here on DU - notably that GA has a "single party consent" law regarding recordings -

Yes, it’s legal to record a phone call in Georgia without telling the other person


By Rebecca Burns - January 5, 2021

(snip)

Recording your own calls and conversations can be used to protect yourself in legal proceedings. One member of a feuding couple can record a heated conversation with their other half and submit it as evidence in divorce or custody hearings, for example. If you’re discussing pay or benefits with your boss, you can record the call to document what’s promised to you.

“The law allows a person to record someone else asking them to do something illegal, or threatening them in some way, which could be useful as evidence,” says Jess B. Johnson, trial attorney and partner in Pate, Johnson & Church.

There can be a “gray area” if you call from a state with single-party consent to a state, like California, that requires both parties to consent to a call, says Johnson. It’s advisable to check out the laws if you are placing a call between states, as often the law of the state with the strictest rules will apply.

However, in the case of the call between the White House and the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, there was not any issue, as the District of Columbia also has single-party law.

(snip)

https://www.atlantamagazine.com/news-culture-articles/yes-its-legal-to-record-a-phone-call-in-georgia-without-telling-the-other-person/

(emphasis mine)

[AverageOldGuy]

36. Remember:

This is a CRIMINAL proceeding. When this grand jury issues subpoenas, anyone who refuses to show up will be ordered by the court to appear. If they continue to refuse, the court can -- and will -- dispatch the cops to bring him in from Mar-A-Largo.

[riversedge]

37. #1

[LetMyPeopleVote]

38. DA for Atlanta area granted special grand jury to probe Trump's election interference

Let the fun begin

Link to tweet

An Atlanta-area district attorney investigating former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia will be allowed to seat a special grand jury this spring.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis requested last week to seat a special grand jury starting May 2. Fulton County Superior Court judges approved the request on Monday.

Though the special grand jury does not have the authority to issue an indictment, the move will allow Willis to seat a panel entirely focused on gathering evidence in the Trump investigation. She said she needed such a grand jury in order to issue subpoenas to compel witnesses to testify and to gather additional evidence -- a step toward pursuing possible criminal charges......

"The people of Georgia are angry, the people of the country are angry. And there's nothing wrong with saying that, you know, um, that you've recalculated," Trump said during the January 2021 call. Raffensperger responded, "Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is, the data you have is wrong."