Two grand juries are to be impaneled Tuesday in Atlanta — one of which is likely to decide whether former president Donald Trump and his allies should face criminal charges for their efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) launched her probe into alleged election interference more than two years ago, just days after a recording was made public of a January 2021 phone call that Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R). In the call, Trump said he wanted Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn his election loss in Georgia.
It was one of several calls Trump and his associates made to Georgia officials, prodding them to undertake efforts to change the results of the state’s presidential election, which Trump lost by fewer than 12,000 votes.
The 2 1/2-year investigation expanded to include an examination of a slate of Republican fake electors, phone calls by Trump and others to Georgia officials in the weeks after the 2020 election and unfounded allegations of widespread election fraud made to state lawmakers.
A special-purpose grand jury impaneled to investigate the case heard from 75 witnesses over several months last year before issuing a final report in January. The report remains mostly sealed to protect the rights of “potential future defendants ,” but the panel’s forewoman later said the special grand jury had recommended charges for multiple people; it did not have the power to issue indictments.
To bring criminal charges, Willis and her team will have to present their case to a regular grand jury — such as the two being seated Tuesday. In April, Willis said in a letter to local law enforcement and other officials that she planned to announce her charging decision between July 11 and Sept. 1, dates that coincided with the summer term of the latest Fulton County grand juries. Fulton County grand juries are impaneled every two months, and Georgia law allows public observation of grand jury selection.
On Tuesday, a pool of more than 100 Atlanta-area residents were expected at the courthouse in response to grand jury summons. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who also oversaw the special-purpose grand jury, is expected to preside over selection of the two panels.
Twenty-three grand jurors plus two alternates are slated for each panel. At least 16 grand jurors must be present to vote on an indictment, and 12 must vote in favor of an indictment for the case to proceed.
One panel is to meet on Mondays and Tuesdays. The other is to meet on Thursdays and Fridays. Both are likely to hear hundreds of indictments — although it is not clear which could hear the election case.
