Atlanta DA seeks special grand jury in Trump election interference

The top prosecutor in Atlanta asked a judge Thursday to impanel a special grand jury to investigate efforts by then-President Donald Trump to sway the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia after results showed President Joe Biden won that state.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis wrote in her request that during her ongoing probe her office “has received information indicating a reasonable probability” that Georgia’s election that year “was subject to possible criminal disruptions.”

Willis told the Associated Press earlier in January that her probe is, among other things, eyeing a Jan. 2, 2021, call that Trump had with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and a November 2020 call Raffensperger had with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a Trump ally.

Willis also is investigating the surprise resignation of Atlanta’s top federal prosecutor on Jan. 4, 2021.

In her request Thursday, Willis wrote that “a significant number of witnesses and prospective witnesses have refused to cooperate” with her investigation without a grand jury subpoena that would compel their testimony.

“By way of example, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, an essential witness to the investigation, has indicated that he will not participate in an interview or otherwise offer evidence until he is presented with a subpoena by my office,” Willis wrote Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Christopher Brasher.

The prosecutor noted in the letter that a special purpose grand jury would not have the authority to issue indictments in the case.

But it “may make recommendations concerning criminal prosecution as it shall see fit,” she wrote.

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