The judge refused to move the Georgia racketeering case to federal court
The Special Purpose Grand Jury’s Report on the 2018 Dec. 2 Trump-Raffensperger Call with the State’s Secretary of State
In addition to the Trump-Raffensperger call, the special jury recommended charges related to persistent, repeated communications directed to several Georgia officials and employees.
In a 9-page report fully unsealed by a judge Friday, the special purpose grand jury told Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis they recommended prosecutors seek indictments against the former president for his Jan. 2, 2021 call with Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger where he pressed the state’s top election official to overturn his already-certified defeat.
He testified extensively during the hearing, denying some of the actions prosecutors say were part of a larger conspiracy to undermine Trump’s election victory.
The former congressman of North Carolina is accused of violating the oath of his public officer and participating in an illegal call that was made to Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State to “seek votes” and to overturn the already certified election.
The evidence presented doesn’t show that most of the remaining overt acts are related to the Chief of Staff’s role.
At the Aug. 28 hearing, he argued that he needed to move his charges out of Fulton County, Ga., Superior Court and into federal jurisdiction because he was an officer of the United States.
A federal judge has denied former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’s request to move his Georgia election interference charges under federal jurisdiction.
Several high-profile Republicans found in the jury’s report did not face charges in the 98-page indictment handed up in Fulton County last month, such as former Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., current Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., attorneys Lin Wood and Cleta Mitchell and others involved in the months-long, multifaceted effort to undo Trump’s narrow loss in Georgia.
According to the panel, 39 people violated more than a dozen state laws, which included making false statements and writings, solicitation of election fraud and the state’s anti-racketeering law.
Report on the Investigation of the Independent Democrats in Georgia’s Caucus Against a Fake Report by the Associated News Investigative Commission
The false claims about Georgia’s election results caused some conservative voters to stay away from the caucuses, which was why Perdue and Loeffler lost. Graham called Raffensperger after the election and discussed if the secretary of state could reject certain absentee ballots.
The decision of who to charge with what and the fact that many names are on the special jury will not mean cooperation with prosecutors nor the possibility of future charges.
The report shows that one juror who voted against the recommendation to indict the two former senators was not swayed by their statements following the election.
Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and a former Georgia Republican Party Chair are all included in the brief report with the charges and characters found in the indictment.
Judge Robert McBurney ordered a limited release of the report in February, only allowing the introduction, conclusion and a section detailing concerns about witnesses lying under oath to be made public. McBurney wrote that those sections did not violate due process concerns of anyone that may or may not be later charged.
