ATLANTA (AP) – A special grand jury in Atlanta that has been investigating whether President Donald Trump and his allies committed crimes while trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia has concluded.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who oversaw the panel, issued an order Monday to dissolve the special jury. The order said the grand jury completed its final report and a majority of the county’s superior court judges voted to dismiss the special jury.
The special grand jury’s conclusion moves the investigation one step closer to possible criminal charges against Trump and others.
Over the course of about six months, the special grand jury has heard testimony from dozens of witnesses, including many of Trump’s close associates and various high-ranking Georgia state officials. The case is among several countries that have threatened legal action against the former president as he seeks a second term in office in 2024.
A special grand jury in Georgia cannot issue an indictment but can issue a final report recommending what action to take. Then it’s up to the district attorney to decide whether to seek an indictment from a regular grand jury.
Georgia law says that grand juries are “authorized to make recommendations to the court regarding the publication of all or part of a public presentation and to prescribe the manner of publication” and that judges must follow those recommendations. The special jury voted to recommend that the report be published, McBurney wrote in his order.
“Unresolved is the question of what is the special purpose of the grand jury’s final report as a presentment,” the judge wrote, adding that he will hold a hearing on January 24 on that issue. He said the district attorney’s office and news outlets will be given an opportunity to make their arguments at the hearing.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis opened the investigation in early 2021, shortly after a phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger surfaced. During the call, the president suggested the nation’s top election officials could “find” the votes needed to overturn Trump’s defeat in the state.
Since then it has become clear that Willis is focused on several different areas: calls to Georgia officials by Trump and his allies; false statements made by Trump associates before Georgia legislative committees; a panel of 16 Republicans signed a false certificate stating that Trump had won the state and that they were “chosen and qualified” state voters; the sudden resignation of the US attorney in Atlanta in January 2021; alleged attempt to coerce Fulton County election workers; and violations of election equipment in rural southern Georgia counties.
A lawyer for Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York and Trump’s lawyer, confirmed before being questioned by a special grand jury in August that he had been told he would face criminal charges. 16 Republican fraudulent voters have also been told they are targets of the investigation, according to public court filings. It is possible that others have also been informed that they are the target of the investigation.
Trump and his allies have consistently denied wrongdoing, with the former president repeatedly describing his phone call with Raffensperger as “perfect” and dismissing the Willis investigation as “a strictly political Witch Hunt!”