The Fulton County, Georgia Special Purpose Grand Jury has completed its nearly two-year investigation into the actions of Donald Trump and his allies related to attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
While the special grand jury cannot issue indictments, it has issued a report of its findings, and is believed to have made recommendations which District Attorney Fani Willis could use as the basis of an indictment of Trump or others.
“The end of the special grand jury moves the investigation one step closer to possible criminal charges against Trump and others,” the Associated Press reports. “Over the course of about six months, the special grand jury has heard testimony from dozens of witnesses, including numerous close Trump associates and assorted high-ranking Georgia state officials. The case is among several around the country that threaten legal peril for the former president as he seeks a second term in 2024.”
Willis opened the investigation after explosive post-election audio of Trump’s call with Brad Raffensperger was published. In it, Trump can be heard pressuring the Georgia Secretary of State to “find 11,780 votes.”
“The people of Georgia are angry, the people in the country are angry,” Trump says in the audio. “And there’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you’ve recalculated.”
“Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is, the data you have is wrong,” Raffensperger replied.
“So look. All I want to do is this,” Trump said. “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”
“There’s no way I lost Georgia,” Trump added. “There’s no way. We won by hundreds of thousands of votes.”
Trump and his call are not the only focus of the special grand jury.
The AP also reports, “it has become clear that Willis is focusing on several different areas: phone calls made to Georgia officials by Trump and his allies; false statements made by Trump associates before Georgia legislative committees; a panel of 16 Republicans who signed a certificate falsely stating that Trump had won the state and that they were the state’s ‘duly elected and qualified’ electors; the abrupt resignation of the U.S. attorney in Atlanta in January 2021; alleged attempts to pressure a Fulton County election worker; and breaches of election equipment in a rural south Georgia county.”
You can listen to the complete hour-long audio of Trump’s call with Raffensperger below or at this link.