New criminal charges may be brought against Trump
2023.01.24 08:43
New criminal charges may be brought against Trump
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – Depending on the outcome of a court hearing on Tuesday, the final report from a Georgia grand jury’s investigation into then-President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat in the state’s 2020 election could soon be made available to the public.
The findings of the special grand jury are still sealed, and it is unknown if Trump, who ran for president again in November, or anyone else will be charged with election interference, conspiracy, or other crimes.
The panel was set up last year at Fani Willis’s request, the Fulton County district attorney, who will ultimately decide if Trump should be the first former president of the United States to face criminal charges.
Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger during his final weeks in office, requesting that he “find” additional votes to overturn the Republican’s defeat to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 election. A crowd of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol a few days later in an unsuccessful attempt to overturn Biden’s victory.
The grand jury was formally disbanded by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney last week after its report was completed. On Tuesday, McBurney asked Willis’s office to decide whether or not to release the jury’s recommendations.
The hearing will not be attended by Trump’s lawyers. His legal team in Georgia said in a statement on Monday that the grand jury never subpoenaed Trump or asked him to appear voluntarily.
Attorneys Drew Findling, Marissa Goldberg, and Jennifer Little stated, “We can assume that the grand jury did their job and looked at the facts and the law, as we have, and concluded there were no violations of the law by President Trump.”
On Monday, a group of media outlets, including news networks and major newspapers, filed a brief arguing that the report should be published in part because of the “extraordinary” interest the public has in its contents.
Although it lacked the power to issue indictments, the special grand jury was able to gather evidence and compel witness testimony through subpoena. Willis could ask a regular grand jury to indict her if she decides that the findings call for charges.
Numerous state officials, including Governor Brian Kemp and Raffensperger, as well as important Trump advisers like U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham and attorney Rudy Giuliani, testified before the jury. Numerous witnesses attempted, but were unable, to resist their subpoenas.
The investigation looked into a plan to appoint an alternate slate of presidential electors in an effort to award Georgia’s electoral votes to Trump rather than Biden ahead of Congress’s certification of the results on January 6, 2021. This was in addition to Trump’s phone call in January 2021.
Trump has said that he didn’t do anything wrong and that Willis, a Democrat, was after him to get political points. He has maintained his erroneous claim that the 2020 election was rigged.
Numerous civil and criminal investigations that pose a threat to Trump, his family, and his associates include the Georgia investigation.
U.S. Justice Department investigations into Trump’s actions to alter the outcome of the 2020 election and his retention of classified materials after leaving office in 2021 are being overseen by a special counsel.
In December, a New York court found the Trump Organization, Trump’s real estate company, guilty of tax fraud. Letitia James, the Democratic attorney general of the state, has filed a lawsuit against Trump, his company, and his children, alleging that they lied to insurers and banks about the value of their assets. Trump’s business is the subject of its own criminal investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
