What is it: Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D), an elected prosecutor in the Atlanta area, is investigating efforts to overturn Trump’s loss in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election. Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to “find” enough votes to reverse Biden’s victory. He also called the top Georgia state elections investigator and urged her to identify wrongdoing in the state’s vote, and contacted Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and state Attorney General Chris Carr (R). Prosecutors are scrutinizing Trump’s calls, as well as testimony he allies gave to Georgia state lawmakers in December 2020, and the scheme to certify a slate of fake electors from the state to contest the election results.
Where it stands: A Georgia judge on Feb. 15 released parts of a report produced by a special-purpose grand jury convened as part of the investigation, though the panel’s recommendations on potential charges in that investigation remain secret. The five-page excerpt revealed that a majority of the grand jury concluded that some witnesses may have lied under oath during their testimony before the panel and recommended that charges be filed. The grand jury did not identify those witnesses in the unsealed excerpt.
What’s at stake: Willis is investigating possible violations of Georgia state law, including whether anyone illegally solicited election fraud, attempted to “interfere with, hinder, or delay” election administrators’ work, or participated in a criminal conspiracy, legal experts say. But the district attorney is in some uncharted territory, experts said, because these statutes have not been widely used to prosecute election-law cases.
What’s next: Authorities privy to the full grand jury report will decide whether to bring criminal charges. In September, Willis told The Washington Post that the allegations about efforts to overturn the election results are “very serious,” and that if people are indicted and convicted, they could get prison time. At least 17 people have been notified they are targets of the criminal investigation.
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