Court authorities in Georgia have begun selecting a grand jury to consider whether former president Donald Trump or his allies should face prosecution over efforts in the state to overturn the 2020 presidential election result.
The district attorney in Fulton county in Georgia, Fani Willis, has been investigating a series of issues including Trump’s phone call to the state’s top election official in early 2021 in which he said he needed to “find 11,780 votes”, just enough to defeat his rival Joe Biden in the state.
The investigation was later expanded to examine alleged efforts to manipulate the US Electoral College system to ensure Trump remained in the White House.
Under the US legal system a grand jury of citizens decides whether someone should be charged. A subsequent – and different – trial jury determines whether someone is guilty.
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In Fulton county, which includes most of the city of Atlanta, a regular grand jury sits for a defined period of about two months. It can hear evidence and make decisions in a number of different cases over that time.
However, Georgia law also allows for a special grand jury to be established to investigate any alleged breach of the state law. A special grand jury has no set time and at the end of its work issues a report but not an indictment.
A special grand jury had been established previously to look into whether there were attempts to overturn the election result in Georgia. It heard testimony from 75 witnesses, including Trump advisers and lawyers as well Georgia state officials.
This special grand jury issued a redacted report earlier this year with charging recommendations that have remained largely sealed. The forewoman of the special grand jury, Emily Kohrs, in a series of interviews suggested it had recommended indictments for multiple people.
“It is not a short list,” she said.
Asked whether it had recommended that Trump should face charges, Kohrs said: “You’re not going to be shocked. It’s not rocket science.”
At the start of the new grand jury term in Fulton county on Tuesday, moves commenced to establish two panels of 26 jurors (including three alternative members). One of these panels is expected to deal with the case involving the 2020 election.
The establishment of the grand jury panel suggests that a decision on whether Trump will face charges is getting close. In a letter to county officials several weeks ago, Willis indicated a decision on an indictment could come between July 31st and August 18th.
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At least 12 grand jurors must vote to bring an indictment. The burden of proof is lower for a grand jury to indict someone than it is for a trial jury to convict. In general, grand juries hear only from the prosecution.
Trump already faces two other criminal trials.
In April, a grand jury in New York indicted the former president for allegedly falsifying business records involving payoffs to porn actor Stormy Daniels. Last month a federal grand jury in Florida indicted him on 37 counts over allegations that he mishandled classified documents and the obstruction of a department of justice investigation.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
Lawyers for Trump on Monday asked a federal judge to postpone indefinitely his trial in relation to the classified documents. They argued the proceeding should not begin until all “substantive motions” in the case had been presented and decided.
Prosecutors in the case had sought a speedy trial.
Trump’s application could push back any trial until towards the end of the current presidential election campaign or even until after polling day.
Trump is the front runner to secure the Republican Party nomination.
If he wins the election, some legal commentators maintain he could either try to pardon himself – if found guilty – or instruct his attorney general to drop the case entirely, if it was still undecided.
