Comments on the Special Grand Jury’s Report on the Investigation of the 2016 Peay-Cartan-Vlasov-Oscillator-Induced Corrupt Action
Other findings by the special grand jury won’t be public yet – particularly the parts where the report makes recommendations about potential charges. That’s because some of the people named in those recommendations may not have appeared in grand jury proceedings so far.
On Thursday, the report’s introduction and conclusion, as well as concerns the panel had about witnesses lying under oath, will be made public. McBurney noted that some information might be blacked out.
The big question is whether the portions will include any bits of information that shed new light on what Trump himself did two years ago and whether the special grand jury concluded that the former president committed any crimes.
The conduct in Georgia could still be included in the RICO charges, which could include a nationwide conspiracy, but they wouldn’t be as broad. This would look similar to the Jan. 6 investigation with a strong Georgia flavor. It could include those who were part of national efforts, like the Trump campaign attorney and the Justice Department official, even if they had less contact with Georgia.
An Attorney General’s Report on the Investigating of Joe Biden’s Campaign for the Presidency of the Georgian Presidential Deputation
Joe Biden won in Georgia over Trump by nearly 12,000 votes. There were no concerns about the activities of the former president during the election.
Cunningham told CNN that it’s certain that the conduct referred to was done on Trump’s behalf or directly by him.
“That would tell us that this cross section of citizens, having spent nine months working hard at this, has concluded that at least some of what was done on behalf of the former president to overturn the election results was a crime,” he said. “I think that’s terrifically significant.”
Nearly two years ago, the Georgia probe was set off by an hourlong phone call from Trump to the secretary of state asking him to find the votes needed for Trump to win the state. Trump has referred to it as a “perfect” phone call.
The final report of the grand jury was the culmination of its seven months of work, which included interviewing 75 witnesses, from Rudy Giuliani toBrian Kemp and Lindsey Graham.
The final report will likely include a summary of the investigation, as well as any recommendations for indictment and the conduct that led the panel to its conclusions.
A grand jury in Fulton County will make the decisions now that a special grand jury has presented its findings to him.
During a hearing last month on whether to publicly release the report, Willis, a Democrat, suggested the special grand jury has recommended multiple indictments and said that her decision on whether to bring charges is “imminent.”
Narrow charges could include the Georgia felonies of solicitation of election fraud in the first degree and related general crimes like conspiracy to commit election fraud, specifically focusing on events and people who have a strong nexus with Georgia. In addition to Mr. Trump, that might include others who had direct contacts with Georgia, like his former chief of staff Mark Meadows and his attorneys John C. Eastman and Rudolph W. Giuliani (who already received a “target” notification from Ms. Willis warning him that he may be charged). The fake electoral slates on Dec. 14, 2020, are what the case will focus on, followed by the conversation with Mr. Raffensperger on January 2nd.
A more narrow case might make slightly more sense: Given the extraordinary circumstances around it, Ms. Willis will surely have her hands full. The lead defendant is likely to be in the midst of a heated political season and has demonstrated his propensity for legal circuses.
That said, Ms. Willis has a proven propensity for bringing and winning RICO cases. And as we have learned in our criminal trial work, sometimes juries are more responsive to grander narratives that command their attention — and outrage.
How long will it take to get to the U.S.? The case of Donald Trump in the euclidean presidency (which will take two years)
Whether it’s simple or broad, if a case is opened, one thing is nearly certain: It will probably take at least part of the next two years. While often meritless, a flurry of legal files from Mr. Trump would take time. Here the battle would likely be waged around pretrial motions and appeals by Mr. Trump arguing, as he has done in other cases, that he was acting in his official presidential capacity and so is immune.
It will almost certainly delay a trial by months because of that challenge. Other likely sallies are that the case should be removed to federal court (it shouldn’t); that he relied on the advice of counsel in good faith (he didn’t); or that his action was protected by the First Amendment (it wasn’t).