Topline
Former President Donald Trump asked a state court Monday to throw out all evidence from a grand jury investigation in Georgia over the 2020 election and block investigators from continuing their probe, a last-minute effort to thwart the investigation into whether Trump illegally tried to overturn the election as the ex-president faces potentially imminent criminal charges.
Former President Donald Trump addresses the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) ... [+]
Key Facts
The court filing asks the Georgia state court to block prosecutors from using “any evidence or testimony” from the grand jury investigation, as well as throw out the grand jury’s final report.
It also asks the court to block the Fulton County district attorney’s office, which has been investigating the post-election period and could bring charges, from having “any further involvement in this matter.”
Trump claimed the grand jury’s work should be thrown out because the statutes that govern special grand juries in Georgia were too vague and the judge applied them in the wrong way, alleging that out-of-state witnesses should not have been allowed.
The ex-president also alleged Fulton County DA Fani Willis is biased against him and took issue with comments the grand jury’s forewoman and the judge overseeing the grand jury made to the media, claiming they “illuminate the lack of proper instruction and supervision over the grand jury” and the public comments “violate notions of fundamental fairness and due process” by commenting on the investigation.
Crucial Quote
“The results of the [grand jury] investigation cannot be relied upon and, therefore, must be suppressed given the constitutional violations,” the court filing argues, claiming the investigation “was conducted under an unconstitutional statute, through an illegal and unconstitutional process, and by a disqualified District Attorney's Office who violated prosecutorial standards and acted with disregard for the gravity of the circumstances and the constitutional rights of those involved.”
What We Don’t Know
Whether Trump will actually be indicted in Georgia, and when those charges could come. The portions of the grand jury’s report that revealed whether or not they recommend Trump be indicted were not released publicly, and though foreperson Emily Kohrs said it’s “not a short list” of names that the grand jury recommended be indicted, she did not specify whether or not they said Trump should be. Even if the special grand jury did recommend Trump be charged, Willis does not have to follow their recommendation, and the DA—assuming Trump’s motion does not succeed—would still have to get a second grand jury to agree to the charges. CNN reported Monday that prosecutors are considering bringing racketeering and conspiracy charges in the case, though it’s unclear if Trump is one of the people they’re considering weighing charges against. Any decisions on charging could come this spring, per CNN, with grand juries convening in Fulton County this month and then again in May.
Key Background
Willis’ office has been investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the election and whether they violated state law since February 2021. The president came under fire after the election for his phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), in which he told the secretary to “find” enough votes for Trump to win the state, and grand jurors told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution they were shown evidence Trump also asked the Georgia state legislature to convene a special session to overturn the election. The grand jury wrapped up their work earlier this year after hearing from dozens of witnesses involved with the post-election effort, but the full report was not released to the public due to concerns about due process rights for people who could eventually be charged in the probe. Kohrs spoke out about the grand jury’s work to a series of media outlets, however, and while legal experts have said her comments did not violate grand jury rules, Trump went after the forewoman and grand jury, calling their work a “kangaroo court.” The court filing comes after Trump’s attorneys in the case had suggested they intended to take legal action in response to Kohrs’ public comments.
Surprising Fact
Trump’s court filing and recent criticism of the grand jury marks an about-face for the ex-president. After portions of the grand jury’s report were made public, Trump thanked the jurors for their work and claimed the public portions of its report were “total exoneration.” It was unclear why he had claimed that, however, as one of the only things the report revealed was that the grand jury had unanimously found there was no widespread voter fraud as Trump claimed.
Tangent
Trump’s efforts to stop himself from being charged in Georgia comes as the president faces possibly imminent criminal charges in a separate case, as prosecutors in Manhattan could indict Trump as soon as this week for charges stemming from “hush money” payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during Trump’s 2016 campaign. The ex-president also faces possible charges from the Justice Department, which is investigating Trump’s post-election efforts and him taking White House documents back to Mar-A-Lago with him.
Further Reading
