Trump lawyers assail inquiry
ATLANTA — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump said late Wednesday that details divulged this week by the foreperson of a special grand jury investigating election interference by Trump and his allies had “poisoned” the Georgia inquiry.
As of Thursday afternoon, however, the two lawyers had not filed any motions in court challenging the inquiry. Nor would they discuss what form such a challenge might take, saying only that they were weighing their options. “We’re just considering everything,” one of the lawyers, Drew Findling, said.
Earlier this week, the foreperson, Emily Kohrs, spoke in interviews with a number of news outlets after The Associated Press identified her through a public records request. She said the 23-person special grand jury, which can only make recommendations on whether prosecutors should indict, had made such recommendations for more than a dozen people in the case. Fani T. Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, who is handling the case, will ultimately make charging decisions and bring them to a regular grand jury.
Kohrs declined to name names or say which laws the jurors believed had been broken. But asked if Trump was among those recommended for indictment, she told The New York Times: “You’re not going to be shocked. It’s not rocket science.”
Some outside legal experts have said Kohrs’ public comments present a headache, if nothing else, for prosecutors because the foreperson, who described some of her interactions with witnesses in light and playful language, could be seen as diminishing the gravity of the proceedings. Others expressed doubt that her comments would have much impact, if any, on the case, in part because special grand juries cannot bring criminal charges. Regardless, there is little precedent to go on because special grand juries are relatively rare.
“I don’t know if it’s the wisest thing or the best appearance that the prosecutors would want,” said John B. Meixner Jr., a law professor at the University of Georgia and former federal prosecutor, “but I certainly don’t see anything so far that would taint anything presented to the later grand jury that would hand down indictments.”
Jeff Disantis, a spokesperson for the Fulton County district attorney’s office, declined to comment on the Trump lawyers’ criticism of the case. He noted that the office had nothing to do with Kohrs’ media appearances.
Trump is seen as having two main areas of particular legal jeopardy in the Georgia inquiry: the calls he made to pressure state officials to overturn the 2020 election, and his direct involvement in efforts to assemble an alternate slate of electors even after three vote counts affirmed President Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
In the interviews — which laid out a number of details of her experience on the grand jury — Kohrs, 30, said she was trying carefully to follow the rules for jurors set out by the judge, Robert C.I. Mcburney of Fulton County Superior Court. Mcburney has not barred the jurors from talking, though they are restricted from discussing their deliberations.