DA seeks to ban release of witness videos
ATLANTA — The Fulton County District Attorney’s office is seeking emergency safeguards after recorded interviews featuring four defendants in their election subversion case were leaked to the media.
In a new court filing Tuesday, Fulton prosecutors asked Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee for an order protecting all discovery materials, which would prohibit sensitive and confidential information from being shared publicly. That includes official interviews, or proffers, with defendants who strike plea deals with prosecutors in exchange for their cooperation.
In the filing, prosecutors emphasized they were not behind the leaks of proffers featuring Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell, Scott Hall and Ken Chesebro. ABC News was the first to report about the contents of the interviews late Monday, and several other news organizations, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Washington Post, followed.
Prosecutors appeared to point fingers at the legal team for defendant Harrison Floyd, citing an email exchange with defense attorneys, the DA’s office and the court. In it, one of Floyd’s attorneys said “it was Harrison Floyd’s team” that leaked the interviews. They noted, however, that Floyd’s attorney later followed up and said his prior email was a “typo” and that his team did not communicate with the media.
Prosecutors said the release of the recordings “is clearly intended to intimidate witnesses in this case, subjecting them to harassment and threats prior to trial, constitutes indirect communication about the facts of this case with codefendants and witnesses, and obstructs the administration of justice, in violation of the conditions of release imposed on each defendant.”
The DA’s office said that going forward, it would not produce copies of proffers to other defense teams as part of the discovery process to prevent future public disclosure. Instead, it said defense teams would have to visit the DA’s office to view the recordings confidentially.
“They may take notes, but they will be prohibited from creating any recordings or reproductions,” prosecutors wrote.
The DA’s office requested that McAfee enter a temporary order “prohibiting disclosure of any discovery materials by any party” and schedule an emergency hearing about a previous request from prosecutors that would permanently bar the disclosure of any discovery materials.
It was unclear when McAfee would rule on the request.