Grand jury in Trump inquiry sees signs of perjury by witnesses

Investigation in Atlanta has been seen as one of most significant legal threats to former president

A special grand jury that investigated election interference by former President Donald Trump and his allies in Georgia said it saw possible evidence of perjury by “one or more” witnesses who testified before it, according to portions of the jury’s final report released Thursday. The jurors also rebutted claims of fraud made by Trump after the 2020 election.

The investigation in Atlanta has been seen as one of the most significant legal threats to Trump, given his personal role in pressuring Georgia election officials to “find” him enough votes to overturn his loss in the state. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said recently a decision on bringing charges was “imminent.”

The several pages of excerpts released by a judge, however, offered only a narrow window into the full scope of the jury’s conclusions, providing no indication of who it believed should be charged. The special grand jury was charged with investigating the actions of Trump and some of his allies in Georgia after the November 2020 elections, and recommending whether indictments should be pursued by prosecutors.

The fact the judge ordered extensive redactions of the special grand jury’s report to protect the due process rights of individuals under investigation indicated the jurors had, in fact, recommended indictments. In the publicly released portions of the report, the jurors wrote they were setting forth “our recommendations on indictments and relevant statutes.” But those specific recommendations were not included in what Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney released Thursday.

Willis will determine whether to use the report’s recommendations as a basis for bringing the case to a regular grand jury, which can issue indictments.

Most grand jurors believed “that perjury may have been committed by one or more witnesses,” according to the excerpts from the report, and recommended that Willis “seek appropriate indictments for such crimes where the evidence is compelling.” The jury also reached a unanimous conclusion that “no widespread fraud took place in the Georgia 2020 presidential election that could result in overturning that election.”