Georgia juror unsettles Trump probe with interviews
The forewoman of a special grand jury in Georgia may have complicated an investigation into efforts by former president Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election by speaking bluntly about its findings in interviews this week, several legal experts said.
Emily Kohrs, the 30-yearold Atlanta-area resident who served for eight months as forewoman of the special grand jury, said in media interviews this week that the panel recommended multiple indictments in its report, the details of which a Fulton County judge had ordered sealed.
Kohrs said that the list of recommended indictments “is not short,” that there would be no “plot twist” when the public finally gets to see the contents of the report and that regarding “the big name that everyone keeps asking me about” — presumably Trump himself — “I don’t think you will be shocked.”
Several legal experts said they were surprised and concerned by Kohrs’s unusually candid commentary, which included evaluation of witnesses, tidbits about jurors socializing with prosecutors and a stated hope that the investigation yields charges because of how much time she and others invested in the case.
The remarks could cause additional challenges for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, whose investigation has come under scrutiny for what some have described as legal and ethical missteps. Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney effectively barred Willis from investigating Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who served as one of Trump’s false electors in Georgia, after Willis hosted a fundraiser for his opponent.
Trump and his allies have repeatedly criticized Willis for her outspoken characterization of the investigation and frequent media appearances. She told The Washington Post in September that her team had heard credible allegations that serious crimes had been committed and that she believed some would see jail time.
If Willis does indict Trump — becoming the first prosecutor to bring charges against a former president — Trump could use Kohrs’ remarks to advance the argument he’s made all along: that Willis’ probe has amounted to a political prosecution and not a serious investigative inquiry.
Trump weighed in on Kohrs’ comments on Wednesday, calling the case “ridiculous” and criticizing her for “going around and doing a Media Tour revealing, incredibly, the Grand Jury’s inner workings & thoughts. This is not JUSTICE, this is an illegal Kangaroo Court.”
Willis’ office declined to comment on Kohrs’s interviews.
Kohrs told CNN that former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and other witnesses refused to answer questions by invoking their Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination. She also described an ice cream social she attended hosted by Willis’ office.
“If what [Kohrs] says is true, then if I were Fani Willis, I would be dressing down my prosecutors and saying ‘because it creates all kinds of potential problems,’ including the appearance of compromise of their independence,” said Barbara McQuade, a law professor at the University of Michigan and a former federal prosecutor.
Kohrs also told CNN that she would be deeply disappointed if no charges resulted from the grand jury’s eight months of work — a comment that drew criticism from some quarters, since the length of an investigation should not determine whether indictments follow.
“This was too much — too much information, too much of my time, too much of everyone’s time, too much of their time, too much argument in court about getting people to appear before us,” Kohrs said. “There was just too much for this to just be, ‘Oh, okay, we’re good. Bye!’”
Some scholars familiar with Georgia criminal procedure said Kohrs did not appear to violate any state laws by divulging details of the case.
“At bottom, the juror hasn’t in any way violated her obligation to keep the deliberative process secret,” said Anthony Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University. “And she hasn’t released information in the public domain that already hasn’t been either known or widely speculated. So, the idea that she has, in any way, tainted the case or caused Fani Willis headaches is misguided.”
The special grand jury completed its work last week, concluding that some witnesses may have lied under oath in testimony and recommending that charges be filed if the district attorney could prove any witnesses lied. Those witnesses were not identified in the five-page excerpt of the report made public, nor were any other charging recommendations.
Kohrs, who did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Post, told other outlets that she was following McBurney’s instructions on what she was permitted to discuss publicly about the grand jury’s work.