GA prosecutor wants patience in probe
ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia prosecutor investigating potential efforts by Donald Trump and others to influence last year’s general election has a message for people who are eager to see whether the former president will be charged: Be patient.
“I’m in no rush,” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said this week in an interview with The Associated Press. “I think people think that I feel this immense pressure. I don’t.”
Willis, a Democrat elected in November, sent letters to state officials on Feb. 10 instructing them to preserve records related to the election, particularly those that may contain evidence of attempts to influence elections officials. But she said this week that she’s not sure where the investigation will go or how long it will take.
Her office confirmed that the probe includes a call in which Trump urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the state. Willis also said she has questions about a call U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham made to Raffensperger, the sudden departure of a top federal prosecutor and statements made before Georgia legislative committees.
The investigation is in the very early stages, Willis said. Lawyers are sifting through data — including news reports — to compile a witness list. Once they start talking to people, it will inevitably lead to other people and records they want to see. Eventually, Willis said, they’ll have enough information to decide whether laws were actually broken.
Democrats and a few Republicans have condemned Trump’s call to Raffensperger, with some critics saying the recording is proof of criminal election interference.
Lawyers from around the country have offered help, Willis said. While she may eventually seek outside counsel with specific expertise, she said, it will require careful vetting.
“I don’t want anyone that’s already got a result in mind,” she said.
Willis wrote in the letters to state officials that her office had opened a criminal investigation into “potential violations of Georgia law prohibiting the solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local government bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office and any involvement in violence or threats related to the election’s administration.”
She wrote that her team has “no reason to believe that any Georgia official is a target of this investigation.”
After a coronavirus-related pause, two grand juries are to be seated next week, which will allow prosecutors to seek subpoenas.