Ga. judge to share parts of Trump inquiry

ATLANTA — A Georgia judge said Monday that he would disclose parts of a grand jury report later this week that details an investigation into election interference by former President Donald Trump and his allies, though he would keep the jury’s specific recommendations secret for now.

In making his ruling, Judge Robert C.I. McBurney of Fulton

County Superior Court said the special grand jury raised concerns in its report “that some witnesses may have lied under oath during their testimony.” But the eight-page ruling included few other revelations about the report, the contents of which have been carefully guarded, with the only physical copy in the possession of the district attorney’s office.

The ruling does, however, indicate that the special grand jury’s findings are serious. The report includes “a roster of who should (or should not) be indicted, and for what, in relation to the conduct (and aftermath) of the 2020 general election in Georgia,” McBurney wrote.

For the last two years, prosecutors in Atlanta have been conducting a criminal investigation into whether Trump and his allies interfered in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, which he narrowly lost to President Joe Biden. Much of the inquiry — including interviewing dozens of witnesses — was conducted before the special grand jury, which under Georgia law had to issue a final report on its findings, which in this case includes charging recommendations.

It will be up to Fani Willis, the local district attorney, to decide what, if any, charges she will bring to a regular grand jury.

McBurney said he would release portions of the report Thursday.

At a hearing last month, a coalition of news organizations asked the judge to make the report public, as the jurors had recommended. But Willis sought to keep the special grand jury’s findings secret, at least before her charging decisions.

Willis, in a statement Monday, said: “I believe Judge McBurney’s order is legally sound and consistent with my request.”

Nearly 20 people known to have been named targets of the criminal investigation, as well as others, could face charges, including Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s former personal lawyer, and David Shafer, head of the Georgia Republican Party.