Judge nixes Don ask in Ga. case
A Georgia judge Monday refused to unseal most of a grand jury report on former President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state.
Three weeks after a hearing, Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney agreed with prosecutors that releasing the report before they have decided whether to charge Trump or others could adversely affect the case.
He agreed to release on Thursday the opening and closing sections, along with a portion that describes the panel’s suspicion that one or more witnesses lied under oath.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said at the Jan. 24 hearing that decisions on charging Trump or others were “imminent.”
Her language and use of the term potential “defendants” suggests the report recommends charging at least some of the targets.
The case stems from Trump’s call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger demanding that he “find” just enough votes to flip Trump’s historic loss to President Biden in the Peach State.
The grand jury also heard evidence about the Trump campaign’s effort to recruit a slate of bogus electors that could be used to claim the election result was in doubt even though it had already been certified by officials.
The Georgia probe is just one of myriad legal entanglements Trump faces as he revs up his campaign for a 2024 return to the White House.
Some of the same issues are being investigated by special counsel Jack Smith, including Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, as well as the ex-president’s improper removal of hundreds of classified documents when he left office.