The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fulton DA won’t question Jones, but Hice a possibility
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will not question Republican state Sen. Burt Jones as part of a special grand jury’s investigation into whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies broke the law in their attempts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election.
But she could get a chance to query U.S. Rep. Jody Hice.
Jones was among the 16 Republicans who served as fake electors for Trump in December 2020. All 16 were recently sent letters alerting them that they could be indicted, the DA’s office confirmed in a filing.
Some legal experts believe the fake electors may have violated state and federal laws such as forgery and election fraud.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who is overseeing the grand jury, granted Jones’ motion to replace Willis and her office in the examination of his role as a fake elector.
The reason? Willis hosted a June fundraiser for Charlie Bailey, a former colleague in the Fulton DA’s office and now Jones’ Democratic opponent in the lieutenant governor’s race.
“An investigation of this significance, garnering the public attention it necessarily does and touching so many political nerves in our society, cannot be burdened by legitimate doubts about the District Attorney’s motives,” McBurney wrote in his ruling. “The District Attorney does not have to be apolitical, but her investigations do.”
The Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia will select a replacement DA’s office to question Jones, according to the attorney general’s office.
Willis will apparently be free to question Hice.
U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May said she planned to deny Hice’s request to quash a subpoena from the special grand jury.
Hice’s attorneys had cited the U.S. Constitution’s “Speech or Debate” clause, which shields members of Congress from being questioned in court about their legislative activities and the motivations behind them.