Could grand juror's words tank charges for Trump?
Almost as soon as the foreperson of the special grand jury in the Georgia election meddling investigation went public this week, speculation began about whether her unusually candid revelations could jeopardize any possible prosecution of former President Donald Trump or others.
Emily Kohrs first spoke out in an interview published Tuesday by The Associated Press, a story that was followed by interviews in other print and television news outlets. In detailed commentary, she described some of what happened behind the closed doors of the jury room — how witnesses behaved, how prosecutors interacted with them, how some invoked their constitutional right not to answer certain questions.
Lawyers for Trump say the revelations offered by Kohrs shattered the credibility of the entire special grand jury investigation. People hoping to see the former president indicted worried on social media that Kohrs may have tanked a case against the former president.
But experts said that while Kohrs' chattiness in news interviews probably aggravated Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who's leading the investigation, they were not legally damaging.
Willis likely “wishes that this woman hadn't gone on the worldwide tour that she did,” said Amy Lee Copeland, a former federal prosecutor and criminal defense attorney in Georgia who's not involved in the case. “But is this a headache that is grinding the machine to a halt? It's not. It's just one of the many frustrations that attends the practice of law.”
Trump's attorneys in Georgia, however, are jumping on the interviews.
Drew Findling and Jennifer Little, who represent Trump in the Fulton County case, said they've had concerns about the panel's proceedings from the start but have kept quiet out of respect for the grand jury process. After Kohrs' interviews, they felt compelled to speak out.
“The end product is, the reliability of anything that has taken place in there is completely tainted and called into question,” Findling said. But he also said he wasn't attacking “a 30-yearold foreperson.”
“She's a product of a circus that cloaked itself as a special purpose grand jury,” he said.
Findling and Little hadn't filed any challenges in the case by Thursday but said they're “resolute” as to Trump's innocence and keeping their options open.
“We're considering everything and anything to look after the interests of our client,” he said.
The special grand jury was impaneled at the request of Willis, who is investigating whether Trump and his Republican allies committed crimes as they tried to overturn his narrow 2020 election loss in the state to Democrat Joe Biden. The panel didn't have the power to indict but instead offered recommendations for Willis, a Democrat, who will ultimately decide whether to seek charges from a regular grand jury.
Willis' office has declined to comment on Kohrs' media appearances, other than to say they weren't aware ahead of time that she planned to give interviews. Spokesperson Jeff DiSantis also declined Thursday to comment on the statements from Trump's attorneys.
The former president's lawyers expressed concern that the special grand jury had been allowed to watch and read news coverage of
the case and was aware of some witnesses' efforts not to testify. Kohrs said prosecutors told the jurors they could read and watch the news but urged them to keep open minds.
Kohrs also shared numerous anecdotes from the proceedings that she found amusing and was very expressive in television interviews, sometimes laughing or making faces.
“It's not a joking matter,” Findling said. “It's not a matter for giggles. It's not a matter for smiles.”
Findling and Little said the district attorney's office, which advised the special grand jury, should have better educated the grand jurors about the solemnity of the process and the rules and limitations.
“That tone and that rhetoric begins from the top down, and that was set by the district attorney's office,” Little said.
Trump himself criticized the process in a post on his social media network Wednesday, calling the Georgia investigation “ridiculous, a strictly political continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt of all time.” He expressed dismay at Kohrs “going around and doing a Media Tour revealing, incredibly, the Grand Jury's inner workings & thoughts.”
Although Kohrs did not publicly name anyone the special grand jury recommended for possible indictment, Trump's lawyers said she seemed to implicate him in response to questions.