Georgia judge releases parts of grand jury report on Trump and 2020 election

Portions of the highly anticipated report from a special grand jury in Georgia that investigated Donald Trump’s actions in the state after the 2020 election were released Thursday, revealing two findings of its monthslong probe but leaving many key questions unaddressed.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered the limited release earlier this week, writing in his order that the report’s introduction and conclusion, as well as concerns the grand jury panel had about witnesses lying under oath, will be made public.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

No widespread voter fraud in Georgia: The special grand jury “unanimously” concluded that there wasn’t widespread voter fraud in Georgia in 2020, rejecting Trump’s conspiracy theories after hearing “extensive testimony” from election officials, poll workers and other experts.

The grand jury’s conclusions on the fraud matter is important because it once again establishes that Trump was attempting to overturn the results of a legitimate election. That could factor into charging decisions by state prosecutors, who are weighing whether to indict Trump and his allies with crimes related to 2020.

Potential perjury charges: The special grand jury recommended that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis consider indicting some witnesses for perjury.

The grand jury “received evidence from or involving 75 witnesses during the course of this investigation, the overwhelming majority of which information was delivered in person under oath.” But jurors clearly weren’t satisfied.

Perjury “may have been committed by one or more witnesses testifying before it,” according to portions of the report disclosed Thursday. 

Willis, a Democrat, has not brought any charges in the investigation at this time. 

How the special grand jury operated: The panel — which had 26 members, including three alternates — operated behind closed doors over the past several months and started hearing evidence on June 1, 2022. It heard from 75 witnesses who played a range of roles in the 2020 election in Georgia. That testimony was usually delivered under oath.

The grand jury also reviewed physical and digital evidence, as well as the testimony from investigators and the input of team of assistant district attorneys who outlined for the grand jury the applicable statutes and procedures. Most of the report remains under seal.

“We set forth for the Court our recommendations on indictments and relevant statutes, including their votes by the Grand Jurors,” an excerpt from the report said. “This includes the votes respective to each topic, indicated in a ‘Yea/Nay/Abstain’ format throughout.”

Read more takeaways here.

In this January 2021 photo, Former President Donald Trump boards Air Force One before departing Harlingen, Texas.

Donald Trump’s campaign is standing behind the assertion that the former president “did absolutely nothing wrong” following the release of parts of a special grand jury report on its investigation into his actions in Georgia after the 2020 election.

“The long awaited important sections of the Georgia report, which do not even mention President Trump’s name, have nothing to do with the President because President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.

Cheung said other officials and attorneys were on the line during the calls and no one objected, “even slightly protested,” to what was being said. 

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis kicked off her investigation in early 2021, soon after a January call became public. Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the votes necessary for Trump to win the Peach State in the presidential election.  

Jeff DiSantis, the spokesperson for the Fulton County district attorney, declined to comment on the release of excerpts from the special grand jury report. DiSantis declined to provide an update on when Willis might bring potential charges to a regular grand jury. 

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis watches proceedings during a hearing to decide if the final report by a special grand jury looking into possible interference in the 2020 presidential election can be released on January 24, 2023.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ sweeping investigation has sought to determine not only whether former President Donald Trump committed crimes, but also whether there was a broader criminal conspiracy playing out in the efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results.

In document-preservation requests to Georgia officials in February 2021, Willis said she was investigating potential crimes including solicitation of election fraud, making false statements to government bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office and violence or threats related to election administration.

The Georgia probe was set off by an hour-long January 2021 phone call from Trump to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to “find” the votes necessary for Trump to win the Peach State.

Over time, the investigation expanded well beyond the Trump phone call to include false claims of election fraud to state lawmakers, the fake elector scheme, efforts by unauthorized individuals to access voting machines in one Georgia county along with threats and harassment against election workers.

Willis also investigated the sudden departure of Byung “BJay” Pak, the former US attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

Along the way, Willis designated a number of people as targets of her probe, including 16 Georgia Republicans who served as pro-Trump electors in 2020 and Rudy Giuliani, who was working as a lawyer for Trump.

While a special grand jury does not issue indictments, it possesses broader investigative powers than a typical grand jury in the state as well as the power to issue subpoenas for witness testimony, phone, email and other records.

With the special grand jury recommendations on indictments, Willis could then seek them from the other grand juries regularly empaneled in Fulton County.

Willis has previously said she could pursue Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) charges in this case, allowing prosecutors to bring charges against multiple defendants and make the case that Trump and his allies were part of a criminal enterprise. Willis also considered bringing in John Floyd, a lawyer with deep expertise in racketeering cases, to assist her office.

Portions of a highly anticipated report by an Atlanta-area special grand jury on their investigation into former President Donald Trump’s actions in Georgia after the 2020 election were released Thursday.

The report’s introduction and conclusion, as well as concerns the panel had about witnesses lying under oath, was made public.

Read the released portions of the report below:

Parts of the special grand jury report released Thursday shed light on how the panel — which had 26 members, including three alternates – operated behind closed doors over the past several months.

The grand jury began hearing evidence on June 1, 2022, having been empaneled a month earlier, and heard from 75 witnesses who played a range of roles in the 2020 election in Georgia. That testimony was usually delivered under oath.

The grand jury also reviewed physical and digital evidence, as well as the testimony from investigators and the input of team of assistant district attorneys who outlined for the grand jury the applicable statutes and procedures.

Most of the report remains non-public. But the released excerpts hint how it is structured.

The still-secret report also includes footnotes where the grand jurors had the chance to clarify their votes the various recommendations, according to the public excerpts. In the report conclusion that was made public, the grand jury notes that its members were not legal experts in criminal law or election law.

“The majority of this Grand Jury used their collective best efforts, however, to attend every session, listen to every witness, and attempt to understand the facts as presented and the laws as explained,” the excerpts said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks to CNN's Manu Raju on Thursday.

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told CNN that he’s confident in his testimony to the Georgia grand jury in light of the recommendations that some witnesses should be indicted for perjury. 

He told CNN he hasn’t heard from the district attorney after his testimony. He had no reaction to the recommendation.

More on the investigation: The special grand jury, barred from issuing indictments, penned the highly anticipated final report as a culmination of its seven months of work, which included interviewing 75 witnesses from Graham to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.

Michael Moore, the former US attorney for the Middle District of Georgia.

Michael Moore, the former US attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, said he expects indictments to follow the partial release of a report from a special grand jury that investigated Donald Trump’s actions after the 2020 election in the state.

A judge in Fulton County, Georgia, made portions of the report public Thursday.

“The (District Attorney) wouldn’t have had the time and treasure invested into the case, to be at this place,” and not have indictments, he continued.

Moore said the question he’s most interested to watch is whether or not Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will pursue perjury charges for some of the witnesses questioned in the case, which he said “may be tougher.”

Moore said he’s also watching for “how broad the net will be,” explaining that Willis faces a decision about whether to indict a few key targets or to be more sweeping in her actions.

Either way, the district attorney will have to be able to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, and if she gains a conviction, support it on appeal.

“She’s weighing those things out at the same time,” Moore said.

The former US attorney noted that it seems possible indictments will come “in relatively short order,” based on Willis’ previous comments.

Election workers count Fulton County ballots at State Farm Arena on November 4, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia.

The special grand jury in Georgia that investigated Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election “unanimously” concluded that there wasn’t widespread voter fraud, rejecting Trump’s conspiracy theories after hearing “extensive testimony” from election officials, poll workers and other experts.

The grand jury continued: “We find by a unanimous vote that no widespread fraud took place in the Georgia 2020 presidential election that could result in overturning that election.”

The grand jury’s conclusions on the fraud matter is important because it once again establishes that Trump was attempting to overturn the results of a legitimate election. That could factor into charging decisions by state prosecutors who are weighing whether to indict Trump and his allies with crimes related to 2020.

The special grand jury recommended that the Fulton County district attorney consider indicting some witnesses for perjury, according to newly released parts of their final report in Georgia.

The grand jury report does not name any witnesses along with that recommendation, or provide any other details about the witness testimony the special grand jury heard. 

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has not brought any charges in the investigation at this time.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney instructs potential jurors during proceedings to seat a special purpose grand jury, May 2, 2022, in Atlanta.

A judge in Fulton County, Georgia, has made public some parts of a report from a special grand jury that investigated Donald Trump’s actions after the 2020 election in the state.

In his order on Monday, Judge Robert C.I. McBurney said that the special grand jury’s introduction and conclusion as well as concerns the panel had about witnesses lying under oath would be made public on Thursday. Some of the information in those sections still may be redacted, the judge noted.

Prosecutors in Georgia have aggressively investigated whether Trump or any of his associates broke the law while trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat in the closely contested state.

More on the investigation: The special grand jury, barred from issuing indictments, penned the highly anticipated final report as a culmination of its seven months of work, which included interviewing 75 witnesses from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham.

No one has been charged in the case yet. It will be up to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to decide whether to go to another grand jury to pursue indictments now that the special grand jury has presented its findings.

Other findings by the special grand jury are not expected to be made public yet – particularly the parts where the report makes recommendations about potential charges. That’s because some of the people named in those recommendations may not have appeared in grand jury proceedings so far.

In this August 2022 photo, President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas.

Portions of a highly anticipated report by the Atlanta-area special grand jury that investigated Donald Trump’s actions in Georgia after the 2020 election will be released Thursday, giving the public its clearest look yet into the two-year probe into Trump and his associates’ efforts to reverse his election defeat.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered the limited release earlier this week, writing in his order that the report’s introduction and conclusion, as well as concerns the panel had about witnesses lying under oath, will made be public on Thursday.

Here’s what to know about the report’s release:

Will it shed light on possible Trump crimes? The big question is whether the portions will include any bits of information that shed new light on what Trump himself did two years ago and whether the special grand jury concluded that the former president committed any crimes.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ sweeping investigation has sought to determine not only whether Trump committed crimes but also whether there was a broader criminal conspiracy playing out in the efforts to overturn Georgia’s election results.

Trump lost to Joe Biden in Georgia by nearly 12,000 votes in 2020. The former president has insisted that there was nothing problematic about his activities contesting the election.

What investigators are looking at: The Georgia probe was set off nearly two years ago by an hourlong January 2021 phone call from Trump to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to “find” the votes necessary for Trump to win the Peach State. Trump has referred to it as a “perfect” phone call.

Over time, the investigation expanded well beyond the Trump phone call to include false claims of election fraud to state lawmakers, the fake elector scheme, efforts by unauthorized individuals to access voting machines in one Georgia county as well as threats and harassment against election workers. Willis also investigated the sudden departure of BJay Pak, the US attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

Willis designated a number of people as targets of her probe last year, including 16 Georgia Republicans who served as pro-Trump electors in 2020 and Rudy Giuliani, who was working as a lawyer for Trump.

What will and will not be in the release: On Thursday, the report’s introduction and conclusion, as well as concerns the panel had about witnesses lying under oath, will be made public. McBurney noted that some information in those sections might be redacted.

Other findings by the special grand jury won’t be public yet – particularly the parts where the report makes recommendations about potential charges. That’s because some of the people named in those recommendations may not have appeared in grand jury proceedings so far.

Its final report is likely to include some summary of the panel’s investigative work, as well as any recommendations for indictments and the alleged conduct that led the panel to its conclusions.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis suggested last month that the special grand jury investigating Donald Trump and his allies’ efforts to upend the 2020 election in Georgia has recommended multiple indictments and said that her decision on whether to bring charges is “imminent.”

At a hearing in Atlanta on whether to publicly release the special grand jury report Willis, a Democrat, said she opposed making it public at the moment, citing her ongoing deliberations on charges.

“We want to make sure that everyone is treated fairly, and we think for future defendants to be treated fairly it’s not appropriate at this time to have this report released,” she said.

The special grand jury, barred from issuing indictments, penned the highly anticipated final report as a culmination of its seven months of work, which included interviewing witnesses from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani. The special grand jury heard from a total of 75 witnesses, Willis said.