The Fulton County special purpose grand jury that investigated allegations of criminal interference in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia is recommending that one or more witnesses be indicted for perjury.
The recommendations were part of a report the panel issued when it completed its investigation in December. The report was not released to the public at that time, but Fulton Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled earlier this week that parts of the jury’s findings could be released.
The sections of the report released Thursday did not name former President Donald Trump or any of his associates. It will be up to Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis to decide whether to use the special purpose grand jury’s findings as the basis to seek indictments.
“A majority of the grand jury believes that perjury may have been committed by one or more witnesses testifying before it,” the report stated. “The grand jury recommends that the district attorney seek appropriate indictments for such crimes where the evidence is compelling.”
Willis assembled the special purpose grand jury last May to investigate Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, including a phone call he made urging Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the 11,780 votes Trump would need to reverse Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the Peach State.
The grand jury received evidence from 75 witnesses during its investigation, according to the portion of the report released Thursday.
While the vast majority came from in-person testimony given under oath, the panel received some information through various forms of “digital and physical media,” the report stated.
The grand jury recommended releasing the entire report to the public, and a coalition of media outlets filed a motion arguing the public has a right to know the panel’s full findings.
But Willis argued in a hearing before McBurney last month that making the full report public – including the names of witnesses the grand jury believes should be indicted – would jeopardize the rights of potential future defendants to a fair trial.
Witnesses who appeared before the grand jury included former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer; U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; and then-U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, R-Greensboro.
The panel also heard from Raffensperger, Gov. Brian Kemp, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, the late Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, and then-Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
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