The Georgia Case
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Trump’s legal drama could soon continue in Georgia
Among those closely watching the proceedings were state and local officials in Georgia, where Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) is expected to announce in coming weeks whether she will file charges in connection to efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election results.
Willis has not spoken publicly about Trump’s criminal indictment in New York, and a spokesman declined to comment. But close observers of Willis believe the New York case is unlikely to change the legal trajectory of her more than two-year investigation into alleged election interference in Georgia, a case that has already drawn intense public scrutiny and political attacks from Trump even before any potential charges have been filed.
The case in New York is likely to add to that scrutiny — even as many legal experts believe the case in Georgia is more perilous to Trump. However she decides to proceed, Willis will have to sell her case not only to Atlanta-area voters but to the broader American public at a volatile moment when public sentiment about a potential Trump prosecution could be shaped by the Manhattan legal proceedings.In Georgia, the investigation is far more sprawling, involving a cast of characters that includes not only Trump and some of his closest advisers but a litany of prominent Republicans including former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and several top Georgia officials, including Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who were the targets of Trump’s lobbying to overturn Joe Biden’s narrow victory in the state.
Trump, who continues to maintain the 2020 election in Georgia was “stolen,” has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. He has attacked Willis, who is Black, as the “racist D.A. from Atlanta” and repeatedly described her investigation as a “political witch hunt.”
“In the wings, they’ve got a local racist Democrat district attorney from Atlanta who is doing everything in her power to indict me over an absolutely perfect phone call,” Trump told supporters gathered at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday night in his first public remarks since his New York arraignment.
Echoing a legal argument his lawyers made recently in the Fulton County case, Trump added, “This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election, and it should be dropped immediately.”
Mindful of the legal stakes of a case involving a former president, prosecutors have been meticulously reviewing a large volume of evidence, including the audio of at least three phone calls Trump made to Georgia officials, as well as emails, text messages and other documents obtained by a special-purpose grand jury that was seated last year to investigate the matter.
Seventy-five witnesses appeared before the special grand jury over roughly eight months, including Giuliani, Graham, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and other top Trump allies. Transcripts of that testimony could be made public as part of any potential charging decision.
The special grand jury was dissolved in January after issuing a final report on its findings. That report remains mostly sealed to protect the rights of “potential future defendants,” according to Fulton County District Judge Robert McBurney, who oversaw the panel.
