Trump indictment in Georgia: Judge releases special grand jury report

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Georgia judge on Friday released the full report issued by the special purpose grand jury that investigated interference in the 2020 presidential election, leading to the indictment of former President Donald Trump and 18 others last month.

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The grand jury issued its report in January. A portion, including the introduction, conclusion and a discussion of unnamed witness who might have lied under oath, was released to the public in February.

Trump: Special grand jury report ‘has ZERO credibility’

Update 12 p.m. EDT Sept. 8: Trump took to social media on Friday to slam the investigation into interference in the 2020 presidential election following the release of the special grand jury’s report.

“It has ZERO credibility and badly taints Fani Willis and this whole political Witch Hunt,” he wrote. “Essentially, they wanted to indict anybody who happened to be breathing at the time.”

A grand jury last month indicted Trump on 13 charges in connection with the investigation. He has pleaded not guilty and accused prosecutors of pursuing the case for political reasons ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Trump is the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination.

Georgia grand jury recommended Lindsey Graham, Michael Flynn be charged

Update 10:55 a.m. EDT Sept. 8: The special grand jury recommended that charges be filed against several people who were not ultimately indicted, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

In the report made public Friday, the special grand jury listed both prominent figures in a section addressing “the national effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election, focused on efforts in Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia.”

Special grand jury recommended charges against 39 people

Update 10:40 a.m. EDT Sept. 8: The report made public Friday from the special grand jury showed that they recommended charges against 39 people, though only 19 were indicted and charged last month, according to WSB-TV.

In addition to the 19 people who were charged, including Trump, attorney Rudy Giuliani, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, the special grand jury recommended that charges be filed against Lindsey Graham, David Perdue, Burt Jones, Lin Wood, Kelly Loefler, Michael Flynn, Boris Epshteyn and two slates of fake electors, WSB reported.

It was not immediately clear why only 19 of the 39 people listed in the report were indicted.

Read the full report

Update 10:35 a.m. EDT Sept. 8: In the 25-page report, the special grand jury recommended that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis “seek appropriate indictments for such crimes where the evidence is compelling.”

Judge releases final report with only 2 redactions

Update 10:25 a.m. EDT Sept. 8: In an order filed in Fulton County Superior Court on Friday, Judge Robert McBurney released the full report issued by the special grand jury that investigated interference in the 2020 presidential election with only two redactions.

The names of two signatories were redacted while the rest was left untouched, according to court filings.

Special grand jury report released

Update 10:15 a.m. EDT Sept. 8: A Georgia judge released the special grand jury’s report just after 10 a.m. on Friday, CNN reported.

The report led to the indictment last month of Trump and several others accused of violating Georgia’s RICO Act to keep Trump in power after he lost the 2020 presidential election.

Original report: Last week, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said he would allow the release of the full special grand jury report if there were no objections, WSB-TV reported. He is expected to make the report public at 10 a.m. Friday.

Several people have asked for officials to release the report, including lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, one of the 18 people indicted alongside Trump last month, according to WSB. In a court filing, attorneys said that several of those who testified before the special grand jury were likely to testify at his trial, “Therefore any recordings, transcripts and the SPGJ reports are critical for Mr. Chesebro to obtain in order to properly prepare for trial.”

Chesebro and attorney Sidney Powell are scheduled to face a jury beginning on Oct. 23, according to The Associated Press.

The special grand jury spent months investigating election interference. They heard “extensive testimony” from 75 witnesses, including “poll workers, investigators, technical experts, and State of Georgia employees and officials, as well as from persons still claiming that … fraud took place,” according to the released portion of the report.

Last month, Trump, Chesebro, Powell and 16 others were charged with racketeering and other charges following the special grand jury’s investigation. All 19 have pleaded not guilty.

In 2021, Georgia officials launched an investigation into whether Trump illegally tried to overturn the state’s election results after audio surfaced of a phone call between the then-president and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. In the call, Trump could be heard urging officials to “find” about 12,000 votes — enough to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden.

Trump lost Georgia to Biden by 11,779 votes, WSB reported.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing, often calling his call with Raffensberger a “perfect phone call.”

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