A panel in Fulton County, Georgia said, “A majority of the grand jurors believe that perjury may have been committed by one or more witnesses testifying before them.” final presentation Released Thursday. who do they mean? Between the time the special grand jury began hearing evidence of possible criminal interference in his 2020 Georgia presidential election last June and completed its work in December, the special grand jury has By its own account, it heard evidence “from or involving”. 75 witnesses, the majority of whom were “delivered in person under oath.” Not all came willingly or willingly. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham fought the subpoena all the way to the Supreme Court, but only put a few restrictions on what was asked. John Eastman, the former law professor who helped Donald Trump come up with what he called a “coup for legal theory,” accepted the Fifth Amendment when he came to Georgia.After former New York City Mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani showed up, he SaidThe part about his happiness may have been a lie, but it wasn’t under oath.

So which witness does the jury think may have committed perjury? This guessing game goes on for a while. Only a few pages of the report were released, and the rest is now in the hands of Fulton County District Attorney Fanny Willis. But perjury isn’t the only potential state charge that should concern Trump and his associates. Others include criminal solicitation for electoral fraud. “The allegations are very serious. People face prison terms if they are charged and convicted,” Willis said. Said Washington director, in September. Willis launched the investigation weeks after President Trump told Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in a Jan. 2, 2021 phone call to “find” his 11,780 votes. . Not doing so would be “a big risk to you,” he told his Raffensperger. Republican Raffensperger did not comply. He was one of the grand jury’s earliest witnesses, testifying for nearly five hours last June.

On Monday, Judge Robert CI McBurney said ordered the release In several sections of the report — its preface and concluding paragraphs, and a reference to perjury concerns — he argued that the still-sealed part was “Who should (or should not) be prosecuted?” ‘s roster’ was included. It would be up to Willis to decide whether to accept such a recommendation and actually file charges, and McBurney said releasing the full report before she made that call would be a good idea for potential defendants. Similarly, the preface to the report states, “Recommendations Concerning Indictments and Related Laws,” and Jury Results for Each Item “in For/against/Abstain Form.” It is described as containing polls, footnotes explaining parts of the polls, and an entire appendix. Applicable Georgia Law. It’s possible that all of the votes on prosecution resulted in “No” or “Shouldn’t,” but that doesn’t sound like it.

As far as we know, Trump himself didn’t appear before a grand jury, which meant he didn’t have the opportunity to lie to them directly. Some said it involved people who had never appeared before a grand jury. bottom A section of the report released Thursday says it has “nothing to do with President Trump because he has done nothing wrong.” All of the eyewitnesses and evidence that the grand jury investigated had to do with what he did so very wrong: he tried to stay in power after losing the election. And that story has been specifically focused on Georgia since almost the moment the votes closed on November 3, 2020.

State results were close. Perhaps Trump couldn’t believe he lost what had come to a swing. The team demanded everything they could think of: recounts, audits, litigation. On Dec. 3, 2020, Giuliani attended a hearing in the Georgia Senate where he groaned about injustice. But by early December, the only effect of these challenges and reprisals was to further confirm the results. I was faced with the choice of sticking with it or sticking with the number in front of me. Gov. Brian Kemp, a former Trump supporter, received a phone call from Trump on Dec. 5, seeking help in disabling voters by asking state legislators to choose their own electoral college. (Kemp, who was also a grand jury witness, initially opposed the subpoena.)

Georgia submitted fake electoral college schemes for the Trump team, or “alternative” electoral rolls, and let Vice President Mike Pence use them as pretexts to control the electoral college votes in joint sessions. It was becoming a key state in a plan to block certification. Congress on January 6th. As part of the scheme, at the end of December Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark said: draft letter He again asked Kemp to call a special session of the state legislature. Trump wants the nomination of Attorney General Clark, and William Barr has resigned after apparently not doing enough to spread the story that the election was stolen. In fact, certificates were also created for six other states (Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin). The Trump electors who signed it are known “targets” of the Willis investigation. (Voters deny any wrongdoing.)

On Jan. 4, two days after Trump called Raffensperger, he traveled to Georgia for a rally in the city of Dalton. There, he accused the Supreme Court of failing to help deny Mr. Biden a victory, warned Mr. Pence that he expected him to help stop the vote counting, and told everyone in the crowd. said it must act “quickly”. Lose the country: “They didn’t take this White House. We’re going to fight like hell! Two days after that, there was an attack on the Capitol.”

Of course, other investigations into Trump and his business are underway, including one by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who subpoenaed Pence last week. (Pence said he would oppose Smith’s subpoena “to the Supreme Court if necessary.”) While each investigation has its own approach, there seems to be general consensus on at least one issue. As observed by a grand jury in Georgia, some of the reports released Thursday identified fraud pushed by Trump, including from “people who still claim” he was robbed. Hearing “extensive testimony” about election allegations. The jury found nothing “widespread fraud” that “resulted in overturning the election” “by unanimous vote”. Biden wins in Georgia. And Trump couldn’t steal the nation. ♦