ATLANTA — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is investigating former President Donald Trump‘s alleged efforts to overturn his election loss in Georgia, is expected to present her case to a grand jury next week.
NBC News spoke to two individuals who have been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury as part of the Georgia prosecutor’s investigation. The subpoenas noted that each witness will receive at least 48 hours’ notice to appear before the grand jury.
Former state Sen. Jen Jordan and former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who have both received subpoenas, told NBC News that they have not received a 48-hour notice to appear, indicating the case will not be presented to the jurors this week. Jordan was present for a presentation about alleged election fraud that Rudy Giuliani made to Georgia lawmakers in Dec. 2020.
Willis has been conducting a sprawling investigation since early 2021 into whether there were any “coordinated attempts to unlawfully alter the outcome of the 2020 elections” by Trump and his allies in the battleground state. She has said she plans to announce charging decisions by Sept. 1 and signaled that those decisions could even come in early August.
As Willis’ announcement looms, security around the Fulton County courthouse in downtown Atlanta has been heightened ahead of the possible charges against Trump and others.
Last year, Willis convened a special grand jury with the authority to subpoena witnesses in the investigation. A report made public in February revealed that the special grand jury had heard testimony from 75 witnesses, and the foreperson of that panel told NBC News at the time that the group recommended indicting more than a dozen people.
Willis has also been probing Trump’s alleged efforts to pressure Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — whom Trump had asked to “find” him enough votes to win the state — to overturn the election results, as well as an alleged scheme to use “fake electors” to subvert the electoral college results.
Both Trump’s call to Raffensperger and the electors’ scheme figured prominently in special counsel Jack Smith’s federal indictment last week, which alleged that Trump used “unlawful means” to try to stay in office. In Smith’s case, Trump pleaded not guilty to charges that he engaged in criminal conspiracies aimed at subverting the results of the last presidential election and keeping himself in power.
Raffensperger, a key witness in Willis’ probe, testified before the special grand jury hearing evidence in the investigation last June. Kemp’s office said that, as of Monday, he hadn’t been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury.
Trump, who has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the Georgia case, has accused Willis, a Democrat, of pursuing a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
Blayne Alexander and Charlie Gile reported from Atlanta. Michael Mitsanas reported from Los Angeles.
Dareh Gregorian contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
