Georgia judge releases parts of report on Trump's election meddling

WASHINGTON - A Georgia judge on Thursday released parts of a grand jury report on former US president

Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat

in the state, though the specific recommendations on criminal charges remained sealed.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney on Monday had said he would permit three portions of the special grand jury’s report to be released: the introduction, the conclusion, and a section laying out concerns that some witnesses may have lied under oath.

Justice McBurney said the report, parts of which were released online by Fulton County on Thursday, includes “a roster of who should (or should not) be indicted.” But the judge ruled those details would stay secret for now out of concern that people named have not had an adequate opportunity to defend themselves.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis

opened an investigation shortly after Mr Trump in January 2021 called a Georgia state official

asking him to “find” just enough votes to declare the Republican incumbent the winner in the state rather than Democrat Joe Biden.

Mr Trump, who has

launched another run for the White House

in 2024, has made false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud. He has denied wrongdoing and accused Ms Willis of targeting him for political reasons.

The Georgia investigation is one of several threatening Mr Trump, including separate US Justice Department inquiries into

his retention of classified materials after leaving office

as well as his efforts to invalidate the 2020 election results.

The special grand jury had subpoena power, which it used to secure sworn testimony from close Trump allies, such as lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham, as well as top Georgia officials, including Republican Governor Brian Kemp.

It was not empowered to issue indictments, only recommendations, and the decision on whether to press charges ultimately rests with Ms Willis, the district attorney. If Ms Willis decides prosecution is warranted, she would need to pursue indictments from a regular grand jury.

At a January court hearing on whether to release the report, Ms Willis said charging decisions were “imminent.”

Mr Trump called Georgia’s top election official, Mr Brad Raffensperger on Jan 2, 2021, and claimed falsely that the election results were fraudulent. A recording of the call was leaked.

“I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state,” said Mr Trump, referring to the margin of 11,779 votes by which Mr Biden won.

Four days later, a mob of

Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol

in a failed bid to stop Congress from certifying Mr Biden’s victory.

Ms Willis has also examined a scheme in which a slate of alternate electors falsely asserted that Mr Trump had won Georgia in an unsuccessful effort to award the state’s electoral votes to him rather than Mr Biden. REUTERS