The special grand jury that has been probing whether former President Donald Trump or any of his associates violated the law during their questioning of the 2020 election outcome has recommended indictments of multiple individuals.
“It is not a short list,” Emily Kohrs, the jury’s forewoman, told the New York Times, which broke news of the indictments.
Kohrs would not discuss specifically who the special grand jury is recommending for indictment. When asked by the Times whether jurors recommended indicting Trump, Kohrs replied: “You’re not going to be shocked. It’s not rocket science,” adding “you won’t be too surprised.” The recommendations follow a monthslong investigation, including dozens of witnesses.
No former president has ever been indicted in U.S. history, a fact underscoring the historic nature of the decision by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis — should she proceed with indictments against Trump.
Days before the Times broke the news, as sections of the special grand jury report were made public, a former assistant special Watergate prosecutor and former acting assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, told Newsweek he is expecting Trump to be indicted.
Citizens For Responsibility & Ethics in Washington (CREW), which claims to be a nonpartisan non-profit watchdog, says that Trump could potentially be indicted on numerous offenses, including:
- Solicitation to commit election fraud (Ga. Code Ann. §21-2-604(a));
- Intentional interference with performance of election duties (Ga. Code Ann. §21-2-597)
- Interference with primaries and elections (Ga. Code Ann. §21-2-566);
- Conspiracy to commit election fraud (Ga. Code Ann. §21-2-603)
- Making false statements (Ga. Code Ann. § 16-10-20);
- Improperly influencing witnesses (Ga. Code Ann. § 16-10-93);
- Forgery in the first degree (Ga. Code Ann. 16-9-1);
- Criminal solicitation (Ga. Code Ann. § 16-4-7);
- False swearing (Ga. Code Ann. § 16-10-71)
A point of scrutiny in the Georgia investigation was a phone call between Trump and then-Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, during which Trump questioned the legality of roughly 11,780 votes that he suspected to have been cast illegally.
Numerous activists, politicians, commentators, and corporate press journalists have framed the interaction as Trump pressing state officials to find or manufacture votes in violation of the law, but a transcript of the call shows Trump was inquiring about validating thousands of illegal ballots that may have been counted.
“We definitely started with the first phone call, the call to Secretary Raffensperger that was so publicized,” Kohrs said.
“I will tell you that if the judge releases the recommendations, it is not going to be some giant plot twist,” she explained. “You probably have a fair idea of what may be in there. I’m trying very hard to say that delicately.”
