Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis has indicated that she may potentially charge former President Trump in August related to her investigation of the state’s 2020 Presidential election.
In a letter Thursday to the chief judge of the courthouse, Willis said she plans to have 70% of her staff working remotely between July 31 and August 18, adding that those who will remain in the courthouse then will include leadership staff and “all armed investigators.”
“I respectfully request that judges not schedule trials and in person hearings during the weeks beginning Monday, August 7 and Monday, August 14,” Willis’ letter said without giving a reason for her request.
Last month, Willis had indicated in a previous letter that she planned to make her announcement between July 11 and September 1. However, her timetable reportedly had to be pushed back while she worked to hammer out cooperation deals with some potential defendants.
In January Willis told Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney that decisions on whether to bring criminal charges were “imminent.”
The next month, the special grand jury in the case released a six-page, partial report into their investigation. Among its findings, the grand jury said it found “that no widespread fraud took place in the Georgia 2020 presidential election that could result in overturning that election”—a rejection of arguments made by Trump and his supporters.
In her prosecution, Willis is reportedly focused on several areas: phone calls made to Georgia officials by Trump and his allies; false statements made by Trump associates before Georgia legislative committees; a panel of 16 Republicans who signed a certificate falsely stating that Trump had won the state and that they were the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors; the abrupt resignation of the U.S. attorney in Atlanta in January 2021; alleged attempts to pressure a Fulton County election worker; and breaches of election equipment in a rural south Georgia county.
Willis’ prosecution reportedly was sparked by Trump’s phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2, 2021, during which the then-President pressured his fellow Republican, who recorded the call, saying, “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have.”
Trump has denied any wrongdoing related to Georgia’s 2020 election. In March Trump attorneys had sought to quash the the grand jury’s partial report into their investigation and asserted that Willis should be removed from the case.
