ATLANTA (AP) \u2014 The prosecutor weighing whether Donald Trump and others\u00a0committed crimes\u00a0by trying to pressure Georgia officials to overturn Joe Biden\u2019s presidential election victory said a decision on whether to bring charges could come as early as the first half of this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said in an interview with The Associated Press last week that her team is making solid progress, and she\u2019s leaning toward asking for a special grand jury with subpoena power to aid the investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI believe in 2022 a decision will be made in that case,\u201d Willis said. \u201cI certainly think that in the first half of the year that decisions will be made.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Willis told the AP that she hasn\u2019t imposed deadlines on her staff and has urged them to be thorough in their examination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She\u2019s assembled a team of fewer than 10 people \u2014 lawyers, investigators and a legal assistant \u2014 who are focused primarily on this case and can consult outside lawyers with particular expertise in certain areas of law, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to just get the facts, get the law, be very methodical, very patient and, in some extent, unemotional about this quest for justice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Willis declined to speak about the specifics, but she confirmed that the investigation\u2019s scope includes \u2014 but is not limited to \u2014 a\u00a0Jan. 2, 2021, phone call\u00a0between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a\u00a0November 2020 phone call\u00a0between U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and Raffensperger, the\u00a0abrupt resignation\u00a0of the U.S. attorney in Atlanta on Jan. 4, 2021, and comments made during December 2020 Georgia legislative committee hearings on the election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Willis is not alone in investigating attempts by Trump and his allies to overturn his 2020 election defeat. The\u00a0U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee\u00a0released a report in October based on a review of documents and interviews with former officials. And a\u00a0U.S. House committee\u00a0is preparing to release the findings of its investigation of the deadly riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, which included conversations with election officials who were pressured by the former president. Attorney General Merrick Garland has said the\u00a0Justice Department\u00a0\u201cwill follow the facts wherever they lead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Willis\u2019 inquiry also is not the only\u00a0state criminal investigation\u00a0involving Trump. New York prosecutors have\u00a0subpoenaed Trump\u00a0and his two eldest children in their investigation of his business dealings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Trump spokesman dismissed the Fulton investigation as a politically motivated \u201cwitch hunt\u201d when it became public last February, after Willis instructed Georgia\u2019s top elected officials to preserve any records related to the general election, particularly any evidence of attempts to influence election officials. The probe includes \u201cpotential violations of Georgia law prohibiting the solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local government bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office and any involvement in violence or threats related to the election\u2019s administration,\u201d the letters said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Willis said she has not yet decided whether to ask the chief judge of the Fulton County Superior Court to impanel a special grand jury. While she could decide whether she has enough for an indictment based on evidence and witnesses who speak with her team willingly, she said, a special grand jury can be helpful to compel people who refuse to testify without a subpoena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI like investigations to be complete and so we probably would move in the direction of a special grand jury,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As she has before, Willis said she won\u2019t be rushed or influenced by the intense public interest in this case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just think the public should be patient \u2013 you know, go on, lead your lives \u2013 trust that they\u2019ve elected a district attorney that knows that this is a serious issue, takes it seriously and we\u2019re doing our job here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since his loss, Trump has made repeated unproven claims that widespread fraud cost him the election. Some of his supporters have targeted election officials and workers, in Georgia and across the country, making violent threats against them. Willis, a Democrat, said people unhappy that she\u2019s considering possible criminal charges against the Republican former president have made threats and \u201cexpressed their frustration in a way that is so irrational that I believe that they would do me harm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Previously a\u00a0prosecutor for 17 years\u00a0in the office she now leads, Willis said threats are not new for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey are truly wasting their time. It is not going to deter me from doing my job, period,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m not going to do any less or more because, you know, you try to offend me because I\u2019m Black or female or of a political party. We were elected to do a job and that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to sit here and do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ATLANTA (AP) \u2014 The prosecutor weighing whether Donald T […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1157"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1159,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157\/revisions\/1159"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}