Georgia Special Grand Jury Selected In Trump Election Probe

ATLANTA, GA — A special grand jury was selected Monday for the investigation into whether President Donald Trump and others illegally tried to influence the 2020 election in Georgia.

During the election, Trump lost Georgia to Joe Biden, prompting allegations of voter fraud from the now-former president. It was the first time voters in the Peach State voted for a Democratic president in almost 30 years.

"We are going to look at anything connected with interference with the 2020 election," Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Monday. "I've allowed that to be a broad scope, not just the president's phone call, but other things that may indicate that there may have been interference with that election, to include fake electorates."

Willis added that the special grand jury would be able to issue subpoenas to people who have refused to cooperate in the investigation, which has been underway since early last year.

"A special grand jury does have some powers, and one of those is that they can on their own ask for certain documents to be subpoenaed. They can say they'd like to hear from certain witnesses," she told the cable host.

She also added that the special grand jury can be seated for a period of up to a year

"In terms of a timeline, we're are going to let the evidence take us where it may. We have one
year to do this, so from May today through May 31, 2023," she said.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who has been tasked with overseeing the special grand jury, told the 26 people summoned for the jury that they would not be hearing a trial, but would instead be serving on an investigative special grand jury looking into actions surrounding the 2020 general election.

Willis has confirmed that her team is looking into a January 2021 phone call in which Trump pushed Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the votes needed for him to win the state. She has also said they are looking at a November 2020 phone call between U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and Raffensperger, the abrupt resignation of the U.S. attorney in Atlanta on Jan. 4, 2021, and comments made during December 2020 Georgia legislative committee hearings on the election.

It's not clear exactly what charges Willis could choose to pursue against Trump or anyone else.

In a letter she sent to top-ranking state officials last year, she said she was looking into “potential 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’s administration.”

McBurney said the grand jurors won't begin meeting until June and won't meet every week. They will be notified in advance of when they need to be there, and there's some wiggle room if they can't make it to every session as only 16 are needed for a quorum, he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.