A special grand jury has been selected to hear evidence on whether former President Donald Trump and his allies unlawfully tried to interfere with and overturn Georgia’s 2020 elections.
Fulton Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney told the 23 jurors and three alternates that they would help Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis determine if a crime was committed.
‘This group will simply be receiving information, testimony, documents, and ultimately issuing a report that will go on me and to the district attorney, and my colleagues on this bench, where you recommend, recommend what should come next in the district attorney’s investigation,’ Burney told the court on Monday.
‘She’s already underway in the investigation.’
Selected jurors will meet intermittently with prosecutors in the coming months as they seek subpoenas for documents and testimony of at least 30 witnesses. The jurors will not be able to issue indictments, unlike a regular grand jury.
The probe centers on the Jan 2, 2021, phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. The then-president urged Raffensperger to ‘find’ close to 12,000 votes needed to reverse Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
In addition, the investigation looks into false claims that Trump’s then-personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani made in a legislative hearing, as well as the sudden resignation of US attorney BJay Pak who testified that Trump pressured him.
McBurney told jurors must go beyond their feelings in coming up with their conclusions.
‘And if so, in your opinion, was it unlawful such that you might recommend to the district attorney that she pursue criminal charges?’ McBurney said. ‘You might recommend the contrary.’
Jurors will aid prosecutors in deciding whether to charge an ex-president with a crime, for the first time in US history.
The rest of the 200-person jury pool were dismissed after the two-hour selection process.
Some of the people not selected to be jurors cheered ‘Yes! Yes!’ according to CNN, as they were relieved.
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