Georgia Prosecutor ‘Ready To Go’ With Trump Case
Georgia’s Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said her team is “ready to go” after more than two years of investigating alleged efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
The prosecutor told local NBC affiliate WXIA over the weekend that she will “hold true” to her stated commitment to making “big decisions” during the Fulton County Superior Court’s fourth term of court, which spans July 11 and September 1.
“The work is accomplished,” Willis said. “We’ve been working for two and half years. We’re ready to go.”
If Trump is charged in Georgia, it will be the third indictment lodged against him this year. The GOP front-runner in the 2024 race for the White House, Trump broadly denies any wrongdoing and claims politically motivated forces are targeting him across multiple investigations.
“The Radical Left Democrat Thugs shouldn’t be allowed to investigate me during, and in the middle of, my campaign for President,” Trump said in a post to Truth Social on Monday. “Why didn’t they file these ridiculous charges 2.5 years ago? They waited because they wanted to illegally and negatively influence the 2024 Presidential Election, arguably the most important Election in the history of the USA[?]”
Willis, a Democrat, began her investigation after a phone call recording surfaced in which Trump pressed a top Georgia state official to “find” 11,780 votes, enough to reverse losing the state to now-President Joe Biden, arguing there was widespread voter fraud. One area of interest for the district attorney appears to be the slate of “alternate” pro-Trump electors. They have reportedly been designated criminal targets of the investigation and court documents show at least half of them were granted immunity.
Multiple efforts by Trump and at least one alternate elector to defuse the investigation in court have so far been rejected, including on Monday when a judge rejected their request to disqualify Willis, prevent further prosecution, and quash a largely-redacted special grand jury report that makes charging recommendations.
In April, Willis wrote to Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat, saying that she expected to announce charging decisions in the Trump case by the end of the summer. The prosecutor spoke of the need for “heightened security and preparedness” as “open-sourced “intelligence indicated an announcement “may provoke a significant public reaction.”
During her comments over the weekend, Willis said “some people may not be happy with the decisions that I’m making” and noted that unhappy people could “act in a way that could create harm.”
But, Willis said, she believes the county sheriff is being “smart” in making safety preparations. “I’m not willing to put any of the employees or the constituents that come to the courthouse in harm’s way,” Willis added.
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