The Fulton Court, a Georgia grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump’s attempts to reverse Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory, has issued subpoenas to South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, former Trump attorney Rudolph Giuliani, and several other lawyers who played roles in the Trump scheme.
In addition to Mr. Graham and Mr. Giuliani, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Reports That the 23-person special grand jury also moved to compel attorneys John Eastman, Cletta Mitchell, Kenneth Chesbrough and Jenna Ellis, as well as attorney and podcast host Jackie Beck Dyson, to give evidence in the investigation into the efforts of Mr Trump’s associates to lobby Georgian officials have taken action. Illegal to reverse Biden’s victory after he became the first Democrat to lead Peach State since then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton defeated then-President George HW Bush in 1992.
The grand jury is considering whether Mr. Trump or any of his Republican allies violated Georgia laws by trying to get Georgia Secretary of State Brad Ravensberger and Governor Brian Kemp to refuse to certify Biden’s victory, or by calling on Georgian lawmakers to unfairly ignore Georgia law legal. The will of the electors by appointing pro-Trump electors who would then vote for Mr. Trump when the US Electoral College met on December 14, 2020.
One of the recipients of the subpoena, Mr. Eastman, was also the subject of a year-long investigation by the House Select Committee on January 6, which found that a former Chapman University law professor pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to violate the law by unilaterally disregarding electoral votes from Swing states won by Mr. Biden during the Jan. 6, 2021 session in which Congress certifies his Electoral College victory over Mr. Trump.
Earlier this year, a federal judge in California found that Mr. Eastman and Mr. Trump “probably … conspired dishonestly to disrupt” that joint hearing, which was suspended briefly when a rowdy mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in what was worse An attack on the American legislature since Major General Robert Ross ordered British forces to set it on fire during the War of 1812.
Eastman also lobbied Georgia lawmakers during a post-election hearing in which he claimed there was “more than enough” evidence that Biden’s victory was so tainted that lawmakers should overturn it.
Trump and Mr. Graham made separate calls to Mr. Ravensberger in the days after the 2020 election to pressure him to find a way to get rid of Biden’s absentee votes or somehow discover enough votes to make Mr. Trump the victor in Peach State.
Based on a copy of the subpoena he has seen independent, The Georgia judge who signed the document found that Mr. Graham “interrogated Secretary Ravensberger and his staff about re-examination of certain absentee ballots cast in Georgia in order to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome.” [Mr Trump” and “made reference to allegations of widespread voter fraud in the November 2020 clection in Georgia, consistent with public statements made by known affiliates of the ‘Trump Campaign” during “at least two telephone calls to [Mr Raffensperger] and members of his team in the weeks following the November 2020 elections.”
Ms Mitchell, who served as a lawyer for Mr Trump’s campaign, was also involved in the phone call between Mr Trump and Ravensberger, in which the then-president implored the election official to “find 11,780 votes” – a number that would have wiped out Mr. Biden’s victory margin.
The same judge who approved the subpoenas against other Trump allies found that Ms Mitchell “brought allegations of widespread voter fraud in the November 2020 election in Georgia and lobbied her [Mr Raffensperger] to take action in his official capacity to investigate baseless allegations of fraud” during Mr. Trump’s now infamous call with Georgia’s top election official.
Fulton County District Attorney Fanny Willis is overseeing the Georgia investigation, which he launched in early 2021 after the recording of Trump’s call with Mr. Ravensberger was announced. Washington Postand later expanded it to include Mr. Giuliani and Eastman’s lobbying campaign against Georgia lawmakers.
Although the special grand jury cannot issue indictments, it is authorized to meet until May 2023 and can issue a report recommending that Willis seek criminal charges.
Some of Mr. Trump’s targets, including Mr. Ravensberger and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, have already given evidence in closed sessions to the committee.
A spokesman for Mr Graham did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment independent. A text message to Giuliani asking for comment was also not immediately answered.
