New report says the Georgia investigation of Trump is getting closer to a climax

New report says the Georgia investigation of Trump is getting closer to a climax
(Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)

President Donald J. Trump, joined by White House senior staff, speaks on the phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates about their agreement to establish full normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020, in the Oval Office of the White House.

Trump

Almost a year after leaving the White House, former President Donald Trump continues to face a variety of investigations — from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and New York State Attorney General Letitia James to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s select committee on the January 6, 2021 insurrection. Another Trump-related probe has been taking place in Atlanta, where Fulton County DA Fani Willis has been probing Trump’s efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results. And according to Associated Press reporter Kate Brumback, Willis’ office is moving closer to deciding whether or not any charges are warranted.

Willis told AP, “I believe in 2022, a decision will be made in that case. I certainly think that in the first half of the year, that decisions will be made.”

According to Brumback, Willis “hasn’t imposed deadlines on her staff and has urged them to be thorough in their examination.”

Willis wasn’t terribly specific when interviewed by AP, but she offered general comments on the state of her investigation — telling AP, “We’re going to just get the facts, get the law, be very methodical, very patient and, in some extent, unemotional about this quest for justice.”

READ: Prominent QAnon anti-vaxxer who called for Anthony Fauci’s execution dies of COVID-19

Georgia, once a deep red state, has evolved into a swing state — and one of the upsets in 2020 came when now-President Joe Biden lost Florida to Trump but defeated him in Georgia. The Peach State’s swing-state status was also evident when, in January 2021, two Democratic U.S. Senate candidates were victorious in runoff elections in Georgia: Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock — victories that gave Democrats a narrow majority in the U.S. Senate.

Trump, however, has falsely claimed that he really won Georgia — a claim that Gov. Brian Kemp and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, both conservative Republicans, deny.

Willis, according to Brumback, confirmed to AP that her investigation includes Raffensperger’s November 2020 conversations with Trump and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. A recording of Trump’s conversation with Raffensperger shows him urging the Georgia secretary of state to “find” him enough votes to win the state.

“Willis is not alone in investigating attempts by Trump and his allies to overturn his 2020 election defeat,” Brumback reports. “The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee released a report in October based on a review of documents and interviews with former officials. And a U.S. House committee is preparing to release the findings of its investigation of the deadly riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, which included conversations with election officials who were pressured by the former president. Attorney General Merrick Garland has said the Justice Department ‘will follow the facts wherever they lead.’”

READ: 'Traitor' Jim Jordan mocked for refusing to comply with Jan. 6 committee — after declaring 'nothing to hide'

Brumback adds, “Willis' inquiry also is not the only state criminal investigation involving Trump. New York prosecutors have subpoenaed Trump and his two eldest children in their investigation of his business dealings…. 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.”

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