ATLANTA — The scope of the Fulton County grand jury investigation into Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election came into clearer focus as court filings Tuesday indicate that at least a dozen phony Georgia Republican electors have been informed they could face criminal charges.
The filing was the latest signal that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation is circling the group of 16 GOP electors who gathered at the state Capitol in December 2020 as part of a sham ceremony to further Trump’s push to reverse his defeat to Joe Biden.
The records for the first time showed that 10 additional GOP electors have received letters from Fulton County prosecutors notifying them they’re targets of their criminal investigation of the 2020 elections and could be prosecuted.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported that two other high-ranking officials — state Sen. Burt Jones, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, and Georgia GOP chair David Shafer — have also received the “target” letters.
It’s not immediately clear if the remaining four “alternate” electors have received the notifications. Willis’ office didn’t immediately comment. Another official, state Sen. Brandon Beach, has also received a similar letter, as officials say he helped organize the process as an intermediary between the Trump campaign and Georgia electors.
The 10 additional electors facing prosecutorial scrutiny are: Mark Amick, Joseph Brannan, Brad Carver, Vicki Consiglio, John Downey, Carolyn Fisher, Kay Godwin, Cathy Latham, Shawn Still and C.B. Yadav.
Attorneys representing those 10 and Shafer filed a motion to block their grand jury subpoenas for appearances beginning next week as “unreasonable and oppressive.”
In the filing, the attorneys note that a prosecutor in late June “informed us for the first time that all of these eleven nominee electors were suddenly targets” as the “investigation has matured and new evidence has come to light.”
“The abrupt, unsupportable and public elevation of all eleven nominee electors’ status wrongfully converted them from witnesses who were cooperating voluntarily and prepared to testify in the Grand jury to persecuted targets of it,” wrote the attorneys, Holly Pierson and Kimberly Bourroughs Debrow.
The filing said 11 of the electors “reluctantly” invoked their Fifth Amendment rights after receiving the target letters. Jones was not included in the filing.
“The unavoidable conclusion is that the nominee electors’ change of status was not precipitated by new evidence or an honestly-held belief that they have criminal exposure, but instead an improper desire to force them to publicly invoke their rights as, at best, a publicity stunt.”
Last week Jones filed a motion in Fulton County Superior Court seeking to disqualify Willis, citing a recent fundraiser she hosted to boost Charlie Bailey, an ex-Fulton prosecutor who is Jones’ Democratic opponent.
“Burt is more than happy to perform his civic duty and answer questions — but not from a prosecutor with such blatant conflicts of interest,” spokesman Stephen Lawson has said.
Fulton Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who’s overseeing the special grand jury, will hold a hearing on Jones’ motion on Thursday.
The false slate of 16 electors have become a major point of interest of the Fulton County special grand jury examining whether Trump or his allies broke any state laws as they sought to reverse Biden’s win in Georgia. Some legal experts say those GOP electors may have violated election fraud and forgery statutes, among others.
Investigators in Washington, both for the select committee examining the Jan. 6 attack and at the Justice Department, have also taken notice. Federal prosecutors recently subpoenaed Shafer and others for information about the fake electors.
It’s just one facet of a growing probe. The grand jury has also recently subpoenaed members of Trump’s inner circle, including attorney Rudy Giuliani and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
Graham was scheduled to challenge his subpoena in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday. But the senator and Willis announced on Tuesday that they have struck an agreement allowing for arguments to instead take place in Atlanta, either in Fulton Superior Court or U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
A judge from the latter is scheduled to hear a separate subpoena challenge from another congressman, U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, R-Greensboro. Like Graham, Hice is citing the Constitution’s “Speech or Debate” clause to argue that he can’t be forced to testify about matters that directly relate to his legislative duties.
House Speaker David Ralston, meanwhile, recently testified before the grand jury amid questions about a special state legislative hearing that featured false claims of election fraud.
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