Fulton County DA says 'we're ready to go' on Trump election probe charging decisions

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis reemphasized her plans to announce charging decisions by Sept. 1 in her investigation into efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.

“The work is accomplished,” Willis told an NBC affiliate during a back-to-school event last weekend. “We’ve been working for two-and-a-half years. We’re ready to go.”

In a letter to the chief judge of the Fulton County courthouse in May, Willis signaled in a scheduling request that charging decisions stemming from an investigation into “possible criminal interference in the administration of Georgia’s 2020 general election” could come in early August. She asked the judge to not schedule in-person trials or hearings the weeks of Aug. 7 and 14.

Willis also said in a separate letter to law enforcement that she’d announce charging decisions during a state Superior Court term that began this month.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney seated two grand juries this month that will hear cases over the length of term, which ends Sept. 1. They are likely to be tasked with deciding whether Trump and his allies will face election interference charges.

In the interview over the weekend, Willis said she is preparing for people’s reactions to the charging decisions.

“Some people may not be happy with the decisions that I’m making,” Willis said. “And sometimes, when people are unhappy, they act in a way that could create harm.” 

She also said part of the preparations include increased security, and she commended the Fulton County sheriff.

“I think that the sheriff is doing something smart in making sure that the courthouse stays safe,” Willis said. “I’m not willing to put any of the employees or the constituents that come to the courthouse in harm’s way.”

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Willis launched a sprawling investigation in early 2021 into whether Trump and his allies interfered in the battleground state’s election process during the 2020 election 

Willis called for a special grand jury last year because the panel had the power to issue subpoenas to force witnesses to testify. The jury, which was tasked with determining whether there were coordinated attempts to unlawfully change the results of the 2020 elections, recommended indicting more than a dozen people, its foreperson, Emily Kohrs, said on NBC’s “Nightly News” in February. The names have not been made public.

“There are certainly names that you will recognize, yes. There are names also you might not recognize,” Kohrs said at the time.

At least eight of Georgia’s “fake electors” — who signed a certificate falsely declaring that Trump had won Georgia in the 2020 election and declared themselves Georgia’s “duly elected and qualified” electors — have been granted immunity in Willis’ probe, court filings show.

Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the case and has accused Willis, a Democrat, of spearheading a politically motivated “witch hunt” against him.

Willis’ latest remarks comes after Georgia’s Supreme Court denied Trump’s attempt to disqualify her from the probe and to quash the special grand jury’s report that recommends indictments.