Grand Jury Probing Ex-US President Donald Trump’s 2020 Election Says Some Witnesses Lied

A special grand jury investigating efforts by former US President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn his 2020 Georgia election loss said that 'one or more witnesses' lied.

Former US President Donald Trump

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New Delhi: In a fresh development in the 2020 election case of former United States President Donald Trump, a special grand jury investigating the matter said it believes 'one or more witnesses' committed perjury and urged local prosecutors to bring charges, reported the Associated Press (AP). 

The case pertains to alleged efforts by ex-US President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia. 

A part of the special grand jury’s final report was released on Thursday. It mentioned, according to AP, that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should “seek appropriate indictments for such crimes where the evidence is compelling.” 

Several key details are missing in these released portions, including who specifically the jury believes committed perjury and what other specific charges should be pursued, the report mentioned. This is the first instance when the grand jurors’ recommendations for criminal charges tied to the case have been made public.  

Notably, the legal battle is only intensifying for Trump as the days for the US Presidential election come closer. Donald Trump is eyeing his third White House bid amid several legal probes. 

The formers US President is being investigated by the US Department of Justice for holding classified documents at his Florida estate, as per the AP’s report. 

AP reported that Trump never testified before the special grand jury, meaning he is not among those who could have perjured themselves. But the report doesn’t foreclose the possibility of other charges, and the case still poses particular challenges for Trump, in part because his actions in Georgia were so public. 

Trump and his allies made unproven claims of widespread voter fraud and criticised Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Governor Brian Kemp for not acting to overturn his narrow loss to President Joe Biden in the state in 2020. 

When the probe began two years back, District Attorney Fani Willis said that she was interested in a January 2, 2021, phone call in which Trump suggested to Raffensperger that he could “find” the votes needed to overturn his loss in the state. 

According to AP, “All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Trump said during that call. “Because we won the state.” 

However, Trump has repeatedly said that his call with Raffensperger was 'perfect'. He also told The Associated Press last month that he felt 'very confident' that he would not be indicted. In a statement on Thursday, he continued to assert he did “absolutely nothing wrong”, AP reported. 

On his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump claimed that the release had given him “Total exoneration”.  

Trump’s attorney general, State and federal officials have maintained that the election was secure and there was no evidence of significant fraud.  

The special grand jury agreed in a unanimous vote that there was no widespread fraud in Georgia’s election after hearing “extensive testimony on the issue”. 

The grand jury was seated in May and submitted its report to Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney on December 15.  

Over the course of around seven months, the special grand jurors heard from 75 witnesses, including Trump allies including former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and US Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Top Georgia officials, such as Raffensperger and Kemp, also appeared before the panel, The AP’s report added. 

It further mentioned that the partial release of the grand jury’s report was ordered Monday by McBurney, who oversaw the special grand jury.  

McBurney wrote in his Monday order that it’s not appropriate to release the full report now because it’s important to protect the due process rights of people for whom the grand jury recommended charges.