As a broad-ranging investigation into possible criminal interference ramps up, a special grand jury in Georgia issued subpoenas for some key people associated with the failed attempts of former President Donald Trump to reverse his narrow defeat.
The seven subpoenas approved Tuesday summoned Rudy Giuliani (Trump’s personal lawyer); John Eastman (an ex-Trump lawyer) who informed Georgia lawmakers that they had a “duty to submit alternate electors”; Cleta Mitchell, who was present on the 2021 call with Georgia Secretary of State, where Trump sought to “find” voters; and other people who helped to subvert election results.
According to filings, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham was also subpoenaed for phone calls he made to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger about absentee ballot rejections.
Since May, a 23-member special grand jury met to examine whether any state laws had been broken in the long-running attempt to undo President Joe Biden’s nearly 12,000-vote victory against then-President Trump. This includes potential crimes such as “the solicitation to election fraud, making false statements to state or local governmental bodies and conspiracy, racketeering and violation of the oath to office”.
Raffensperger is a Democratic attorney general nominee, state senator Jen Jordan, and Democratic secretary-of-state nominee Rep. Bee Nguyen.
Tuesday’s court filings revealed the possible direction of the investigation into the crimes connected to Trump’s obsession in Georgia after the 2020 election. This interest was fuelled by several figures, including Giuliani or Eastman, who offered dubious legal justifications to undo Trump’s defeat.
According to court documents, Giuliani presented false claims regarding Georgia’s election in an informal hearing held in December 2020. This was despite several claims being debunked by local and state officials.
The summons states that “despite this, the Witness made further statements to the public as well as in subsequent legislative hearings claiming widespread voter fraud”
Robert Costello, Giuliani’s lawyer, stated that he had not been served with any subpoenas and therefore has no comment.
Eastman, who suggested that Mike Pence, then-Vice President, could reverse the 2020 election results, and according to the House Jan. 6, committee, also requested a presidential pardon from the president, said that state legislators could disregard Georgia’s election results, and appoint another slate of electors.
Jenna Ellis is another name Tuesday. The district attorney claims she authored memos citing disputed theories to support the plan to have Pence reject voters from Georgia. Kenneth Chesebro is a lawyer who allegedly collaborated with the Georgia GOP chair to arrange for 16 people to meet secretly in the state capitol building as fake electors.
According to court documents, Chesebro wrote two documents supporting the plan and provided a Microsoft Word template for the fake election plot. He also told the state party that he was working alongside Giuliani in order to execute the plan.
Georgia played a significant role in the fallout of the presidential election and the subsequent insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The House committee that investigated the attack has held hearings featuring several Georgia witnesses. They are trying to explain how Trump’s refusal of defeat led to the violent attempt at stopping the Electoral College certificate.
Raffensperger, his top deputy, and a former Fulton County worker at the polls, testified to the negative effects of false claims about the election made by individuals such as Giuliani. He also mentioned death threats and disruptions.
Georgia’s special grand jury cannot indict individuals, but it will make recommendations for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Wilis on how to proceed.
