Trump election probe special grand jury to be seated

ATLANTA (AP) — Potential grand jurors are scheduled to arrive at the Fulton County courthouse in Atlanta on Monday for the seating of a special grand jury in the investigation into whether former President Donald Trump and others illegally tried to influence the 2020 election in Georgia.

The investigation has been underway since early last year, and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis earlier this year requested a special grand jury to help it along. In a letter to the chief judge of the county Superior Court, she noted that the special grand jury would be able to issue subpoenas to people who have refused to cooperate otherwise.

The chief judge ordered the special grand jury to be seated for a period of up to a year, beginning Monday. It will be made up of 16 to 23 people called from the county master jury list. Special grand juries focus on investigating a single topic and making recommendations to the district attorney, who then decides whether to seek an indictment from a regular grand jury.

Because of the intense public interest in this case, the court has made arrangements for at least parts of the special grand jury seating process to be broadcast to the news media and public. Once the special grand jury is seated, however, everything it does will happen in secret.

Willis has confirmed that her team is looking into a January 2021 phone call in which Trump pushed Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the votes needed for him to win the state. She has also said they’re looking at a November 2020 phone call between U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and Raffensperger, the abrupt resignation of the U.S. attorney in Atlanta on Jan. 4, 2021, and comments made during December 2020 Georgia legislative committee hearings on the election.