Trump's Legal Fate in Georgia Now Lies With Local DA

The special grand jury in Atlanta that has been investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies committed any crimes while trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia has finished its work, bringing the case closer to possible criminal charges against Trump and others. Per the AP, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who was overseeing the panel, issued a two-page order Monday dissolving the special grand jury, saying it had completed its work and submitted a final report. The lengthy investigation has been one of several around the country that threaten legal peril for Trump as he mounts a third bid for the White House.

The decision whether to seek an indictment from a regular grand jury will be up to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Willis spokesperson Jeff DiSantis said the office had no comment on the completion of the panel's work. McBurney wrote in his order that the special grand jury recommended that its report be made public. He scheduled a hearing for Jan. 24 to determine whether all or part of the report should be released and said the district attorney’s office and news outlets would be given an opportunity to make arguments at that hearing.

Since June, the special grand jury has heard testimony from dozens of witnesses, including numerous close Trump associates such as Rudy Giuliani and Sen. Lindsey Graham, as well as high-ranking Georgia officials like Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Willis opened the investigation in early 2021, after a recording surfaced of a Jan. 2, 2021, call between Trump and Raffensperger in which the president suggested the state's top elections official could "find" the votes needed to overturn his loss in the state. Since then Willis has focused on several different areas, including phone calls made to Georgia officials by Trump and his allies, false statements made by Trump associates before Georgia legislative committees, alleged attempts to pressure a Fulton County election worker, and a breach of election equipment in a rural south Georgia county. (More Election 2020 stories.)