Donald Trump and Fulton County DA Fani Willis (Photo of Trump via Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images/ Photo of Willis via screenshot of video on DA’s website)
The Georgia district attorney presiding over a wide-ranging probe of 2020 election-related crimes urged a judge not to release a special grand jury’s report on the investigation, arguing that it could compromise “future defendants’ rights.”
“In this case, the state understands the media’s interest and the world’s interest — but we have to be mindful of protecting future defendants’ rights,” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) declared on Tuesday.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said at the beginning of the hearing that the jury voted for the report to be public, though he said that this determination did not end the matter.
By design, McBurney noted, the special grand jury cannot issue indictments, only findings disseminated in a written report.
“Special purpose grand juries are different. They last longer. They investigate in a different way. They cannot hand down a bill of indictment. or anything like that. But in lots of ways, they’re grand juries,” the judge stated.
A separate panel or panels, however, could determine whether to follow through on the special grand jury’s recommendations.
The day before the hearing, more than a dozen print and television news outlets filed a 19-page legal brief — with 90 pages of attachments — calling for that report to be made public.
“The public interest in the Report is extraordinary, and there are no countervailing interests sufficient to overcome the presumption,” lead attorney Thomas M. Clyde wrote.
The news organizations include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, ABC, The Associated Press, Bloomberg, CNN, WSB-TV, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Athens Banner-Herald, The Augusta Chronicle, the Savannah Morning News, WANE, The New York Times Company, WXIA-TV, and Yahoo News — as well as certain of their parent companies.
They want the report to be released in full, unredacted form.
“There is no basis for sealing here,” the brief concludes. “This investigation has been a matter of profound public interest that goes to the heart of the nation’s democratic forms of government. Much of the matters before the special purpose grand jury are already public knowledge through related federal and state court proceedings and Congressional hearings. There is quite simply no ‘clear and convincing proof’ that sealing, either in whole or in part, is warranted.”
Since opening more than a year ago, the special grand jury investigation has roped in prominent figures in Trump’s orbit, including former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, ex-aide and pundit Boris Epshteyn, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and others. Some Trump allies resisted subpoenas, leading to protracted litigation.
This is a developing story.
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