The forewoman on the Georgia grand jury that could indict Donald Trump laughed and said she ‘kind of wanted’ to subpoena him just to get the chance to swear him in – on a bizarre media tour that is already causing headaches for prosecutors.
In just one of her multiple interviews about a usually shrouded process, forewoman Emily Kohrs told MSNBC why she personally wanted to hear from Trump.
‘I wanted to hear from the former president, but honestly, I wanted to subpoena the former president because I got to swear everybody in,’ she said. ‘And so I thought it would be really cool to get 60 seconds with President Trump, of me looking at him and be like, “Do you solemnly swear,” and me getting to swear him in,’ she continued.
She said she ‘kind of just thought that would be an awesome moment,’ smiling.
There are now concerns her media tour could jeopardize any potential indictments against Trump and his MAGA allies.
Emily Kohrs, a forewoman of the Atlanta-based grand jury that investigated former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, has been on a media tour, dropping hints about indictments that could be coming
‘I wanted to hear from the former president, but honestly, I wanted to subpoena the former president because I got to swear everybody in,’ she said. ‘And so I thought it would be really cool to get 60 seconds with President Trump, of me looking at him and be like, “Do you solemnly swear,” and me getting to swear him in,’ she continued
Former federal prosecutor Elie Hoing told Anderson Cooper Kohr’s interviews were a ‘horrible idea’ and a ‘nightmare’ for prosecutors.
‘Mark my words, Donald Trump’s team is going to make a motion if there’s an indictment to dismiss that indictment based on grand jury impropriety’, he added.
‘She’s not supposed to be talking about anything, really.’
Lawyers to witnesses who have appeared before the grand jury, which gets to recommend charges, are already preparing to move to try to quash any indictments, based on her public statements.
Kohrs also gave comments to CNN about the nature of indictments that could be coming.
Fulton County DA Fani Willis has been probing conduct related the effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 elections, including the former president’s infamous phone call with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to just ‘find 11,780 votes.’
‘Can you imagine doing this for eight months and not coming out with a whole list’ of recommended indictments, Kohrs told CNN. ‘It’s not a short list. It’s not.’
‘There may be some names on that list that you wouldn’t expect. But the big name that everyone keeps asking me about – I don’t think you will be shocked,’ she said – in comments that appeared to point to a possible indictment of Trump himself.
She also said in a later interview to the network that indictments could surpass a dozen.
‘I believe so. That’s probably a good assumption,’ she said.
Former President Donald Trump bashed the interviews and called the proceedings a ‘kangaroo court’
Trump again called his phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, whom he asked to ‘find 11,780 votes,’ a ‘perfect’ phone call
Trump posted Wednesday calling the case ‘ridiculous’ case he called a ‘strictly political continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt of all time.’
‘Now you have an extremely energetic young woman, the (get this!) “foreperson” of the Racist D.A.’s Special Grand Jury, going around and doing a Media Tour revealing, incredibly, the Grand Jury’s inner workings & thoughts. This is not JUSTICE, this is an illegal Kangaroo Court. Atlanta is leading the Nation in Murder and other Violent Crimes. All I did is make TWO PERFECT PHONE CALLS!!!’
That was a reference to his call to the top state election official stating, ‘I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,’ amid a recount and fight over the election results in a state that went for Joe Biden.
He has also used the term to apply to his phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky seeking an investigation of Hunter Biden. It was part of his first Senate impeachment.
Former assistant U.S. attorney Elie Honig, speaking of the media tour on CNN, called it ‘a prosecutor’s nightmare.’ He said it was a ‘horrible idea’ and speculated prosecutors are ‘wincing.’
The TV hits came after Kohrs said ‘one or more witnesses’ will be indicted as first reported by the New York Times
‘It is not a short list,’ the forewoman, Emily Kohrs said, adding that the jury had appended eight pages of legal code ‘that we cited at various points in the report.’
Following last week’s release of portion of the report, there are still seven sections that remain sealed with indictment recommendations, according to Kohrs.
Those sections are silent on key details, including who the panel believes committed perjury and what other specific charges should be pursued. But it marks the first time the grand jurors’ recommendations for criminal charges tied to the case have been made public. And it’s a reminder of the intensifying legal challenges facing the former president as he ramps up his third White House bid amid multiple legal investigations.
Former President Donald Trump claims ‘Total exoneration,’ following the partial release of the report last though it did no such thing and portions having to do with recommended charges are still secret.
Lawyer to former President Donald J. Trump and former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani testified in the Georgia grand jury probe of Trump’s election interference attempts
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. said, ‘I’m confident I testified openly and honestly’ before the Georgia special grand jury about possible election interference
Trump is also under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for holding classified documents at his Florida estate.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said since the beginning of the investigation two years ago that she was interested in a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call in which Trump suggested to Raffensperger that he could ‘find’ the votes needed to overturn his loss in the state.
‘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.’
Trump has said repeatedly that his call with Raffensperger was ‘perfect,’ and he felt ‘very confident’ that he would not be indicted.
In fact, he claimed on his social media platform, Truth Social, that the release had given him ‘Total exoneration,’ though it did no such thing and portions having to do with recommended charges are still secret.
The grand jury, which Willis requested to aid her investigation, was seated in May and submitted its report to Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney on Dec. 15. The panel does not have the power to issue indictments. Instead, its report contains recommendations for Willis, who will ultimately decide whether to seek one or more indictments from a regular grand jury.
Over the course of about seven months, the special grand jurors heard from 75 witnesses, among them Trump allies including former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Top Georgia officials, such as Raffensperger and Kemp, also appeared before the panel.
Graham recently told reporters that he has not been contacted by authorities regarding his testimony. ‘I’m confident I testified openly and honestly,’ he said.
McBurney wrote in his 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.
