Fulton County DA requests special grand jury in Trump election investigation

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) on Thursday put in a request for a special grand jury to assist in the probe of former President Trump's attempts to overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential election results.

The letter to Chief Judge Christopher Brasher states that the district attorney's office made efforts to interview several witnesses, but many of them refused to cooperate without a subpoena requiring them to do so, including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R). Willis wrote that Raffensperger is "an essential witness to the investigation."

Willis wrote that the special grand jury is needed because it can be "impaneled by the Court for any time period," it would empower the matter to be reviewed and that an investigation focus would be appropriate for the situation's "complexity."

Willis included a transcript of Raffensperger speaking with Chuck Todd on NBC's "Meet the Press" when Raffensperger said, "So if she wants to interview me, there's a process for that and I will gladly participate in that because I want to make sure that I follow the law, follow the Constitution. And when you get a grand jury summons, you respond to it."

Previously, Raffensperger wrote in his November-released book that Trump was threatening him when he asked Raffensperger to "find" enough votes to overturn President Biden's victory in Georgia.

"I felt then - and still believe today - that this was a threat," Raffensperger wrote. "Others obviously thought so, too, because some of Trump's more radical followers have responded as if it was their duty to carry out this threat."