Fulton County D.A. to announce charges in 2020 Georgia election probe this summer

The prosecutor in Atlanta investigating whether then-President Trump and his allies illegally meddled in the 2020 election in Georgia said Monday she expects to announce charging decisions this summer.

Fulton County Dist. Atty. Fani Willis wrote in a letter to Sheriff Pat Labat that she expects to announce the decisions during the court term that runs from July 11 to Sept. 1 and urged “heightened security.” She said she was notifying Labat so he would have time to prepare for adequate security around the courthouse.

“Open-source intelligence has indicated the announcement of decisions in this case may provoke a significant public reaction,” Willis wrote, adding that this may include “acts of violence that will endanger the safety of our community.”

She wrote that her team would be in touch to talk about arrangements.

The letter was first reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which reported that similar ones were sent to Atlanta’s police chief and the head of the Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency.

The Atlanta Police Department confirmed receipt of a letter from Willis and said it would “continue to monitor the potential for unrest throughout our city.”

“We stand ready to respond to demonstrations to ensure the safety of those in our communities and those exercising their 1st Amendment right, or to address illegal activity, should the need arise,” a department statement said.

Willis has been investigating whether Trump and his allies broke any laws as they tried to overturn his narrow election loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia.

She opened the investigation in early 2021, shortly after a recording of a phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was made public. In that call, Trump suggested that the top elections official “find” the votes needed to overturn his loss in the state.

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It has become clear since then that the scope of her investigation has expanded far beyond that call.

Trump, who last fall announced a 2024 bid for the White House, already faces criminal charges in New York. A Manhattan grand jury in March indicted him on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush-money payments to a porn actor during the 2016 presidential election.

New York police had said ahead of his arraignment there that they were ready for large protests by the former president’s supporters, who believe charges against him are politically motivated. While hundreds of onlookers, protesters, journalists and politicians did show up, fears that unruly crowds would cause chaos proved unfounded.

Meanwhile, in Washington, federal grand juries are investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election and the potential mishandling of classified documents by the former president at his Florida estate. Justice Department prosecutors have questioned numerous Trump administration officials before the grand jury. It’s not clear when those probes — both overseen by a special counsel, appointed last fall — might conclude or if anyone will be charged.

Trump’s legal team in Georgia — Drew Findling, Jennifer Little and Marissa Goldberg — said in a statement that Willis’ announcement to law enforcement “does nothing more than set forth a potential timetable” for decisions she had already said were coming.

“On behalf of President Trump, we filed a substantive legal challenge for which the D.A.’s Office has yet to respond,” the statement said. “We look forward to litigating that comprehensive motion which challenges the deeply flawed legal process and the ability of the conflicted D.A’s Office to make any charging decisions at all.”

Trump’s legal team last month filed a motion seeking to toss out a report drafted by a special grand jury that was impaneled to aid Willis’ investigation. The team also asked the court to prohibit Willis from continuing to investigate or prosecute Trump. A judge gave Willis until May 1 to respond.