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Fani Willis, Fulton County DA in Georgia

Source: Fulton County Government / Youtube

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis took one more step closer to bringing charges against Donald Trump and his acolytes for alleged interference in the Georgia 2020 election. Willis has been steadily building a case over the past year, giving Trump more consideration than a Republican Secretary of State trying to persecute non-partisan groups distributing water to people at the polls. 

As reported by the Associated Press, Willis submitted a request for a special grand jury to be impaneled. It will begin May 2 and could last up to a year. (Read the full Associated Press article here).  

Her request was approved by most of the judges on the Fulton County Superior Court. The scope of Willis’ inquiry includes the call Trump made to the secretary of state after losing Georgia in the 2020 election and a November 2020 call Sen. Lindsey Graham made to Raffensperger to put pressure on him. Willis’ inquiry would also look at former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s false claims in efforts to overturn the election. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also noted that the investigation is digging into an Atlanta-based U.S. Attorney’s “abrupt resignation.” 

The New York Times noted that Trump is potentially facing two criminal proceedings in Atlanta and New York City. The Times quoted Willis saying the grand jury was needed because several witnesses would not cooperate.  

“We have made efforts to interview multiple witnesses and gather evidence, and a significant number of witnesses and prospective witnesses have refused to cooperate with the investigation absent a subpoena requiring their testimony,” Willis wrote in her request to the chief judge of the Fulton County Superior Court.  

According to Willis, America’s “hero” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has refused to cooperate with the investigation. Raffensperger was celebrated for “standing up” to Trump for refusing to fix the election and find his candidate more votes.  

He also released the former president’s call trying to pressure him ahead of the Jan. 2021 Senate runoff. Numerous national outlets celebrated him and gave him a platform. But the secretary of state is now refusing to comply with Willis’ investigation into one of the most blatant attempts to subvert democracy in the modern era. 

It seems like Raffensperger is more interested in protecting his reelection prospects and going after voting rights groups for expanding ballot access than addressing the egregious and potentially illegal actions of the former president.

In her request, Willis noted that Raffensperger publicly said he would comply with a grand jury in an interview. In true fashion, Trump and Graham say they have done nothing wrong. Trump recently referenced the call to Raffensperger, claiming it was “perfect.”  

Lasting approximately an hour, the call starts with Trump complaining that more people were at his rallies than actually casting ballots. He made several false claims about the state of the election in Georgia, beginning with the fabricated assertion that 250-300,000 votes were introduced into the Fulton County ballot count.  

Trump used the false claims of massive amounts of fraudulent votes to justify his request that Raffensperger balance the scales. Raffensperger tries to appease Trump during the call by explaining what steps they took. But Trump and his team continued to pressure and push about the false allegations of outstanding ballots and wanted Raffensperger to fix it.

 

SEE ALSO:  

Meet Fani Willis, The Latest Powerful Black Woman Moving To Hold Trump Accountable 

Fed-Up Black Mississippi Senators Walkout Of Vote On Anti-Critical Race Theory Bill 

Brief Timeline Of Events Since Congressional Republicans Supported Reauthorizing The Voting Rights Act In 2006
US-HISTORY-RACISM-POLITICS-RIGHTS
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