The 2020 Georgia election investigation refers to an ongoing criminal investigation into alleged efforts by then-president Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the certified victory of Democratic candidate Joe Biden and award the state's electoral college votes to Trump. Fulton County, Georgia district attorney Fani Willis launched an investigation in February 2021, leading to a special grand jury in January 2023 recommending indictments, followed by a grand jury that indicted Trump and 18 allies in August 2023. The charges include conspiracy, racketeering and other felonies.

The investigation scope includes Trump pressuring Brad Raffensperger, the Republican Georgia Secretary of State, in a recorded phone call to "find" sufficient ballots for him to win the state. Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and others met with state legislators to provide specious allegations of election fraud to encourage the legislature to convene a special session to reconsider its certified electoral vote that found Biden had won. Sixteen Trump supporters convened to create fraudulent slates of Trump electors. Republican senator and ardent Trump supporter Lindsey Graham asked the secretary of state if he could discard legally-cast ballots.

The investigation examines one facet of many attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election, others of which are being investigated by the Justice Department and the Smith special counsel investigation.

Background

Accusations of electoral fraud
Throughout his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly sowed doubt on the election certification process. Campaigning in Colorado, Trump claimed that the Democratic Party "[rigged] the election at polling booths". Trump claimed that widespread voter fraud had occurred in the 2016 presidential election in a series of tweets in October 2016. These statements were echoed by Rudy Giuliani, Trump's legal advisor.

Attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election

Following Trump's defeat in the 2020 presidential election, an outside advisor to Trump known as Kenneth Chesebro began drafting a plot to purport Trump supporters as electors. Chesebro justified the plot using precedent set in the 1960 United States presidential election, by certifying a slate of electors declaring Trump the winner. Attempting to overturn the results of the election, Trump called Georgia governor Brian Kemp, asking him to convene Georgia's legislators to select electors that would support him in the election, and requested an audit of absentee ballots. Georgia certified the results of the election multiple times and reaffirmed Joe Biden's win in the state, including a final time on December 7, prior to the Electoral College vote a week later.

Trump–Raffensperger phone call

Trump called Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia Secretary of State, on January 2, 2021, and pressured him to alter the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Trump's call with Raffensperger was obtained by The Washington Post the following day.

Investigation
Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, began a criminal investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election on February 10, 2021. Willis began interviewing election officials and staff working under Raffensperger in September 2021.

2022 special grand jury
Willis requested a special grand jury for her investigation into Trump on January 20, 2022. The Superior Court of Fulton County granted the request four days later. The special grand jury was authorized to write a report but not to indict anyone.

About 75 witnesses testified.

Subpoenas 
Multiple subpoenas were issued on July 5, 2022.  Some were sent to members of Trump's legal team, including Kenneth Chesebro, Cleta Michell, Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, and John Eastman. Giuliani was deposed on August 17, Ellis on August 25, and Eastman on August 31. Another went to former Capitol Hill counsel Jacki Pick Deason, but a Texas court said she did not have to testify. U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham was also subpoenaed that day, and after the subpoena was upheld by a federal judge, an appeals court, and the U.S. Supreme Court, he was deposed on November 22.

Later subpoenas included Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (subpoenaed August 4, deposed November 15) former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (subpoenaed October 26, deposed), and former national security advisor Michael Flynn (subpoenaed November 15, deposed December 8).

February 2023 report 
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered the release of three sections pertaining to the special grand jury's report on February 13, 2023. The report was released on February 16; while largely sealed, the report concluded that some of the witnesses may have committed perjury. The rest of the report may be released on September 8.

Allegation of defense attorneys misconduct
In April 2023, Willis alleged two attorneys representing ten Georgia Republicans under investigation for acting as fake electors of falsely representing they had informed their clients of immunity deals offered by investigators though they had not. Willis sought in a court filing to have one of the attorneys removed from the case. One Republican under investigation who was not represented by the two attorneys had accepted an immunity deal. One of the attorneys denied the allegation, while another was not available for comment.

Immunity agreements 
At least eight of the sixteen Republicans who allegedly participated in the fake electors scheme had accepted immunity deals to cooperate with Willis by May 2003.

2023 grand jury
After Willis hinted that an indictment might come during the first half of August 2023, another grand jury was seated on July 11, this one empowered to vote to bring charges against Trump.

Indictment 

The grand jury indicted Trump and 18 allies on August 14. This followed a day of testimony by witnesses including former Georgia state senator Jen Jordan, former state representative Bee Nguyen, former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan and independent journalist George Chidi. Gabe Sterling, a Georgia official for the Secretary of State, was also seen in the courthouse that day. The charges against Trump include racketeering and other felonies. Willis gave the 19 co-defendants the opportunity to voluntarily surrender no later than noon on Friday, August 25, 2023. Each defendant is charged with one count of violating the Georgia version of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and at least one other charge. 

The co-defendants are:

 Former U.S. President Donald Trump
 Rudy Giuliani (attorney)
 Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows
 Georgia State Sen. Shawn Still
 John Eastman (attorney)
 Sidney Powell (attorney)
 Jenna Ellis (attorney)
 Bob Cheeley (attorney)
 Ray Smith III (attorney)
 Kenneth Chesebro (attorney)
 Former assistant U.S. attorney general Jeffrey Clark
 GOP strategist Michael Roman
 Former Coffee County elections supervisor Misty Hampton
 Former Coffee County GOP chairwoman Cathy Latham
 Atlanta bail bondsman Scott G. Hall
 Publicist Trevian Kutti
 Illinois pastor Steve Lee
 Harrison Floyd, former candidate for a U.S. House seat and director of Black Voices for Trump 
 David Shafer, Georgia Republican Party chair and alleged fake elector
Trump and Giuliani face 13 counts each. The other defendants face fewer charges.

There is overlap with the co-conspirators mentioned in the federal indictment of Trump issued two weeks earlier. In the federal indictment, Giuliani was co-conspirator No. #1, Eastman was #2, Powell was #3, Clark was #4, and Chesebro was #5. All five of these people, though not charged in the federal prosecution, are charged as co-defendants in the Georgia prosecution. (Co-conspirator No. #6 in the federal indictment has not yet been conclusively identified by the public.) The indictment references thirty unidentified and unindicted co-conspirators.

When the indictment was unsealed, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told reporters she would propose a trial date within the next six months and would seek to try all 19 co-defendants together.

Threats and security
At the end of July, Willis disclosed to county leaders a threatening email she had received, calling her a "corrupt nigger" and a "Jim Crow Democrat whore"; "I guess I am sending this as a reminder that you should stay alert over the month of August and stay safe," Willis wrote.

On August 1, two weeks before the indictment, county sheriff Pat Labat said normal procedures, including mug shot and fingerprints, would be followed for Trump were he to be indicted.

Other investigations
Georgia Lieutenant governor Burt Jones was one of thirty unidentified and unindicted co-conspirators referenced in the Willis indictment. Jones was a state senator in 2020 and allegedly played a prominent role in seeking to replace official electors with Trump electors. After reviewing the Willis indictment, Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia, said he planned to appoint a special prosecutor to examine Jones's activities.

Responses

Trump's response

Upon the February 2023 release of excerpts of the special grand jury report, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung defended Trump and the phone call made between Trump and Raffensperger.

On July 14, Trump attorneys petitioned two courts to end the investigation. The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously rejected this petition the next business day, and Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney also rejected it on July 31. Trump's team had asked to throw out evidence obtained by the special grand jury, ban prosecutors from presenting evidence to the charging grand jury and disqualify Willis from any related proceedings, alleging Trump would suffer "a violation of his fundamental constitutional rights" as he sought the Republican presidential nomination.

Other responses
In February 2023, Timothy J. Heaphy, the top investigator on the January 6 House select committee, said he expected "indictments both in Georgia and at the federal level.”

In May 2023, Georgia Republicans enacted a law that created a commission empowered to discipline or remove state prosecutors who were alleged to have violated their duties. As he signed the bill creating the commission, governor Brian Kemp said it would curb "far-left prosecutors" who are "making our communities less safe." State senator Chad Dixon announced in August that he would file a complaint against Willis when the commission commenced in October, alleging she had weaponized the justice system against political opponents with an "unabashed goal to become some sort of leftist celebrity."

On July 18, 2023, after the grand jury was seated, attorneys for David Shafer wrote to Willis arguing that Shafer's action was protected under the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. Willis had already identified Shafer as a target of the investigation.

References

Electon investigation
Electon investigation
Electon investigation
Electon investigation
2020s controversies in the United States
Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election
Donald Trump controversies
Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign
Criminal investigation
Election controversies