The Fulton County, Georgia, judge presiding over the special grand jury report on former President Donald Trump and his allies' interference in the 2020 election has ordered that it be released—in part, not in full.
Judge Robert McBurney made his decision Monday after several media organizations pressured him to make the report public. Prosecutors argued for keeping it private, The Associated Press reports.
Three parts of the report will be made public on Thursday, according to The Washington Post. Those include the panel’s introduction and conclusion as well as a section where the grand jury “discusses its concern that some witnesses may have lied under oath during their testimony to the grand jury.”
RELATED STORY: Report: Special grand jury in Georgia investigating Trump for possible election crimes complete
The Post reports that during a Jan. 24 hearing, Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis asked the report to remain closed in order to continue her ongoing criminal investigation and to protect the “defendants” in the case.
“We want to make sure that everyone is treated fairly, and we think for future defendants to be treated fairly, it is not appropriate at this time to have this report released,” Willis said during the hearing.
Outlets such as The Associated Press and others claimed the full report should be made public.
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Tom Clyde, the attorney representing the media, said, “The discomfort of the prosecuting authority in disclosing court records isn’t enough to make them sealed… It has to be significant, identifiable evidence that’s going to cause a problem.”
The 26-member special grand jury investigated Trump and others for crimes related to efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss.
The group was given authority to “investigate any and all facts and circumstances relating directly or indirectly to alleged violations of the laws of the State of Georgia.”
Willis’ investigation began in February 2021 with a focus on a leaked phone conversation Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him “find” him the “11,780 votes” he needed in order to win in Georgia.
The probe then widened its investigation and began looking into issues such as calls made by Trump and others in his inner circle to Georgia officials, the appointment of fake “alternate” Republican electors, the pressure and harassment of 2020 election workers by former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, and the breach of election machines in Coffee County, Georgia, to name a few.
As Daily Kos’ Laura Clawson wrote, “Trump’s lawyers are insisting that Trump will be vindicated. Because he was never called in or subpoenaed by this grand jury, they say, ‘we can assume that the grand jury did their job and looked at the facts and the law, as we have, and concluded there were no violations of the law by President Trump.’”
Trump and his cronies may not fear Willis, but they ought to. And the Justice Department can’t be ignored, either: A special counsel, appointed by Attorney Merrick Garland, has issued subpoenas to Trump campaign associates and election officials in Georgia, the Post reports.
Willis has yet to make her decisions on whether or not to charge Trump criminally.