Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said former President Donald Trump and his allies would be charged with crimes related to alleged interference in Georgia’s 2020 election this summer.
In a letter to local law enforcement, Willis revealed that she will announce possible criminal charges between July 11 and September 1, and asked for “heightened security and preparedness” in anticipation of potential unrest.
Several legal observers have said that the letters suggest that Willis will seek charges against the former president, and former Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter believes that “it obviously seems to imply the case against Trump will be presented to a grand jury.”
Porter, a Republican, said he was surprised that prosecutors are waiting until July to present a potential case to a grand jury.
“I thought she’d do it faster,” said Porter. “But there is probably a tremendous amount of documentary evidence in terms of emails and texts they are having to go through.”
Trump’s legal team responded to the news by stating that the correspondence does “nothing more than set for a potential timetable” for charging decisions.
Trump’s attorneys have previously filed a motion seeking to dismiss Willis from the case, as well as any evidence compiled by the special grand jury.
“On behalf of President Trump, we filed a substantive legal challenge for which the DA’s Office has yet to respond,” said attorneys Drew Findling, Jennifer Little and Marissa Goldberg. “We look forward to litigating that comprehensive motion which challenges the deeply flawed legal process and the ability of the conflicted DA’s Office to make any charging decisions at all.”
Willis launched the investigation more than two years ago, and since then, Fulton authorities have ramped up security measures in response to the investigation.
Last May, law enforcement deployed a SWAT team to protect jurors as they returned to their cars, and before jurors interviewed Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, they assigned heavily armed officers to guard the courthouse steps and brought in a bomb-sniffing dog.
This latest announcement from Willis has caused concern about potential violent unrest, similar to the events of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection that Trump promoted.
However, Willis has assured local law enforcement that she is taking all necessary measures to ensure public safety.
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