‘Witnesses may have lied in Trump investigation in Georgia’

There may have been perjury by some witnesses in a legal inquiry into whether former President Trump broke the law in his attempts to influence the outcome of the 2020 election. This is stated in the report of the grand jury conducting the investigation. A judge in the state of Georgia released parts of the report today.

The investigation has been running for two years. It is one of several investigations that could have legal ramifications for Trump, who wants to return to the White House in 2024.

The parts now released do not show whether the jury thinks Trump or others involved should be indicted. Other parts must still remain secret from the judge because those involved have had no opportunity to defend themselves. The jury itself cannot indict anyone, but it can give an opinion on this.

Only the introduction and conclusion have been released, in addition to the part in which the jurors express concerns about the possibility that some witnesses have lied under oath, without clarifying who is involved. Perjury is grounds for prosecution. Trump himself has not been questioned, the investigation focused on people close to him who may have been involved in attempts to influence the election results.

‘Find Voices’

The investigation was launched shortly after Trump attempted to have a Georgia official award victory in the 2020 presidential election to him, not Joe Biden. For example, he would have asked to “find” more than 11,000 votes for him. All this took place in January 2021, two months after the presidential election.

The special grand jury concluded its investigation in January. Members questioned dozens of witnesses and prominent Republicans, including Trump’s former attorney Rudy Giuliani, Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp, and South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.

In the now released parts of the investigative report, the members also make it clear that no fraud was committed in the 2020 election, as Trump has repeatedly claimed. That had already been established a few times before: including by several courts and by the ‘January 6 committee’, the parliamentary committee that investigated the storming of the Capitol.

Media have been pushing for the release of the report in recent times, but prosecutors actually did not want to do that until they have made a decision on the charges in any indictment. A judge ruled this week that a small part of the report could be made public.