Former President Donald Trump‘s lawyers say the 2020 election inquiry in Georgia has become jeopardized, raising the question of whether the investigating district attorney’s team should be removed from the case.
Attorneys Drew Findling and Jennifer Little appeared for an interview with CBS News after the leader of an Atlanta-based special grand jury stirred controversy with a media tour. But the outspoken special grand jury forewoman, Emily Kohrs, isn’t the problem so much as the entire inquiry, they argued to reporter Robert Costa.
“This 30-year-old foreperson to us has actually provided us a lens and made us aware that every suspicion we had as to this questionable process was, in fact, a reality,” Little said in the interview that aired Sunday on “Face the Nation.”
Little declared they have “lost 100% confidence” in the investigation into whether Trump and his allies illegally interfered in the last presidential contest. “We feel this process has been compromised,” Little added.
Trump's lawyers now say the Georgia-based investigation into the former president and his allies has been "compromised" following recent public remarks by the special grand jury forewoman.
"We've lost 100 percent confidence in this process," Drew Findling tells @costareports. pic.twitter.com/mcfCJQpulC
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) February 26, 2023
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat, may soon use the special grand jury’s findings to pursue charges by impaneling a separate, regular grand jury. After the special grand jury finished its months-long effort, which roped in 75 witnesses, Willis told a judge last month, “decisions are imminent.”
The special grand jury’s report remains mostly under seal, but Kohrs divulged how it recommends multiple indictments. She also said despite her desire to subpoena Trump, the panel did not do so because of considerations about limited time and resources.
Several legal experts warned the interviews given by Kohrs might create problems for prosecutors putting together any criminal cases.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who oversaw the special grand jury, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) that jurors cannot discuss their deliberations but are not prohibited from “talking about the fruit of their deliberations.”
Findling said Trump’s legal team has “no chagrin” toward Kohrs in particular but rather the appearance of a “relationship” between prosecuting attorneys and the members of this grand jury.
“There cannot be a relationship,” he said. “When the foreperson uses the word ‘we’ that lets you know there’s a relationship there. When she says in interviews ‘certain battles were not worth us battling,’ it’s not the special purpose grand jury that’s litigating, it’s the district attorney’s office.”
Findling also previewed what comes next when it comes to the Trump legal team exploring its options.
“Are the results of that special purpose grand jury to be crumbled up like a piece of paper and thrown into a waste paper basket? Our options are, can this district attorney’s office continue to be part of this case? We have to legally research all of those issues,” he said.
Little said she found Kohrs’ explanation for why Trump was not subpoenaed “surprising,” attributing it to a lack of diligence. She also said the legal team stands firmly behind Trump’s claims that he did nothing wrong.
“We absolutely do not believe that our client did anything wrong, and if any indictments were to come down, those are faulty indictments,” Little said. “We will absolutely fight anything tooth and nail.”
