Parts of a report by a special grand jury that investigated whether then-US president Donald Trump and his allies committed any crimes while trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia have been made public.
The report’s introduction and conclusion, along with a section in which the grand jurors expressed concerns that some witnesses may have lied under oath, were released Thursday.
But any recommendations on potential criminal charges have not been revealed at the moment.
The partial release was ordered on Monday by Fulton county superior court judge Robert McBurney, who oversaw the special grand jury.
During a hearing last month, prosecutors urged him not to release the report until they decide on charges, while media organisations pushed for the entire report to be made public immediately.
Mr McBurney wrote in his order that it is not appropriate to release the full report.
The investigation is one of several that could have serious legal consequences for the former president as he tries to persuade voters to return him to the White House in 2024.
Over the course of about seven months, the grand jurors heard from 75 witnesses, among them Trump allies including former New York mayor and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Mr Trump, who has publicly refused to accept that Joe Biden won the November 2020 election, has seemed particularly bothered by his loss in Georgia and what he saw as a failure of Republican state elected officials to fight for him.
Georgia fell to Mr Biden by about 12,000 votes, making him the first Democratic presidential candidate to win there since 1992.
Mr Trump and his allies have made unproven claims of widespread voter fraud but state and federal officials have consistently said the election was secure and there was no evidence of significant fraud.
Based on witnesses called to testify before the special grand jury, it is clear that Willis is focusing on several areas. Those include:
- Phone calls by Trump and others to Georgia officials in the wake of the 2020 election.
- A group of 16 Georgia Republicans who signed a certificate in December 2020 falsely stating that Trump had won the state and that they were the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors.
- False allegations of election fraud made during meetings of state legislators at the Georgia Capitol in December 2020.
- The copying of data and software from election equipment in rural Coffee County by a computer forensics team hired by Trump allies.
- Alleged attempts to pressure Fulton County elections worker Ruby Freeman into falsely confessing to election fraud.
- The abrupt resignation of the US attorney in Atlanta in January 2021.
