A Georgia grand jury will likely hear Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ case focused on the efforts to overturn the 2020 election result in the state next week, according to multiple news reports.
CNN reported Willis is expected to take two days to present her case to jurors.
Willis had previously said charging decisions would be delivered by the end of this month, as anticipation builds over whether thrice-indicted Donald Trump will face yet more criminal charges over his bid to stay in power despite being defeated by Joe Biden.
Trump seems to be prepared for that outcome, saying Tuesday: “I should have four [indictments] by sometime next week.”
George Chidi, an independent journalist, and Jen Jordan, a former state senator, who have both received subpoenas to appear before the grand jury, said Tuesday afternoon “that they had not received 48-hour notices to appear this week,” according to The New York Times, indicating that the jurors won’t hear the case until next week.
The Fulton County DA’s office has not commented on the reports.
Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican, also confirmed this week that he has received a grand jury subpoena.
Security measures have already been stepped up outside the Fulton County courthouse in anticipation of indictment announcements. Police officers surrounded the building and barriers have also been set up.
During an earlier interview Willis had indicated her work on the case was nearly done.
“We’ve been working for two and a half years,” Willis told Atlanta TV station 11Alive late last month. “We’re ready to go.”
Willis opened her investigation in early 2021, following the release of a phone call then-President Donald Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, pressuring him to “find 11,780 votes” to reverse his loss in the state.
She convened a special grand jury that worked over seven months and interviewed 75 witnesses in their probe into the 2020 election. That grand jury recommended charges in the case, but had no power to issue indictments.
Trump’s efforts to stop Willis’ investigation also failed in court after a judge ruled he had no legal standing to do so.
“While being the subject (or even target) of a highly publicized criminal investigation is likely an unwelcome and unpleasant experience, no court ever has held that that status alone provides a basis for the courts to interfere with or halt the investigation,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote.
Georgia’s Supreme Court had previously rejected another attempt to stop the probe.
Trump has repeatedly slammed the Georgia probe, calling it a “witch hunt,” and also attacked Willis, who has been subject to racist threats over her work in the investigation.
“She’s got a lot of problems,” Trump said. “But she wants to indict me to try to run for some other office.”
The former president has already faced criminal charges over his scheme to interfere with the 2020 election result, which culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, following a Justice Department investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith. The indictment listed four felony charges against the former president, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
He was also prosecuted this summer over his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House in another investigation overseen by Smith.
Earlier this year, a Manhattan grand jury indicted Trump over his role in a hush money payment scheme involving adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Despite his legal troubles, though, he remains the front-runner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, leading his opponents by double digits.