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Fourth criminal indictment closing in on Trump
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Fulton County DA
Grand juror selection begins in Georgia election interference probe
Final phase of the more than two-year-long probe
is underway; could result in more criminal charges
against the former president and his allies.
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By MEGAN BUTLER, Contributing Writer
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ATLANTA (CN)—Juror selection began Tuesday for a Fulton County grand jury tasked with deciding whether former President Donald Trump and his allies criminally interfered in Georgia's 2020 election.
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The grand jury is one of two being selected in Atlanta on July 11 as part of Fulton County's new grand jury term.
The grand jury, which will examine a range of alleged interference in the 2020 Georgia elections, may ultimately decide to indict Trump or other members of his inner circle. It represents yet another legal headache for the former president, who has already faced indictments in New York and Florida.
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Fani Willis, Fulton County's district attorney, has said she plans to present new evidence of 2020 election interference during the fourth term of Fulton County's Superior Court, which runs from July 11 to Sept. 1. Willis has been investigating the matter since early 2021.
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Last year, a 23-member special purpose grand jury was impaneled at Willis' request to focus on this alleged interference. It heard eight months of testimony from 75 witnesses, including poll workers, investigators, technical experts, state employees, officials and "persons still claiming that such fraud took place."
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That special-purpose grand jury produced a final report for Willis, a small portion of which was released in February. It revealed the jurors unanimously found no evidence of widespread voter fraud. It also showed they believed one or more witnesses lied during their testimony.
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While Trump was never subpoenaed to testify before the special grand jury, Willis' investigation is largely centered around a leaked phone call shortly after the 2020 election. In that call, Trump asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, also a Republican, to "find" 11,780 votes—the number of votes Trump needed to beat Joe Biden in Georgia. Raffensperger declined.
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That call is just one several incidents that could potentially land Trump or his allies in legal hot water in Georgia.
According to court documents and attorney statements, at least 18 people have been notified they are targets of Willis' investigation, including Rudy Giuliani, who was Trump's attorney at the time. Giuliani allegedly made false claims about election fraud to Georgia legislators during three meetings in December 2020.
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Other known targets include David Shafer, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, and 11 fake GOP electors that Shafer helped enlist to falsely certify that Trump had won the vote in states where he actually lost. Findings in the House Jan. 6 committee's report released last December indicate that former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who reportedly traveled to Georgia to pressure election officials, and John Eastman, who solicited state officials and organized the fake elector scheme, are also likely to face charges.
Also under investigation is an incident from rural Coffee County, GA, in which Sidney Powell, one of Trump's campaign attorneys, allegedly paid a tech firm to copy election data from voting equipment. Like the previous special purpose grand jury, this new regular grand jury in Fulton County will examine evidence concerning these incidents.
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Unlike the special purpose grand jury, though, this grand jury will have the power to criminally charge people.
Under Georgia law, a special purpose grand jury is seated to focus on a single case. It does not have the power to issue indictments, though it can recommend them.
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A regular grand jury, on the other hand, does have the power to indict. Grand juries hear evidence from hundreds of various felony cases over a two month term. The grand juries currently being selected in Fulton County will each have 26 jurors, including 23 regular grand jurors and three alternates.
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Willis has said the earliest that a grand jury could begin hearing the evidence would be on July 17. This will be the final phase of Willis's probe. Should Trump ultimately see new charges brought in Georgia, it will hardly be his first appearance in court. The former president currently faces 37 federal charges out of Miami related to willfully retaining top-secret national security documents and conspiracy to obstruct justice, to which he pleaded not guilty to last month.
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Trump also pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment out of New York, which accuse him of falsifying business records in relation to reimbursement payments to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy playmate Karen McDougal to refrain from making public statements about extramarital affairs they claimed to have had with Trump. Willis said the other criminal cases against Trump have no current impact on her investigation.
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As the first former or sitting US president to be criminally charged, Trump has denounced the charges and investigations against him—including by Willis—as a "witch hunt." He's also used his prosecutions as fuel for his 2024 campaign, portraying himself as a victim of a politically motivated federal justice system.
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If early indications hold true, Trump could soon have more of that fuel—and more indictments. In a letter sent to county officials almost two months ago, Willis indicated an indictment could be obtained at some point between July 31 and Aug. 18.
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In the letter, Willis asked Ural Glanville, chief judge of Fulton County Superior Court, not schedule any trials or in-person hearings during the weeks of Aug. 7 and 14. She also told the county sheriff to make preparations for "heightened security and preparedness" with state and federal law enforcement agencies—both possible signs that Willis is seeking charges against major political figures who questioned Georgia's 2020 election results, possibly even including Trump himself.
Tentative trial date for stolen docs case
By MEGAN BUTLER, Contributing Writer
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(CN)—A federal judge appointed by Donald Trump set an Aug. 14 trial date for the former president on charges related to his handling of classified government documents after his single term in office.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 federal charges at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. US Courthouse in Miami.
US District Judge Aileen Cannon ordered both sides to file pretrial motions by July 24, and set aside two weeks for a trial in Fort Pierce at the Southern District Court of Florida.
But she added that the parties could ask to push back the trial date due to the complexities of the case and issues related to classified information, which could potentially draw out start of the trial.
During his arraignment, Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 federal charges at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. US Courthouse in Miami.
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Trump is accused of taking more than 300 classified documents from the White House, a trove that included highly sensitive materials on an Iranian missile program, surveillance efforts in China and the nuclear capabilities of an unidentified foreign power.
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The indictment consists of 31 counts for willfully retaining top-secret national security documents, as well as additional counts for conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding and concealing documents, and making false statements to investigators. If convicted on these charges, Trump could face up to 10 years in prison for retaining national security secrets.
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It also includes charges against the former president's longtime valet and aide, Walt Nauta, who was responsible for moving the boxes in which Trump kept classified documents. Nauta also pleaded not guilty.
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Trump and Nauta are charged together on five counts related to obstruction and concealing documents—the obstruction charges carry a maximum of 20 years in prison, and five for concealment—and each also faces an individual count for making false statements, which also carry maximum sentences of five years imprisonment.
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The judge's scheduled date puts the case on track for a speedy trial, as pledged by the Justice Department's special counsel overseeing the case, Jack Smith.
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Cannon, who has been a member of the conser- vative Federalist Society since 2005, previously presided over a case that Trump brought after the government found the documents in a raid of his South Florida estate Mar-a-Lago. In her time on the federal bench, according to a recent survey by The New York Times, her criminal trial experience has added up to just 14 days.
Last year, Cannon was widely ridiculed, and her decision overturned by the 11th Circuit when she issued a ruling that would have delayed the Trump investigation, asserting that the former president should enjoy special protections not otherwise provided to individuals targeted by a search warrant.
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On June 19, a federal magistrate judge issued an order barring Trump’s defense attorneys from releasing to the media or the public any evidence they obtain from prosecutors in the case.
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Trump will also face another trial in New York that is scheduled for March 25, 2024, connected to hush money that was paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels while he was running for president for the first time.
Forty-fifth president first indicted on federal criminal charges
Former President Donald Trump has been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with his mishandling of more than 100 classified documents. The indicted against Trump, his second, came down June 8.
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Trump, who first revealed the news earlier on June 8 in a post on his Truth Social platform, faces seven counts, according to his lawyer and another source. The charges include false statements, conspiracy to obstruct and a charge related to the Espionage Act, sources said.
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A federal grand jury in Florida has been meeting in special counsel Jack Smith's investigation of Trump’s handling of classified documents, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
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The Florida grand jury is separate from a panel that was convened in Washington, D.C. The investigation began last year when the National Archives alerted the FBI that government documents Trump had returned after having been out of office for about a year included 184 that were marked classified. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
FOUR COPS THAT KILLED
BREONNA TAYLOR INDICTED
Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in her apartment on March 13, 2020, after police executed a no-knock warrant and opened fire on Taylor and her boyfriend, who had a weapon and shot at police when they entered the residence. Screenshot
Louisville cops snagged for criminal conspiracy executing no-knock warrant
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (CN)—U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Thursday the indictment of four Louisville police officers on federal criminal charges related to the shooting of Breonna Taylor, including cons- piracy charges stemming from an allegedly false affidavit used to secure a search warrant.
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Garland told reporters two federal grand jury indictments had been unsealed, while another charging document was also filed.
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Former Louisville Metro Police Department detective Joshua Jaynes and current LMPD sergeant Kyle Meany were named in the first indictment, which lists civil rights and obstruction charges related to "preparing and approving a false search warrant affidavit" that led to the raid of Taylor's apartment and, ultimately, her death.
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The second indictment names a single defendant, former LMPD detective Brett Hankison, and charges him with civil rights violations and the use of excessive force during the execution of the search warrant. Current LMPD detective Kelly Goodlett is charged with conspiring to falsify the search warrant affidavit in the third charging document.
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"Among other things," Garland said at a press conference, "the federal charges announced today allege that members of LMPD's place-based investigations unit falsified the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant of Ms. Taylor's home, that this act violated federal civil rights laws, and that those violations resulted in Ms. Taylor's death.
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"Breonna Taylor should be alive today," he added. "The Justice Department is committed to defending and protecting the civil rights of every person in this country. That was this department’s founding purpose, and it remains our urgent mission.”
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Taylor was shot and killed in her apartment on March 13, 2020, after police executed a no-knock warrant and opened fire on Taylor and her boyfriend, who had a weapon and said he returned fire because he thought raiding police were burglars entering the residence.
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A 26-year-old emergency room technician at the time of her death, Taylor became a nationwide symbol of the struggle against systemic racism and police brutality.
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Her estate sued the city of Louisville and won a record-breaking settlement of $12 million—and a bevy of police reforms—less than five months after the lawsuit was filed.
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Detective Myles Cosgrove, who fired the fatal shot, and Jaynes were fired by the city in January 2021, while Hankison was the only officer criminally charged by Kentucky in the wake of the shooting. Hankison was charged with three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment but was acquitted by a jury in March 2022.
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The press release from the Department of Justice says Jaynes and Meany knew information used to obtain the search warrant for Taylor's apartment was false, and that the execution of the warrant would likely create a dangerous situation for Taylor and the officers involved.
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Jaynes is also charged with attempting to cover up the false affidavit by lying to criminal investigators and drafting a "false investigative letter" in the aftermath of the shooting. The excessive force claims against Hankison stem from shots fired through a covered glass door, a covered window, and a bedroom window that was covered with blinds and a blackout curtain.
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None of the shots fired by Hankison struck Taylor or any of her neighbors, but his charges include language that his conduct involved an "attempt to kill," which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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Goodlett faces several conspiracy charges for her role in the false warrant and the subsequent coverup. The
obstruction charges in the indictments carry maximum sentences of 20 years in prison, while the conspiracy and false-statement charges have maximum sentences of five years in prison.
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"On March 13, 2020, Breonna Taylor should have awakened in her home as usual, but tragically she did not,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke. "Since the founding of our nation, the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution has guaranteed that all people have a right to be secure in their homes, free from false warrants, unreasonable searches and the use of unjustifiable and excessive force by the police.
"These indictments reflect the Justice Department’s commitment to preserving the integrity of the criminal justice system and to protecting the constitutional rights of every American," Clarke said.
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The attorneys representing Taylor's family—Ben Crump, Lonita Baker and Sam Aguiar—said in a joint state- ment that the charges are "a huge step toward justice."
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"We are grateful for the diligence and dedication of the FBI and the DOJ as they investigated what led to Breonna's murder and what transpired afterwards," they said. "The justice that Breonna received would not have been possible without the efforts of Attorney General Merrick Garland or Assistant AG Kristen Clarke.