Georgia’s Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is urging local law enforcement to prepare for possible indictments this summer in her 2020 election inquiry focused on former President Donald Trump and his allies.
In a letter dated Monday to Fulton Sheriff Patrick Labat, the prosecutor said she will be “announcing charging decisions” resulting from her investigation during the Fulton County Superior Court’s fourth term of court, which spans July 11 and September 1.
Willis spoke of the need for “heightened security and preparedness” as “open-sourced “intelligence indicated an announcement “may provoke a significant public reaction.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which published the correspondence, said similar letters were sent to other local leaders.
The news comes after Willis told a judge in January that “decisions are imminent.” Willis may use a special grand jury’s findings to pursue charges by impaneling a separate, regular grand jury.
Willis, a Democrat, began her investigation after a phone call recording surfaced in which Trump pressed a top Georgia state official to “find” 11,780 votes, enough to reverse losing the state to now-President Joe Biden, arguing there was widespread voter fraud.
Although any recommendations that specific individuals be indicted remain under seal, the leader of the Atlanta-based special grand jury, Emily Kohrs, divulged in media interviews how the report recommends multiple indictments. One section of the report that has already been disclosed publicly said a “majority” of the special grand jury believes perjury was committed by one or more witnesses.
Trump’s lawyers moved last month to quash the report from the special grand jury. A judge ordered Willis to respond by May 1. Last week, the district attorney asked a judge to disqualify an attorney for some of the so-called “fake electors” who backed Trump.
Trump, who announced a third campaign for the White House in November, broadly denies any wrongdoing and claims politically motivated forces are targeting him across multiple investigations.
Ahead of an indictment in a Manhattan case centered on the 2016 election, law enforcement in New York City made preparations for potential unrest. Earlier this month, Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records during a trip to the Big Apple that attracted chaotic demonstrations from both supporters and critics.