Trump Indictment Likely Before July

WASHINGTON - Jan. 25, 2022 - PRLog -- Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has said that a decision on whether to criminally charge former president Donald Trump could come during the first half of 2022 - when it is likely to have a major impact on the upcoming presidential election, especially if Trump is a candidate.

She has said that, in addition to Trump and his notorious telephone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger seeking to change the electoral vote count, she will also continue conducting a criminal investigations of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, and the mysterious circumstances surrounding the abrupt resignation of former Atlanta-based U.S. Attorney BJay Pak.

Since she has just asked for and received unusual permission to empanel a special grand jury devoted solely to Trump and his associates - one to be presided over by judge who is a former prosecutor for the Fulton DA's office and for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Atlanta - and has hired at least one new prosecutor for his special expertise in RICO cases, it seems likely that the decision will be to bring criminal charges, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

Her office has now been conducting a criminal investigation of Trump's telephone call and related activities for over year since receiving a formal complaint from Banzhaf which triggered the current investigation.

Prior complaints from Banzhaf also helped lead to investigations of former president Richard Nixon by special prosecutors, an investigation of former congressman Barney Frank, male-only cubs being forced to admit female members, the first female cadet at a formerly all-male state-supported military academy, free time for antismoking commercials, and other legal proceedings.

She would not have requested the highly unusual appointment of a special grand jury - one which can issue subpoenas for documents, demand that witnesses testify under oath, and concentrate on only one topic - unless, after investigating for over a year, she was reasonably certain that she would soon ask for and receive an unprecedented criminal indictment of a former president, argues Banzhaf.

Also, she has made several strong public statements pointing in that direction, described her investigation in sweeping terms, and issued document-retention demands to many of the principals, including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Georgia Attorney General Christopher Carr.

As the New York Times reported, this investigation "is seen by legal experts as potentially perilous for the former president," and a 114-page Brookings Institution detailed analysis by several leading legal experts concluded that Trump's post election conduct in Georgia put him "at substantial risk of possible state charges."

jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com   @profbanzhaf