The Georgia prosecutor investigating attempts by former President Trump and his allies to challenge President Biden’s victory in the state in 2020 said she expects prison sentences for those convicted of crimes related to the investigation.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) told The Washington Post this week that her team has heard credible allegations that serious crimes were committed and that some people might serve time in prison.
At least 17 people have been notified that they are the targets of a criminal investigation, and Willis said additional targets will soon be added, the Post reported.
“The allegations are very serious. If indicted and convicted, people are facing prison sentences,” she said.
Willis did not name the targets and has not said if she is willing to charge Trump for his efforts to overturn the results. But she said Trump could be called as a witness before the special grand jury that convened this spring.
She said she imagines a decision will be made on whether to seek testimony from Trump in late fall.
Rudy Giuliani’s lawyer confirmed last month that he is a target of the investigation and testified before the grand jury days later. The 16 fake Georgia electors who created documents that declared Trump the winner of the state are the others reportedly under investigation.
The electors allegedly signed a certificate that declared themselves the state’s electors even though a slate of Democratic electors was certified following Biden’s win.
Trump said in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday that he was not involved in the plan to overturn Georgia’s election results but said the idea was “very common.”
Willis is also looking into calls that Trump and his allies made to state officials, statements that were made to lawmakers, the alleged harassment of election officials and the alleged tampering of election systems in a county in Georgia, the Post reported.
Willis told the Post that she expects the fact-finding investigation to conclude by the end of the year. She said it will stop public activities like calling witnesses during the month leading up to the November midterm elections.
She said the grand jury has interviewed about 65 percent of the dozens of witnesses that prosecutors want to testify.
Willis began her investigation shortly after a call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) became public, revealing that Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” the votes necessary for him to win the state.