Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney rejected an effort by Gov. Brian Kemp to block a subpoena for his testimony in the Atlanta-area grand jury investigation into Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election. However, Kemp did get a break. He won’t have to testify until after the November 8 election. Kemp is running for re-election against Stacey Abrams.
Judge McBurney agreed in a 6-page ruling that the upcoming election should not be caught in the middle of a criminal grand jury investigation into the 2020 presidential election. McBurney did, however, reject in a 3-page order an effort by a Trump-allied attorney, Kenneth Chesebro to block his subpoena to testify. Chesebro claimed attorney-client privilege and Ne York state’s rules on attorney confidentiality. McBurney noted other topics that do not fall subject to privilege claims.
Among them: “Mr. Chesebro’s background and experience, his knowledge of both Georgia and federal election law, his communications with Republican Party officials in Georgia following the 2020 general election, his interactions with the individuals in Georgia seeking to prepare slate of ‘alternate’ electors weeks after the final vote count showed former President Trump losing by over 10,000 votes in Georgia, etc.”
“Because these are legitimate, relevant, non-protected areas of investigation for the special purpose grand jury, quashal is improper,” McBurney wrote in a three-page order.
The rulings are victories for District Attorney Fani Willis though the ruling on Kemp will slow down the investigation’s timetable. Willis urged the testimonies to be taken before the November 8 election.
Chesebro is under scrutiny by the January 6 commission for his role in the effort to keep Trump in power despite the election results. Chesebro worked with other Trump attorneys like John Eastman to put false presidential electors in place to disrupt the transition of power on January 6, 2021 as Congress certified the election results.
Senator Lindsey Graham is appealing a subpoena to testify. Rudy Giuliani was named a target in the investigation. He appeared at the courthouse and testified for more than six hours.
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Now we come to Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows. He, too, has been called to testify. Fani Willis filed petitions for him as well as lawyer Sidney Powell, James “Phil” Waldron, who met with Meadows, and former Trump campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn to testify before the special grand jury in Atlanta next month. None of them live in Georgia so a process was used that involves getting judges in the states where they live to order them to appear. Subpoenas, no doubt, are on the way.
The petitions she filed Thursday are essentially precursors to subpoenas. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who’s overseeing the special grand jury, signed off on the petitions, certifying that each person whose testimony is sought is a “necessary and material” witness for the investigation.
Willis wrote that each of them has unique knowledge about their communications with Trump, his campaign and others “involved in the multi-state, coordinated efforts to influence the results of the November 2020 elections in Georgia and elsewhere.”
In the petition seeking Meadows’ testimony, Willis wrote that Meadows attended a Dec. 21, 2020, meeting at the White House with Trump and others “to discuss allegations of voter fraud and certification of electoral college votes from Georgia and other states.” The next day, Willis wrote, Meadows made a “surprise visit” to Cobb County where an audit of signatures on absentee ballot envelopes was being conducted. He asked to observe the audit but wasn’t allowed to because it wasn’t open to the public, the petition says.
Between Jan. 30, 2020, and Jan. 1, 2021, Meadows sent emails to Justice Department officials making allegations of voter fraud in Georgia and elsewhere and requesting investigations, Willis wrote.
Meadows was also on a phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2, 2021 when Trump suggested that Raffensperger “find” votes to overturn his election loss in Georgia. Raffensperger refused that suggestion. Both Kemp and Raffensperger were put on Trump’s naughty list after both men refused to go outside the bounds of their duties in order to go along with Trump’s request. Both are well on their way to being re-elected.
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