Trump legal adviser ordered to testify in Georgia election probe

ATLANTA (AP) — A judge in Colorado ordered Tuesday that a legal adviser for former President Donald Trump’s campaign travel to Georgia to testify before a special grand jury investigating whether Trump and others illegally tried to influence the 2020 election in Georgia.

Judge Gregory Lammons in Fort Collins, Colorado, made the decision after holding a hearing on A request of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will request testimony from attorney Jenna Ellis. Prosecutors are interested in Ellis’s role in helping coordinate and plan for legislative hearings in Georgia and other states where false voter fraud charges were filed, according to court testimony.

Fulton County prosecutors purchased plane tickets and made a hotel reservation in preparation for Ellis to testify on Aug. 25.

The investigation, prompted by a January 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, began early last year. During that call, Trump suggested that Raffensperger could “find” the votes to overturn his narrow electoral loss in the state. It has been clear since the special grand jury sat down in May that the focus of the investigation extends far beyond that call.

Willis petitions last month with the judge overseeing the special grand jury seeking testimony from seven Trump associates and advisers, including Ellis, US Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani. Since they don’t live in Georgia, she had to use a process that means having a judge in the state where they are located order them to appear before the special grand jury in Atlanta.

Giuliani, who has been notified that it is a target of the investigation, will testify before the special grand jury on Wednesday. Graham’s subpoena orders him to testify on Aug. 23, but he has said he will appeal Monday’s order from a judge who refuses to vacate his subpoena.

In the petition seeking Ellis’s testimony, Willis identified her as “an attorney for the Trump campaign’s legal efforts seeking to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.”

Ellis appeared with Giuliani at a state Senate committee hearing on Dec. 3, 2020, at the Georgia Capitol during which false accusations of voter fraud were made, Willis wrote. He also wrote at least two legal memos to Trump and his lawyers advising them that then-Vice President Mike Pence should “disregard certified electoral college votes from Georgia and other supposedly ‘battleground’ states” when Congress met to certify. the results of the elections on January 6. , 2021, says the petition.

The evidence shows that Ellis’s actions were “part of a coordinated multi-state plan by the Trump campaign to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere,” Willis wrote.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who oversees the special grand jury, approved Willis’ requests to order Ellis and other Trump associates to testify. He issued so-called material witness certificates stating that they are “necessary and material” witnesses for the grand jury’s special investigation.

Lammons, the Colorado judge, heard arguments from Ellis’s attorney, Michael Melito, and prosecutor Dawn Downs of the Larimer County District Attorney’s office in Colorado, in a hearing that was streamed online. Fulton County Deputy District Attorney Will Wooten appeared via video conference from Atlanta as a witness to testify why Ellis’ appearance is necessary.

Lammons found that there is sufficient evidence that Ellis is a material witness and no evidence that traveling to Atlanta for a day of testimony would be an undue burden. He said any attorney-client privilege issues Ellis wishes to raise must be addressed by McBurney, the Georgia judge.

The special grand jury operates in secret and does not have the power to issue an indictment. Once its investigation is complete, it will issue a report with recommendations. Willis will then have to decide whether to go to a regular grand jury to seek an indictment.

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