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- A special grand jury in Georgia found that "one or more witnesses" who appeared before it may have committed perjury.
- The jury investigated Trump's efforts to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results.
- Jurors also concluded that no widespread fraud took place in the election.
A special grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia found that some witnesses who testified may have committed perjury, jurors wrote in a portion of its report unsealed Thursday.
"A majority of the Grand Jury believes that perjury may have been committed by one or more witnesses testifying before it," the report reads. "The Grand Jury recommends that the District Attorney seek appropriate indictments for such crimes where the evidence is compelling."
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis empaneled the grand jury in May 2022 in Atlanta. In January, it completed its report, which says jurors heard testimony from 75 witnesses throughout its tenure.
The jurors investigated Trump's efforts to overturn election results, as well as a plot to send fake electors to Congress on January 6, 2021, and vote in Trump's favor even though he lost the state to now-President Joe Biden.
Jurors also concluded that, contrary to Trump and his allies' repeated claims, there was no widespread voter fraud on a level that could have tilted the 2020 presidential race in Georgia in Trump's favor.
"The Grand Jury heard extensive testimony on the subject of alleged election fraud from poll workers, investigators, technical experts, and State of Georgia employees and officials, as well as from persons still claiming that such fraud took place," the report said. "We find by a unanimous vote that no widespread fraud took place in the Georgia 2020 presidential election that could result in overturning that election."
Willis must now decide whether to bring indictments
While the special grand jury had vast investigative powers, it didn't have the ability to bring indictments.
Willis is now tasked with reviewing the special grand jury's report and deciding whether to bring it in front of an ordinary grand jury, which may decide whether to issue criminal charges.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered the release of segments of the report on Monday but decided to keep the vast majority of it under seal — at least until Willis makes charging decisions in her investigation.
McBurney made public a short paragraph where the jurors say they believe witnesses may have lied, as well as an introduction laying out the scope of the investigation and a conclusion praising members of the Fulton County district attorney's office.
According to McBurney's Monday order, the full report includes "a roster of who should (or should not) be indicted, and for what, in relation to the conduct (and aftermath) of the 2020 general election in Georgia."
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The decision to release portions of the report came after media organizations fought a court battle to make the entire document public, arguing it should be treated no differently than any other court document.
Willis, in an extraordinary hearing in January, argued that it should remain under lock and key while she continued to deliberate charging decisions. Releasing it prematurely, she said, would unduly prejudice targets of her investigation.
Willis declined, however, to appeal McBurney's decision to publish the short sections of the report made public today.
In her two-year investigation, Willis has successfully subpoenaed high-profile figures who were close to Trump at the time as he attempted to overturn the state's 2020 election results, as well as individuals embedded in the Georgia Republican party.
She fought court battles forcing Mark Meadows, Trump's chief-of-staff at the end of his presidency; Gov. Brian Kemp; Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger; the state's Republican Party chairman, David Shafer; Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina; and more than a dozen others to testify in front of the special grand jury.