Donald Trump indicted: Timeline of Fulton County grand jury investigation
Rachel Schilke
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The yearlong investigation into former President Donald Trump‘s efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia is moving to the next stage, after a grand jury indicted Trump on multiple racketeering and conspiracy charges.
The grand jury released the 19-person, 41-count indictment on Monday night, which Trump called “a continuation of the greatest and longest-running Witch Hunt in American history.” The former president himself is charged with 13 counts, making it his fifth indictment in four criminal cases this year.
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Several of Trump’s allies, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and attorneys John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani, have been named alongside him in the indictment.
Now, the trial phase will begin. Here is a timeline of the Fulton County investigation beginning in 2020.
2020
In November, Trump lost the 2020 election in Georgia to candidate Joe Biden. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) certified the election results on Nov. 20, with Raffensperger having stated that there was no evidence of voter fraud.
Throughout December, Giuliani spread baseless conspiracy theories and accused two election workers of election fraud. Eastman also suggested an alternate slate of electors to support Trump in the Electoral College.
Kenneth Chesebro proposed a “bold, controversial strategy” to overturn the 2020 election, according to a secret memo written in 2020 but released by the New York Times on Aug. 9, 2023.
A group of 16 alternate or “fake” electors also gathered at the Georgia Capitol, perceived as gearing up to vote for Trump. These electors would later send false certificates to the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
On Dec. 23, Frances Watson, the lead investigator for Raffensperger’s office, recorded a phone call she had with Trump in which he urged her to find fraud.
2021
Willis became the first black woman to hold the position of district attorney of Fulton County on Jan. 1, 2021.
In an infamous phone call in early January, Trump told Raffensperger: “All I want to do is this, I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.” Four days later, riots occurred at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The presidential election was certified that night.
The recent indictment alleges that there were attempts at election interference in Coffee County, Georgia, just one day after Biden’s presidency was certified.
On Feb. 11, Willis sent letters to Kemp and Raffensperger asking them to preserve documents that relate to an investigation being conducted by her office, the matter later revealed to be the Jan. 2, 2021 phone call to Raffensperger.
2022
Toward the end of January, Willis requested that Fulton County’s chief judge begin building a special grand jury for her investigation into Trump.
In May, the special grand jury convened with 23 people and three alternate jurors. The jury was given subpoena power but not the power to indict. Over the course of the investigation, jurors interviewed 75 witnesses and subpoenaed documents from more people.
High-profile witnesses include Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who fought his subpoena all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court before being ordered to testify. Giuliani and Raffensperger also appeared to testify.
2023
Judge Robert McBurney, who oversaw the grand jury, submitted an order on Jan. 9 indicating that the jurors had completed their work and submitted a report.
Willis’s office released a small portion of the grand jury report on Feb. 16. In the report, grand jurors said there was not “widespread fraud” that could have overturned the 2020 election and that one or more witnesses may have committed perjury.
However, Trump’s legal counsel submitted a 500-page filing asking McBurney to quash the grand jury’s report, saying that it was biased and impartial and Willis should be removed from the investigation. The former president’s request was denied by McBurney on July 31.
On Monday, an indictment was returned against Trump, Giuliani, Eastman, and 16 others on charges of election fraud, racketeering, and conspiracy, among others.
The former president has criticized Willis as a “radical Democrat” whose “politically inspired” charges were brought to interfere with his lead in the GOP primary race.
Trump and his allies have until 12 p.m. local time on Aug. 25 to report to authorities in Fulton County, Willis said.
The former president faces three other criminal cases. At the federal level, special counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump twice for his handling of classified documents in June and July and once in August for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 riots.
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At the state level, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his office charged Trump in March with 34 counts of falsifying business records during the 2016 campaign.
All trial dates for the previous three cases have been set for 2024, and Willis is seeking a trial within the next six months.