A grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, that has been investigating former President Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election returned 10 indictments Monday evening. The identities of the defendant or defendants and details about the charges have not yet been made public.
The grand jury returned the indictments around 9 p.m. ET, and a clerk said it could take 1 to 3 hours to process.
The investigation, led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, was prompted in part by a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call in which Trump told Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger: “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”
Attorneys for Trump said in February that they would challenge any indictment filed by Willis’ office.
Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and has accused Willis of pursuing the case out of political animus.
In a September 2022 statement about the Fulton County investigation, Trump called his conversation with Raffensperger “an absolutely PERFECT phone call” in which he did “nothing wrong.” Trump has since repeated that that the call was “perfect,” including at an Aug. 7 rally in New Hampshire.
The investigation grew from its initial focus, eventually probing a variety of efforts by Trump and his allies to undermine Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia — including an alleged scheme to submit an alternate slate of electors committed to nominating Trump, attempts to pressure or intimidate election workers and, in at least one county, accessing election software and data.
Over the course of about six months in 2022, the special purpose grand jury’s dozens of interviews included Trump advisers such as attorney Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, as well as Georgia officials such as Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp. In January, it completed a report based on its investigation and turned it over to Willis, who ultimately decided to bring the charges before a regular grand jury.
Three other felony cases against Trump
Trump, the first former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges, has previously been indicted in three separate cases.
In the New York criminal case, Trump entered a not guilty plea on April 4 after he was charged with 34 felony counts of falsification of business records. The charges relate to alleged efforts to obscure the source of payments made to porn actress Stormy Daniels, who agreed in October 2016 not to speak publicly about an alleged affair with Trump. Trump has denied having the affair and any wrongdoing in connection with this case. He claims this case is also politically motivated.
In the Florida federal case, Trump entered a not guilty plea on June 13 to 37 counts after he was indicted on allegations related to his handling of classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago residence after his presidency. He also pleaded not guilty in August to additional counts filed in a superseding indictment. Trump has denied wrongdoing and repeatedly criticized special counsel Jack Smith, calling him a “radical.”
And in a separate case pursued by the special counsel, Trump pleaded not guilty on August 3 in Washington, D.C., to four counts related to an alleged conspiracy to thwart the electoral vote count following his 2020 election loss.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
