Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is pursuing testimony from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and others.
In court petitions for their testimony filed Friday, the Georgia district attorney argued these allies of former President Donald Trump could have valuable information for the investigation into whether crimes were committed in efforts to overturn the results after the 2020 election. The prosecutor is seeking their testimony after the midterm elections.
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Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney signed off on the requests for testimony, agreeing that the witnesses could provide valuable insights to the investigation, the Associated Press reported.
In her petition for testimony from Gingrich, Willis referenced evidence from the Jan. 6 committee. She cited an email he sent to Trump allies discussing a plan to “arouse the country’s anger” over the 2020 election.
Willis also claimed he was involved in the alternative electors scheme, in which individuals presented themselves as electors to be called upon in the event that a court deemed Trump the winner. Several Trump allies used the existence of the alternative electors as justification to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence into decertifying the 2020 election results.
For Flynn, Willis noted his appearance on Newsmax after the election in which he mused that Trump could tap U.S. “military capabilities” to “re-run an election in each of those states.” Flynn also participated in meetings with Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, whom Willis petitioned for testimony in August.
Former White House lawyer Eric Herschmann, who worked in the Trump administration, was also among the prosecutor’s petitions for testimony.
Willis is reportedly gearing up to wrap up her work after the midterm elections and may begin rolling out indictments in December, sources told CNN. She has also indicated that her inquiry is planning to embark on a quiet period ahead of the midterm elections.
“I think her hands are tied, certainly, until after the midterms,” Michael Moore, former U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, told the outlet. “She wants to pull some of the politics out of it, so to ensure that the investigation is not forgotten.”
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So far, the Fulton County inquiry has racked up a string of Trump allies for deposition, hearing from Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro, and more. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has also delivered testimony to the special grand jury aiding Willis’s investigation.
Willis opened the investigation following audio that surfaced last year in which Trump underscored the need to “find” 11,780 votes to Raffensperger, enough votes to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in the state. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and disparaged Willis’s inquiry as being yet another political “witch hunt” against him.
Willis has reportedly eyed Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations charges in her investigation. RICO charges are often used to prosecute gang activity and usually entail charges against several defendants, per CNN.
