Fulton County prosecutors examining efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia are trying to disqualify a pair of lawyers representing 11 alternative electors in the special grand jury’s crosshairs.
In a partially redacted motion to disqualify attorneys Holly Pierson and Kimberly Bourroughs Debrow, Fulton County argued their representation was “rife with serious ethical problems.” Many details of the rationale for the petition were redacted, but the lawyers appear to have ties to the state GOP.
ALTERNATE TRUMP ELECTORS ASK JUDGE TO DISQUALIFY FULTON DA FROM GEORGIA INQUIRY
“Should Pierson and Debrow be allowed to continue in their representation of even just one of the 11, there is a serious possibility of future ethical problems concerning confidentiality of information obtained in the course of their representation thus far,” prosecutors wrote in a 20-page motion filed on Monday.
Fulton County prosecutors laid out 12 “facts that are material to demonstrating a conflict of interest” — all but two of which were redacted. The points that were left visible noted that one of the 11 alternative electors, David Shafer, serves as the head of the state GOP and that another, Shawn Still, served as the secretary of the Georgia GOP.
While the filing redacted key parts of its rationale, recent reporting from Yahoo indicated both Pierson and Debrow have done work for the state Republican Party. Campaign finance filings showed the state GOP paid the two lawyers $35,419 last July, per the report.
Prosecutors for Fulton County are imploring the court to bar the two lawyers “from any further participation in this matter.” This marks a flip from August, when Pierson and Debrow prodded a court to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the investigation due to her attendance at a fundraiser for a political rival of state Sen. Burt Jones, one of the “fake electors” being targeted.
Willis withdrew from the part of the investigation involving Jones but has continued her involvement in the investigation of the other alternative electors.
“We are disappointed to see the District Attorney and her office actively trying to separate citizens from their chosen counsel,” Debrow and Pierson said in a statement, per CNN. “Allegations of conflict here are particularly rich, given that the Court in this case has already determined that the DA herself had a disqualifying conflict of interest in this case.”
A judge previously declined to nix subpoenas against 11 of the 16 persons who posed as alternative electors for former President Donald Trump in the event that a legal challenge deemed him the winner in the state won by President Joe Biden. All 16 had been informed in July that they may be subject to the Fulton County inquiry.
Allies of Trump sought to use the existence of the alternative electors to sow confusion about the 2020 election and justify calls for Vice President Mike Pence to decertify the election.
In addition to the disqualification motion, another filing in the Fulton County matter revealed that investigators are gearing up to “execute a series of search warrants” predicated on sensitive information. An order by a judge managing the case made the revelation. The order did not add additional information about what sensitive information was involved or who may be subject to a raid.
“The District Attorney’s office is now seeking to obtain and execute a series of search warrants, the affidavits for which are predicated on sensitive information acquired during the investigation,” the order said.
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Willis initiated her investigation after audio surfaced last year in which Trump stressed to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger the need to “find” 11,780 votes, enough to tip the election in Georgia to him.
A special grand jury was impaneled in May to assist and has rolled out a number of subpoenas and secured testimony from key witnesses such as Raffensperger, Rudy Giuliani, and more.
