Georgia grand jury forewoman says public 'won't be too surprised' at list of indictment referrals

Rachel Schilke

February 21, 04:11 PM February 21, 04:11 PM

The forewoman of the Fulton County special grand jury investigating potential criminal interference in Georgia's 2020 general election said she believes the public is "not going to be shocked" at the list of people the jury is recommending receive indictments.

Emily Kohrs, forewoman, said in an interview with the New York Times that the report, which came out on Feb. 16 after a nearly yearlong investigation and remains mostly sealed, contains evidence for indictments for multiple people and that it is "not a short list."

WHO ARE THE WITNESSES IN THE FULTON COUNTY GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION?

“You’re not going to be shocked. It’s not rocket science,” Kohrs said. “You won’t be too surprised.”

The report indicated that of a pool of 75 witnesses, at least one may have committed perjury. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked the judge to keep the report sealed to protect the investigation and shield the rights of any possible "defendants." However, it is possible that no charges will arise from the investigation.

While no witnesses were listed, several witnesses were high-profile Republican leaders, allies, or aides of former President Donald Trump, such as Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, and John Eastman.

The investigation centered on a phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which the former president pushed Raffensperger to "find" 11,780 votes to secure his win in Georgia and overturn Trump's loss in the 2020 election against Joe Biden.

“We definitely started with the first phone call, the call to Secretary Raffensperger that was so publicized,” Kohrs, who did not vote in 2020 and said she only vaguely heard of the controversy surrounding the election, said.

Kohrs detailed her experience of the jury's eight-month investigation into the possible criminal acts on Tuesday, saying that Raffensperger was “a really geeky kind of funny" in an interview with the . She also said that Graham, who fought his subpoena to testify all the way to the Supreme Court, had surprisingly joked with jurors and politely answered the questions.

Of the 26 people on the panel — 23 jurors and three alternates — only 16 had to be present for the jury to begin. Kohrs said that 12 to 16 of the jurors were there every day, with 22 being present on the day Giuliani testified. There was only one day in which they could not proceed because 16 jurors were not present.

Over 70 witnesses were called, Kohrs said, with some offered immunity either before entering the courtroom or, in at least one case, offered immunity in front of the jury. One person they did not expect to testify, but hoped to hear from, was Trump.

“Trump was not a battle we picked to fight,” Kohrs said.

Any criminal charges against Trump or his allies will now be up to Willis.