亚特兰大-佐治亚州检察官正在调查时任总统唐纳德·特朗普其他人非法试图干涉2020年选举周五提交了书面文件，寻求迫使新一批特朗普盟友作证，包括美国前众议院议长纽特·金里奇和前国家安全顾问迈克尔·弗林。
富尔顿县地方检察官范尼·威利斯(Fani Willis)在法庭上提交了请愿书，希望金里奇和弗林，以及前白宫律师埃里克·赫希曼(Eric Herschmann)和其他人下个月在一个特别大陪审团面前作证，该大陪审团已经就位，以帮助她的调查。
他们加入了特朗普其他一系列高调盟友和顾问的行列，这些人被传唤在调查中作证。前纽约市长和特朗普的律师鲁迪·朱利安尼(Rudy Giuliani)被告知他可能在调查中面临刑事指控，他于8月作证。律师约翰·伊斯曼和肯尼斯·切塞布罗也出现在陪审团面前。美国参议员林赛·格雷厄姆(Lindsey Graham)试图对抗他的传票，目前正在联邦上诉法院等待裁决。文件已经提交，寻求其他人的证词，包括前白宫办公厅主任马克·梅多斯。
弗林没有立即回复寻求置评的电子邮件和电话信息，他的律师也没有立即回复寻求置评的电子邮件。金里奇将问题转给了他的律师，后者拒绝置评。记者无法立即联系到赫希曼。
威利斯表示，她计划在11月中期选举前的一个月内暂停公共活动，距离周六还有一个月。
周五提交的每一份请愿书都试图让潜在的证人在选举后的11月出庭。但从州外证人那里获取证词的过程有时需要一段时间，所以看起来威利斯正在启动车轮，以便在她自我强加的暂停之后恢复活动。
来自不住在佐治亚州的证人的令人信服的证词要求威利斯使用一种程序，包括让他们居住的州的法官命令他们出庭。她周五提交的请愿书基本上是传票的前兆。
监督特别大陪审团的富尔顿县高级法院法官罗伯特·麦克伯尼(Robert McBurney)签署了请愿书，证明每个被要求作证的人都是调查中“必要和重要的”证人。
请求金里奇作证的请愿书依赖于美国众议院委员会“公开提供的信息”，该委员会正在调查2021年1月6日对美国国会大厦的袭击。
它说，他与特朗普竞选活动的其他相关人员一起参与了一项电视广告计划，该计划“重复并依赖关于2020年选举中欺诈的虚假说法”，并鼓励公众联系州官员，推动他们挑战并推翻基于这些说法的选举结果。
金里奇还参与了一项计划，让共和党假选举人签署证书，虚假地声明特朗普赢得了该州，即使是民主党人，他们也是该州的正式选举人乔·拜登请愿书上说，已经赢了。
寻求弗林证词的请愿书说，他出现在保守派有线新闻频道Newsmax的采访中，并说特朗普“可以采取军事能力”，并将它们置于摇摆州，“基本上在这些州重新举行选举。”
2020年12月18日，他还在白宫会见了特朗普、律师西德尼·鲍威尔(Sidney Powell)等人，据新闻报道，这次会议“重点讨论的话题包括援引戒严令、查封投票机，以及任命鲍威尔为调查2020年选举的特别顾问，”威利斯写道。
威利斯在8月份提交了一份请愿书，寻求鲍威尔的证词。
威利斯在寻求他作证的请愿书中写道，在国会大厦袭击事件的众议院委员会听证会上，赫希曼是特朗普的高级顾问，从2020年8月到他的任期结束，“出席了前总统特朗普和其他与2020年选举有关的人之间的多次会议”。
她写道，众议院委员会还透露，赫希曼与伊士曼、朱利安尼、鲍威尔“以及其他已知与特朗普竞选活动有关的人进行了“多次对话”，涉及他们影响格鲁吉亚和其他地方2020年11月选举结果的努力。”她补充说，具体来说，他与伊士曼就“在格鲁吉亚的努力”进行了“热烈的交谈”。
威利斯周五还提交了请愿书，要求吉姆·彭罗斯和斯蒂芬·克利夫加德·李作证。
她认为彭罗斯是“网络调查、运营和取证顾问”，曾在2020年底和2021年初与鲍威尔和其他已知与特朗普竞选活动有关的人合作。
威利斯写道，他还与鲍威尔等人就一项协议进行了沟通，该协议旨在雇佣数据解决方案公司SullivanStrickler从亚特兰大东南约200英里的咖啡县以及密歇根州和内华达州的投票系统设备中复制数据和软件。彭罗斯没有立即回复寻求置评的电子邮件和电话。
威利斯在一份寻求李证词的请愿书中写道，他是向选举工作人员鲁比·弗里曼施压的一部分，鲁比·弗里曼是富尔顿县选举欺诈虚假指控的对象。记者无法立即联系到他置评。
佐治亚州成立了特别大陪审团，调查有大量证人和潜在后勤问题的复杂案件。他们可以强制取证，传唤证人进行询问，而且与普通的大陪审团不同，他们还可以传唤调查对象出庭。
当调查完成后，特别大陪审团将发布最终报告，并建议采取行动。然后由地区检察官决定是否要求普通大陪审团进行起诉。
Flynn, Gingrich testimony sought in Georgia election probe
ATLANTA -- The Georgia prosecutor investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and others illegally tried to interfere in the 2020 election filed paperwork Friday seeking to compel testimony from a new batch of Trump allies, including former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis filed petitions in court seeking to have Gingrich and Flynn, as well as former White House lawyer Eric Herschmann and others, testify next month before a special grand jury that's been seated to aid her investigation.
They join a string of other high-profile Trump allies and advisers who have been called to testify in the probe. Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and Trump attorney who's been told he could face criminal charges in the probe, testified in August. Attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro have also appeared before the panel. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham's attempt to fight his subpoena is pending in a federal appeals court. And paperwork has been filed seeking testimony from others, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Flynn didn't immediately respond to email and phone messages seeking comment, and his lawyer also didn't immediately return an email seeking comment. Gingrich referred questions to his attorney, who declined to comment. Herschmann could not immediately be reached.
Willis has said she plans to take a monthlong break from public activity in the case leading up to the November midterm election, which is one month from Saturday.
Each of the petitions filed Friday seeks to have the potential witnesses appear in November after the election. But the process for securing testimony from out-of-state witnesses sometimes takes a while, so it appears Willis is putting the wheels in motion for activity to resume after her self-imposed pause.
Compelling testimony from witnesses who don't live in Georgia requires Willis to use a process that involves getting judges in the states where they live to order them to appear. The petitions she filed Friday are essentially precursors to subpoenas.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who’s overseeing the special grand jury, signed off on the petitions, certifying that each person whose testimony is sought is a “necessary and material” witness for the investigation.
The petition for Gingrich’s testimony relies on “information made publicly available” by the U.S. House committee that’s investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
It says he was involved along with others associated with the Trump campaign in a plan to run television ads that “repeated and relied upon false claims about fraud in the 2020 election” and encouraged members of the public to contact state officials to push them to challenge and overturn the election results based on those claims.
Gingrich was also involved in a plan to have Republican fake electors sign certificates falsely stating that Trump had won the state and that they were the state’s official electors even though Democrat Joe Biden had won, the petition says.
The petition seeking Flynn's testimony says he appeared in an interview on conservative cable news channel Newsmax and said Trump “could take military capabilities” and place them in swing states and “basically re-run an election in each of those states."
He also met with Trump, attorney Sidney Powell and others at the White House on Dec. 18, 2020, for a meeting that, according to news reports, “focused on topics including invoking martial law, seizing voting machines, and appointing Powell as special counsel to investigate the 2020 election,” Willis wrote.
Willis in August filed a petition seeking testimony from Powell.
Herschmann, who featured prominently in the House committee hearings on the Capitol attack, was a senior adviser to Trump from August 2020 through the end of his term and “was present for multiple meetings between former President Trump and others related to the 2020 election,” Willis wrote in the petition seeking his testimony.
She wrote that the House committee also revealed that Herschmann had “multiple conversations” with Eastman, Giuliani, Powell “and others known to be associated with the Trump Campaign, related to their efforts to influence the results of the November 2020 elections in Georgia and elsewhere.” Specifically, he had a “heated conversation” with Eastman “concerning efforts in Georgia,” she added.
Willis also filed petitions Friday to compel testimony from Jim Penrose and Stephen Cliffgard Lee.
She identified Penrose as “a cyber investigations, operations and forensics consultant” who worked with Powell and others known to be associated with the Trump campaign in late 2020 and early 2021.
He also communicated with Powell and others regarding an agreement to hire data solutions firm SullivanStrickler to copy data and software from voting system equipment in Coffee County, about 200 miles southeast of Atlanta, as well as in Michigan and Nevada, Willis wrote. Penrose did not immediately respond to an email and phone message seeking comment.
Willis wrote in a petition seeking Lee's testimony that he was part of an effort to pressure elections worker Ruby Freeman, who was the subject of false claims about election fraud in Fulton County. He could not immediately be reached for comment.
Special grand juries are impaneled in Georgia to investigate complex cases with large numbers of witnesses and potential logistical concerns. They can compel evidence and subpoena witnesses for questioning and, unlike regular grand juries, can also subpoena the target of an investigation to appear before it.
When its investigation is complete, the special grand jury issues a final report and can recommend action. It’s then up to the district attorney to decide whether to ask a regular grand jury for an indictment.
