根据美国广播公司新闻获得的一封信，正在调查前总统唐纳德·特朗普在2020年总统选举中可能的犯罪行为的佐治亚州检察官正式要求成立一个特别大陪审团。

这一发展是唯一公开的重大进步刑事侦查特朗普推翻2020年大选结果的努力。

在周四给富尔顿县首席法官克里斯托弗·布拉舍的一封信中，富尔顿县地方检察官法尼·威利斯写道，此举是必要的，因为“在没有要求他们作证的传票的情况下，大量证人和潜在证人拒绝配合调查。”

威利斯去年2月正式启动调查，此前特朗普在一次听证会上被告知录音电话推动佐治亚州州务卿布拉德·拉芬斯佩格帮助他“找到11780张选票”，这正是特朗普在2020年总统选举中赢得佐治亚州所需的票数。

威利斯说，根据他在接受美国全国广播公司采访时发表的评论，拉芬斯珀格是没有传票就不会遵守调查的人之一。

针对威利斯的要求，特朗普在一份声明中表示，“我打给格鲁吉亚国务卿的电话非常完美，如果可能的话，可能比我打给乌克兰总统的电话还要完美。”提到的是特朗普在2020年大选前打给乌克兰总统沃洛季米尔·泽伦斯基的电话，要求他挖出政治对手乔·拜登的丑闻;特朗普最终因这一呼吁被弹劾，但参议院没有给他定罪。

曼德尔·恩根/法新社，通过盖蒂图像，文件

在这张2021年1月4日的档案照片中，唐纳德·特朗普总统在佐治亚州道尔顿举行的参议院决选前，在支持共和党现任参议员凯利·洛夫勒和大卫·珀杜的集会上竖起了两个大拇指。

“我在电话中没有说错什么，”特朗普在谈到他给拉芬斯珀格的电话时说。"不再有政治迫害!"

根据威利斯的信，如果被选上，特别大陪审团将无权退回起诉书。相反，它可能会“就刑事起诉提出它认为合适的建议，”信中说。

根据佐治亚州的法律，富尔顿县高级法院的大多数法官必须投票批准这一请求，才能让特别大陪审团就座。

在去年接受美国广播公司新闻记者乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯的独家采访时，拉芬斯珀格描述了他1月2日与特朗普的通话，他说特朗普“说了大部分话。”

“我们做了大部分的倾听，”拉芬斯珀格说。“但我确实想表明我的观点，他掌握的数据完全错了。”

Georgia prosecutor requests special grand jury in probe of Trump's efforts to overturn election

A Georgia prosecutor investigating possible criminal behavior by former President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election has officially requested to seat a special grand jury, according to a letter obtained by ABC News.

The development is a major step forward in the only publicly knowncriminal investigationinto Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

In a letter Thursday to Fulton County Chief Judge Christopher Brasher, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis wrote that the move is needed because "a significant number of witnesses and prospective witnesses have refused to cooperate with the investigation absent a subpoena requiring their testimony."

Willis officially launched the probe last February, after Trump was heard in arecorded phone callpushing Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to help him "find 11,780 votes," the exact number Trump needed to win Georgia in the 2020 presidential election.

Willis says that Raffensperger is one of those who will not comply with the investigation without a subpoena, based on comments he made in an interview with NBC.

In response to Willis' request, Trump, in a statement, said, "My phone call to the Secretary of State of Georgia was perfect, perhaps even more so than my call with the Ukrainian President, if that’s possible." The reference was to the phone call Trump made to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of the 2020 election asking him to dig up dirt on his political rival Joe Biden; Trump was ultimately impeached for that call, but the Senate did not convict him.

"I didn’t say anything wrong in the call," Trump said of his call to Raffensperger. "No more political witch hunts!"

If empaneled, the special grand jury will not have the authority to return an indictment, according to the Willis' letter. Instead it may "make recommendations concerning criminal prosecution as it shall see fit," the letter said.

A majority of the judges on the Fulton County Superior Court will have to vote to approve the request in order for the special grand jury to be seated, according to Georgia state law.

Describing his Jan. 2 call with Trump in an exclusive interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos last year, Raffensperger said that Trump "did most of the talking."

"We did most of the listening," Raffensperger said. "But I did want to make my points that the data that he has is just plain wrong."