Journalist who discovered GA alternate elector scheme called to testify
Journalist George Chidi has agreed to testify before the Fulton County Grand Jury about what he saw December 14, 2020.
ATLANTA - The reporter who first spotted a group of alternate electors at the Georgia Capitol has been subpoenaed to testify before a Fulton County grand jury investigating potential election interference.
On Dec. 14, 2020, George Chidi showed up at the Capitol curious to see whether any protesters might try to interrupt the certification of electors for Joe Biden.
The Democrat had won Georgia’s 16 electoral votes by a slim margin over President Donald Trump.
But instead of covering protests, Chidi landed a huge scoop.
"It didn't occur to me that they'd be holding a meeting until I saw one of them go into a room," he told the FOX 5 I-Team.
Chidi followed a Republican activist into Room 216 in the Capitol. He quickly took a picture of what he saw, a group of people who clearly didn’t want him there with a camera.
"Two people start hustling me out of the door and I ask, what are -- we're having a meeting someone says. I ask what kind of meeting? They say it's an education meeting. It was plainly not an education meeting."
It was not. An email from the Trump campaign the day before thanked them "for agreeing to serve as a Republican Elector."
That email, included as part of the January 6th Committee Final Report, warned that the Georgia Republicans have "complete discretion in this process. Your duties are imperative to ensure the end result — a win in Georgia for President Trump — but will be hampered unless we have complete secrecy and discretion."
"I think they realized it was blown at that point," said Chidi. "They had to change course to save face."
Eventually, the room opened to other reporters including FOX 5. They witnessed 16 alternate electors sign documents falsely stating that they were "duly elected and qualified Electors for President and Vice President of the United States of America from the State of Georgia."
Some later explained they took this action in case Donald Trump was successful in pending litigation challenging the Georgia results.
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These alternate electors became part of a scheme to convince Vice President Mike Pence to reject the duly-elected Biden electors and replace them with electors loyal to President Trump.
All 16 so-called fake electors received target letters from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, including then-GOP chair David Shafer and Coffee County GOP chair Cathy Latham.
Many later reached immunity deals with Willis, although it’s unclear which ones right now.
The Fulton County Grand Jury could issue indictments as soon as next week.
Chidi already testified last year before the Special Purpose Grand Jury.
On Monday he received another subpoena to testify before the panel that could soon vote to indict.
"I think it's possible that my observation is a necessary link in a chain between communications from the Trump campaign to the folks that were in that room to others," he said.
Former Georgia state senator Jen Jordan confirmed to the FOX 5 I-Team she has also received a subpoena. Like Chidi, she testified before the Special Purpose Grand Jury about pressure from Trump surrogates in the days following Biden’s victory.