Trump election probe: Grand jury explores Trump's phone call to Georgia House Speaker
Speaker Ralston testifies before grand jury in Trump election probe
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston appeared before the special Fulton County grand jury tasked with investigating if former President Donald Trump and his associates violate Georgia law following the 2020 election. Ralston reportedly told the jury Trump called him after the former president lost to urge him to call a special session.
ATLANTA - The FOX 5 I-Team has learned that then-President Donald Trump phoned Georgia House Speaker David Ralston in 2020 and reportedly urged the speaker for a special session to be called to investigate allegations of voter fraud.
Ralston testified Thursday before a special Fulton County grand jury investigating whether former President Trump and others interfered with the 2020 election campaign.
Part of the speaker's testimony will reportedly be about then-president urging him to call a special session following the election.
His testimony on Thursday last for several hours. It was not known if he had been dismissed as a witness yet or not.
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston condemns Russia's invasion of the Ukraine on the chamber floor on March 9, 2022. (FOX 5)
Ralston was just one of many top government officials and operatives who testified this week.
Tuesday morning, a FOX 5 photographer was the only one to catch Gov. Brian Kemp’s reelection communications director, Cody Hall, heading into the courthouse where the grand jury is meeting.
Gov. Brian Kemp's campaign communication director Cody Hall walks into the Fulton County Courthouse on July 12, 2022. (FOX 5)
Normally, Hall is seen these days handling Kemp's re-election campaign. This week, however, Hall left the campaign trail and testified before the special grand jury for some six hours. Hall would not say what the grand jury wanted to know.
Since early June, the witnesses have been seen arriving to testify in a variety of ways. Some top political officials, like Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, simply use the front door of the courthouse. His right-hand man, Chief Operating Officer Gabe Sterling, slipped into a side door that connects to the courthouse.
Gabe Sterling, Chief Operating Officer of the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, enters the Fulton County Courthouse on June 15, 2022. (FOX 5)
Other witnesses are driven directly into an underground parking deck at the courthouse. No one sees them.
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston is seen being driven into the underground parking area of the Fulton County Courthouse on July 14, 2022. (FOX 5)
Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan reportedly arrived late Tuesday and testified for two hours.
One source said the grand jury wanted to know what Duncan knew about communications between then-President Trump and Raffensperger as well as other top officials in Georgia.
"I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have," Trump told Raffensperger in the now infamous phone made on Jan. 2, 2021.
That phone call has become one of the centerpieces of the special grand jury investigation.
President Donald Trump's former lawyer Rudy Giuliani testifies before a special Georgia Senate subcommittee hearing on Dec. 30, 2020. (FOX 5)
Sources said grand jurors also asked Duncan about the day in December 2020 when Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani appeared before a Georgia Senate subcommittee. Giuliani insisted voting machines were flipping votes and the election was rigged.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger walks into the Fulton County Courthouse to testify before the special grand jury in the Trump election probe on June 2, 2022. (FOX 5)
Not so, Raffensperger told FOX 5 last year.
Reporter: "Do you feel like Mr. Giuliani lied?"
Raffensperger: "I don't believe he was truthful."
It is illegal to lie "in matters within jurisdiction of state or political subdivisions."
While witnesses arrive to testify in many ways, sometimes witnesses don’t show at all.
Former State Senator William Ligon is seen chairing a special Georgia Senate subcommittee hearing testimony from former President Donald Trump's former lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Dec. 30, 2020. (FOX 5)
According to a grand jury court filing, former State Senator William Ligon was slated to testify Wednesday. He was chairman of the subcommittees that Giuliani appeared before.
The document said grand jurors would ask Ligon about a published report Ligon produced documents summarizing the meeting with Giuliani and also about what Ligon said during the hearing.
A source said Ligon's grand jury testimony was rescheduled for later for personal reasons.