This browser does not support the Video element.
A status check on Trump's investigation in Georgia
Following the indictment of former President Donald Trump in New York on Thursday for violating campaign finance laws, FOX 5 takes a look at the claims here in Georgia that Trump and others may have interfered in the 2020 election.
ATLANTA - There are questions about what, if any, impact former President Donald Trump’s indictment in New York will have on the special grand jury probe in Fulton County. Legal experts say the two cases are very different and prosecutors are looking at violations under each separate state law.
"Not a huge surprise that this is the outcome," Emory University Law School Professor Kay Levine said.
Levine said indictments are common when a grand jury, like the one in New York, is called.
"First of all, it’s secret. You can also really think of it as the prosecutors show...the person who is under suspicion is not allowed in the room. There is no defense attorney allowed in the room the prosecutor calls the witnesses that he or she wants them to hear from, and the prosecutor is the one who instructs the grand jury on the state of the law," Levine explained.
TRUMP RELEASES STATEMENT AFTER BEING INDICTED BY NY GRAND JURY
This browser does not support the Video element.
Trump indicted by New York grand jury
At the focus of the investigation was hush-money payments made to women on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s behalf. Prosecutors from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg have been presenting evidence to the grand jury and calling witnesses since January.
In the New York case, a majority of the 23 grand jurors had to vote to indict the former president.
For the case in Georgia, involving claims that Trump and his allies criminally interfered with the state’s 2020 election results, a special grand jury was impaneled in May 2022. It was different from the indictment grand jury held in New York, which is focused on determining if there was probable cause.
"Probable cause means, people define it differently, but basically, is there a fair probability that a person who is subject to these laws has violated them...that a law has been violated, and this is a person responsible," Levine said.
CAN DONALD TRUMP STILL RUN FOR PRESIDENT DESPITE INDICTMENT?
"A special grand jury or an investigative grand jury is calling for evidence by itself...the investigative grand jury is trying to figure out is there something worth investigating here that suggests that a crime had occurred," she added.
This browser does not support the Video element.
Donald Trump indicted
Donald Trump will be the first former president to face criminal charges. Those charges remain under seal, but it is known the investigation centered on payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter. A closer look at the impact this indictment could have on Georgia’s probe into claims the former president interfered in the 2020 election and reaction to the indictments, including a statement from the former president.
Portions of the Fulton County special grand jury’s report, released in February, showed jurors found no widespread fraud in Georgia’s 2020 elections. They did write in that report some of the witnesses may have committed perjury.
FLORIDA GOV. RON DESANTIS ON TRUMP INDICTMENT: 'FLORIDA WILL NOT ASSIST IN AN EXTRADITION REQUEST'
And while legally the cases are separate, Levine says there could be impacts on the Georgia case.
"There may be a firestorm of backlash and certainly agitation among people who are supporters...and that kind of firestorm and backlash can make the job of the investigative grand jury here harder certainly may cause some people to worry about intimidation and cause us as citizens of Georgia to worry about them not being able to do their job in a fair and impartial way because they’re worried about getting swept up in the backlash."
This browser does not support the Video element.
Former President Donald Trump indicted
Former President Donald Trump was indicted by a New York grand jury Thursday, FOX News confirms – the first criminal case ever brought against a former U.S. president and an extraordinary development after years of investigations into his business, political and personal dealings.
POLITICIANS, CELEBRITIES REACT TO TRUMP INDICTMENT
Levine says the next steps in the New York case would be a voluntary surrender or arrest, followed by an arraignment, where charges would be read and bail would be discussed. She also said for the charges in New York, expect falsifying business records in commission of another crime and violation of campaign finance law to be among them. The maximum sentence is four years behind bars.