Georgia Prosecutors Name 16 Fake Trump Electors as Targets in Probe - Filing

© AP Photo / Jim BourgPresident Donald Trump reacts during the final presidential debate at Belmont University, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn., with Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden
President Donald Trump reacts during the final presidential debate at Belmont University, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn., with Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden  - Sputnik International, 1920, 20.07.2022
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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Prosecutors from the US state of Georgia informed sixteen fake electors they could be indicted as part of a probe into former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, court documents revealed.
"Each of the sixteen persons who signed the unofficial Elector Certificate ultimately submitted to the National Archives received a similar target letter alerting… that person both that his testimony was required by the special purpose grand jury and that he was a target of the investigation," counsel for the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office said in the document filed on Tuesday.
Defense attorneys in a motion to quash the subpoenas said eleven of the sixteen Republican nominee electors were initially considered witnesses, not subjects in the probe. On June 28, however, Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade informed the lawyers their clients’ status changed to "Target" because "new evidence has come to light," according to the motion.
The grand jury summoned the nominee electors for appearances beginning next week, a move the defense team described as a "publicity stunt."
"The nominee electors' change of status was not precipitated by new evidence or an honestly-held belief that they have criminal exposure," the defense attorneys said in the document. "The attempt to force the nominee electors to be publicly marched into the grand jury only to invoke their rights is political theater and gamesmanship."
Among the sixteen targeted is Georgia Republican Party chairman David Shafer who told the House January 6 panel that the fake elector scheme came at Trump’s direction, according to CNN.
On January 2, 2021, the former president in an hour-long conference call pressed Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" votes to swing the state in Trump’s favor. Raffensberger, the next day, released a recording of the conversation. A month later, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis launched a criminal probe to determine if Trump should be prosecuted over the call.
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