July 5, 2022 / by emptywheel

 

Georgia Grand Jury Subpoenas Include False State Farm Arena Claims

As multiple outlets have reported, Fulton County DA Fani Willis has obtained subpoenas for Rudy Giuliani, Kenneth Cheesebro, John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, Jacki Pick Deason, Cleta Mitchell, and Lindsey Graham. (Thanks to Georgia Public Radio for releasing all the documents.)

The subpoenas reveal that the scope of the investigation is broader than originally understood (which previously was limited to Trump’s call to Brad Raffensperger to ask him for almost 12,000 votes).

For example, a number of the subpoenas have language similar to this, from Rudy’s subpoena.

As part of those efforts, on December 3, 2020, the Witness and other individuals known to be associated with both him and the Trump Campaign appeared publicly before the Georgia State Senate at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia. At that hearing, the Witness provided testimony, additional witnesses, and documentary evidence purporting to demonstrate the existence of election fraud in multiple Georgia counties during the administration of the November 2020 election. Among the evidence offered by the Witness was a video recording of election workers at State Farm Arena in Atlanta that purported to show election workers producing “suitcases” of unlawful ballots from unknown sources, outside the view of election poll watchers. Within 24 hours of the December 3, 2020, legislative hearing, the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office debunked the State Farm video and explained that its investigation revealed no voter fraud of any kind had taken place at State Farm Arena. Despite this, the Witness made additional statements, both to the public and in subsequent legislative hearings, claiming widespread voter fraud in Georgia during the November 2020 election and using the now-debunked State Farm video in support of those statements. There is evidence that the Witness’s appearance and testimony at the hearing was part of a multi-state, coordinated plan by the Trump Campaign to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.

That is, the investigation appears to have expanded to include the false claims made about the counting at State Farm Arena, including the vicious attacks on Shaye Moss and her mother.

Which means the investigation may incorporate threats not just against senior officials like Raffensperger, but also line workers like Moss who were terrorized by Rudy’s false claims.

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Originally Posted @ https://www.emptywheel.net/2022/07/05/georgia-grand-jury-subpoenas-include-false-state-farm-arena-claims/