ATLANTA — During its investigation into efforts to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results, a Fulton County special grand jury listened to a phone call between former president Donald Trump and Georgia's then-House Speaker, David Ralston.
NBC confirmed the news with a foreperson for the special grand jury Wednesday night.
The call, as described, features Trump pressuring Ralston to call for a special legislative session in hopes of overturning Biden's victory.
Emily Kohrs, the foreperson in question, told NBC that the call lasted roughly 10 minutes. According to her, Trump asked Ralston who would be able to stop him from hold a special session, to which he replied: "a federal judge, that's who."
Ralston, a Republican, spent more than a decade as Georgia's House Speaker. He died back in November of 2022.
NBC noted they reached out to his former spokesperson for a comment, as well as the District Attorney's office but so far they have been no responses.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis opened the Georgia investigation in early 2021, shortly after another recording of a phone call between Trump and a top state official was made public. During that Jan. 2, 2021, phone call, Trump suggested that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger could “find” the votes needed to reverse his narrow loss in the state.
In a separate recording made public in early 2021, Trump can be heard talking to the lead investigator in Raffensperger's office in December 2020, pressing her to look into Fulton County, saying she would “find things that are gonna be unbelievable.” Trump also told her, “When the right answer comes out, you’ll be praised.”
The special grand jury, which was seated in May, heard from about 75 witnesses and considered other evidence before wrapping up its work in December. It did not have the authority to issue indictments but instead produced a report with recommendations for Willis.
It is ultimately up to Willis to decide whether to go to a regular grand jury to seek one or more indictments in the case. She said during a hearing in January that decisions in the case are “imminent.”