ATLANTA — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said on Friday there are no current delays that would prevent her from taking the evidence against Donald Trump and his allies to a grand jury in the coming months.
"I've told people many times that I'm not going to be rushed," she told 11Alive. "We are doing what is needed for justice which is to do a proper investigation. That investigation is ongoing, but the timeline that I've set out for the American people having an answer is Sept. 1, no later than. ...The American people will have the answer they want by Sept. 1."
Willis' statement comes on the heels of an 11Alive report that summonses were sent for the two Fulton County grand juries that could hear the election case and issue indictments. The prosecutor spoke to reporters after attending an elder abuse awareness seminar in East Point hosted by Fulton County Commissioner Khadijah Abdur-Rahman.
In previous letters to the Fulton County Sheriff's Office and other law enforcement agencies, Willis said potential indictments in her 2020 election investigation would come during the court term that runs from July 11 to Sept. 1.
A second letter Willis sent to high-ranking county officials in May announced that much of the district attorney's staff would work remotely in the first half of August. Willis also requested that county judges not hear trials during part of that period.
That letter made no outright mention of Trump, but the move fueled speculation that potential indictments would come in early to mid-August.
Willis said the other criminal cases against the former president have no current impact on her investigation.
Trump was indicted earlier this month on 37 federal charges in relation to his handling of classified documents at his Florida estate. Trump's first indictment came in New York in March on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records.
"It was interesting to me that people were concerned because of things going on in other states and other jurisdictions that in some way impacted us," Willis said. "My investigation has been going on ...since the very day I got in office."
There are less than 20 days before the July court term begins, and it's been nearly a month since anything was filed in Fulton County Superior Court related to the investigation.
Several election probe matters have not been resolved.
A Fulton County judge has yet to rule on a motion from Trump that seeks to derail the investigation and bury a special grand jury report that examines potential criminal interference in the 2020 election.
Much of that report remains secret. However, jury foreperson Emily Kohrs told media outlets earlier this year that the report recommended indictments for more than a dozen people.
Willis and her office may still be negotiating immunity deals with targets of the election probe. At least half of the Georgia Republicans who cast false Electoral College ballots claiming Trump won the election have taken deals, according to court documents.
Willis declined to say if negotiations with potential defendants could delay her from presenting the case to a grand jury.
"Well, I respect your right to ask the question," she said. "(But) you know I will not answer that."
Georgia State University College of Law professor Anthony Kreis said that Willis and her office are now likely tying up "loose evidentiary ends" before the grand jury is seated.
This could include negotiating with targets and crafting a persuasive narrative around the case or cases, he said.
"There's fine-tuning that has to be done," Kreis said. "This is no run-of-the-mill case. ...They need to be perfect. There's no room for error whatsoever here at all."