Special prosecutor will investigate Georgia’s lieutenant governor in Trump indictment
A special prosecutor is likely to be appointed to investigate one of 30 unnamed and “uncharged co-conspirators” in a broader racketeering indictment in Georgia against Donald Trump and 18 of his allies.
The state’s current Republican lieutenant governor, Burt Jones, who was the state’s acting senator at the time of the alleged crimes, was one of 16 “alternate” voters who falsely swore that Mr. Trump had won the state in the 2020 presidential election. He also pushed for a special session of the Legislature to reverse Joe Biden’s victory.
But he was not among the 19 defendants in the grand jury case for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who was prevented by a judge from indicting him.
Last year, Supreme Court Justice Robert McBurney found that Ms Willis had a conflict of interest in prosecuting Mr Jones after she hosted a fundraiser for his Democratic rival in the 2022 election for lieutenant governor.
According to agency executive Pete Skandalakis, the Georgia State Attorneys Council is expected to appoint a special prosecutor to separately investigate whether Mr. Jones faces criminal charges.
After the indictment, the council “will begin the search for a conflict prosecutor to review the case and conduct further investigations if necessary,” according to a statement shared by Mr Skandalakis The Independent.
“After we discussed the matter with [Ms Willis]”We thought it best that I file a motion for the report with Judge McBurney so that I can assist the Conflict Prosecutor in handling this matter,” he added.
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Mr Skandalakis said there was no timetable for this process, adding that due to the unprecedented size of the case, “it will not be easy to find a special prosecutor who has the resources to handle a case like this”.
Mr. Jones is believed to be the eighth unnamed and uncharged co-conspirator in the August 14 indictment.
Prosecutors typically include “uncharged co-conspirators” who are believed to have conspired with named defendants to commit a crime or crimes, as shown in the broad RICO trial of the former president and his allies becomes. But prosecutors have either granted them some immunity from prosecution or some other arrangement in exchange for their testimony.
The indictment cites a post on his December 7, 2020 Twitter account in which he urged his supporters to “sign the petition” for a special session of the Legislature to review the outcome of the 2020 election.
According to the indictment, the same co-conspirator was also involved in correspondence with other co-defendants about the rigged election campaign.
The Independent has reached out to Mr Jones’ office for comment.
