Behind the scenes of the fulton grand jury investigation

Photo by Red Huber

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution interviewed five members of the special purpose grand jury into election interference in Georgia to gain a better understanding of its workings. All five — three men and two women — spoke on the condition of not being named.

The jurors discussed details surrounding their eight months on the panel but declined to talk about their internal deliberations or share their indictment recommendations.

How Jurors Feel About Serving on the 8-Month Long Jury

“One of the most important things we’ll be a part of in our life was this eight month process that we did,” one juror told the AJC. It was “incredibly important to get it right.”

“I took it very seriously. I showed up, did what I was supposed to do, did not do what I was asked not to do, you know?,” said another.

“I was pretty emotional throughout the whole thing,” one said. “I wouldn’t cry in front of any of the witnesses, but when I would get in my car, I was like, I just left that and I have to just go do my job now?…. I just know things that are hard to know.”

“I can honestly give a damn of whoever goes to jail, you know, like personally,” one juror said. “I care more about there being more respect in the system for the work that people do to make sure elections are free and fair.”

How Trial Grouped Witnesses

One of the jurors described how the 75 witnesses fell into three buckets. The first set, who they questioned early on, were generally forthcoming. The second was witnesses who needed to receive subpoenas but were willing to talk. The third was people who clearly did not want to be there and had fought their summons. They were the last witnesses jurors heard from, and many had at least at one point been close to Trump. Two of the jurors estimated that as many as 10 witnesses invoked their Fifth Amendment rights, some doing so even when asked to describe their education.

What’s to Come

None of the jurors hinted at indictment recommendations. However, one juror said: “I tell my wife if every person in America knew every single word of information we knew, this country would not be divided as it is right now.”

“A lot’s gonna come out sooner or later,” another said said. “And it’s gonna be massive. It’s gonna be massive.”

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The grand jury was dissolved in January after submitting its final report.