The Georgia prosecutor signals August’s timetable for charges in the Trump investigation

The Georgia prosecutor, who is leading an investigation into former President Donald J. Trump and his allies, has taken the unusual step of announcing work-from-home days for most of its associates in the first three weeks of August and giving judges at a courthouse in the Atlanta center not to schedule any lawsuits during some of that time as she prepares to press charges in the investigation.

The moves suggest that Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis expects a grand jury to drop the charges during that period. Ms. Willis outlined the work plan remotely and made the request to the judges in a letter sent Thursday to 21 Fulton County officials, including county judge, Ural Glanville, and sheriff, Pat Labat.

“Thank you for your attention and assistance in keeping the Fulton County court complex safe during this time,” wrote Ms. Willis, who has already asked the FBI to help with security in and around the courthouse.

Ms. Willis had said in an earlier letter that all charges related to the Trump investigation would come during the grand jury’s term, which runs from July 11 to September 1. Her letter from Thursday seems to provide more specifics about the timing.

However, her timeline has already been postponed as she has tried to negotiate cooperation agreements with some potential defendants.

Mr. Trump’s legal team is seeking to scuttle the case with a motion, filed in March, to quash much of the evidence gathered and take Ms. Willis off the case before charges are filed.

Ms. Willis’ office has spent more than two years investigating whether the former president and his allies illegally interfered in Georgia’s 2020 election, which Mr Trump narrowly lost to President Biden. A special grand jury that heard evidence in the case for about seven months recommended more than a dozen people for indictments, and her forewoman strongly hinted in an interview with The New York Times in February that Mr. Trump was one of them.

Ms. Willis must now seek approval from an ordinary grand jury for any charges she wants to bring.

With concerns about impending charges in such a high-profile investigation weighing heavily on county officials, Ms. Willis said she would cut staff in her office by about 70 percent and rely on remote work on the days when grand juries begin in July. were gathered. August 31 to 18.

She said there would be exceptions to the remote work plan, including “my leadership team” and “all armed detectives.”

Ms Willis noted in the letter that most judges would be attending a judicial conference during the week of July 31. She added: “I respectfully ask the judges not to schedule trials and in-person hearings in the weeks commencing Monday, August 7 and Monday, August 14.”

Last year, Ms. Willis wrote to the FBI’s field office in Atlanta, asking for a risk assessment of the county courthouse in downtown Atlanta and for the agency to “provide protective equipment to intelligence agencies and federal agents.”

She noted in the letter last year that Mr. Trump called prosecutors investigating him at a meeting in Texas in January 2022 with “cruel, horrible people” and called for protests in cities where he was under investigation. His recent criminal indictment in New York City, charged with paying hush money to a porn star, passed largely without incident.

Armed pro-Trump protesters appeared around the Georgia State Capitol a number of times in the weeks following the 2020 election, as Mr. Trump and his allies made false allegations of voter fraud. On at least one occasion armed There were also counter-demonstrators in the streets.

Ms. Willis, who has equipped some staff members with body armor, is clearly concerned about the potential unrest following any charges in the Trump investigation. In a letter sent to the local sheriff last month, she wrote of “the need for heightened security and preparedness in the coming months because of this pending announcement.”