Fulton County DA wants evidence protected in Georgia election interference case
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade in court in January 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Prosecutors are trying to block the release of witness interviews in the Georgia election interference case after interview clips from the four defendants to reach plea deals leaked to the media.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is again asking Fulton Superior Judge Scott McAfee for an emergency protective order over discovery materials shared by the state with defendants.
That includes proffers — the interviews that defendants record with prosecutors before entering a plea agreement. The four defendants who have pleaded guilty so far have all agreed to testify at future trials as part of their plea deals.
Snippets of the interviews with lawyers Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell were first published Monday by ABC News. The Washington Post also posted clips of prosecutors’ interviews with lawyer Kenneth Chesebro and bail bondsman Scott Hall.
In one clip, Ellis recounted a conversation in the weeks after the 2020 election with a senior White House official, who told her that Trump would refuse to leave office.
“He said, ‘The boss is not going to leave under any circumstances. We are just going to stay in power,” Ellis told prosecutors. “And I said, ‘Well, it doesn’t work that way.’ And he said, ‘We don’t care.”
The proffers were distributed to each of the remaining co-defendants through discovery, the pre-trial process where the parties in a case exchange evidence.
“Public release of information contained within discovery could subject witnesses to harassment and threats prior to trial, which could discourage cooperation and candor,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing. “Premature public discussion or release of information could also affect the jury pool.”
Lawyers for six of the remaining defendants pushed back, proposing the judge enact a more narrow protective order if he decides one is necessary. A hearing will be held Wednesday.
In their court filing, prosecutors implied that defendant Harrison Floyd’s legal counsel disseminated the clips, attaching an email in which Floyd’s attorney Todd Harding wrote, “It was Harrison Floyd’s team.”
Prosecutors say Harding then backtracked in a later email, saying his admission had been a “typo.” Floyd is accused of participating in a failed effort to pressure Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman into falsely admitting she committed election fraud.
Prosecutors say going forward they will no longer hand over proffers to the remaining defendants. Instead, they may come to the district attorney’s office to view the videos and take notes.
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