Newt Gingrich ordered to testify in Georgia election probe
FAIRFAX, Va. — A local judge has ordered former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to testify before a Georgia grand jury in a sweeping criminal investigation into interference in the 2020 election.
Circuit Court Judge Robert Smith on Wednesday rejected arguments that Gingrich’s appearance was “unnecessary and would impose undue hardship” to travel to Atlanta later this month.
Gingrich declined to comment after the brief hearing.
Attorney John Burlingame said he would likely appeal the ruling, which now requires Gingrich, a former congressman from Georgia, to appear on Nov. 29.
Fulton County prosecutors are seeking to question Gingrich about December 2020 contacts with Donald Trump’s campaign in which Gingrich lobbied to air television ads ‘promoting the false narrative that election officials had smuggled suitcases containing fake ballots” at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta where the ballots were being counted.
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“The goal is to anger the nation with new, verifiable information the American people have never seen before,” Gingrich reportedly wrote in a Dec. 8, 2020, email to Trump campaign associates. “If we inform the American people in a way that they find compelling and it angers them, then they will pressure legislatures and governors.
Burlingame argued that Gingrich should be spared from facing questioning in Georgia because he has already agreed to be interviewed by the House Select Committee investigating the Nov. 21 Capitol attack.
The attorney said Gingrich would be questioned on the same issues cited by Georgia prosecutors and that a transcript of the House interview could be provided to Georgia prosecutors.
The judge rejected the argument and another challenging the authority of the Fulton County Special Grand Jury. The attorney said Gingrich should not be required to testify before the Atlanta-area panel because it is not a traditional grand jury with the power to issue indictments.
As created, the Fulton County Panel is an investigative body that can recommend prosecution in a final report. Any final charging decision would be left to local District Attorney Fani Willis, who led the investigation.
A similar subpoena challenge was launched and dismissed last month by Trump’s former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, one of several high-profile witnesses who unsuccessfully sought to avoid the charges. subpoenas in the case.
Meadows, a central figure in Donald Trump’s failed effort to overturn Georgia’s 2020 vote, participated in a January 2021 phone call in which Trump urged Georgian Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough of votes to deny President Joe Biden’s victory in the key battleground state.
USA Today
