Trump seizes on Georgia grand jury forewoman’s ‘media tour’ as she comes under fire for jeopardising case

Foreperson’s comments criticised by legal experts and journalists

Donald Trump has joined the pile-on against a Georgia woman who served as foreperson for a grand jury investigation into his campaign’s efforts to overturn the state’s election results in 2020 as the woman is accused of harming the prosecution’s case.

The foreperson, Emily Kohrs, has spoken to several media outlets including CNN and The New York Times since the grand jury’s service concluded with a set of recommendations for criminal charges delivered in a report to the Fulton County district attorney’s office. In interviews, she has made clear hints about the nature of the charges her grand jury recommended to the prosecution’s office, and dismissed Mr Trump’s notion on Truth Social that he had been exonerated by their report.

On Wednesday the former president weighed in, while apparently taking a shock at the “energetic” manner she supposedly displayed during a CNN appearance the day prior.

“This Georgia case is ridiculous, a strictly political continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt of all time. Now you have an extremely energetic young woman, the (get this!) “foreperson” of the Racist D.A.’s Special Grand Jury, going around and doing a Media Tour revealing, incredibly, the Grand Jury’s inner workings & thoughts. This is not JUSTICE, this is an illegal Kangaroo Court,” he insisted.

Mr Trump then continued: “Atlanta is leading the Nation in Murder and other Violent Crimes. All I did is make TWO PERFECT PHONE CALLS!!!” Atlanta’s murder rate was actually ranked 22nd out of all major US cities at the beginning of last year.

Ms Kohrs has appeared in a flurry of interviews since the grand jury’s work concluded last week, and in some cases has been asked directly about whether Mr Trump will face charges stemming from the case. She has avoided answering that question directly, while acknowledging that the former president’s actions were discussed extensively and dropping hints about the recommendations the grand jury voted to make. Other questions, however, have led to Ms Kohrs describing various unnamed witnesses and their respective levels of credibility.

Emily Kohrs (NBC News)

“You’re not going to be shocked. It’s not rocket science,” Ms Kohrs told The New York Times. “You won’t be too surprised.”

“I will tell you that if the judge releases the recommendations, it is not going to be some giant plot twist. You probably have a fair idea of what may be in there. I’m trying very hard to say that delicately,” she continued.

In an on-camera interview with CNN on Tuesday, she elaborated, explaining that the judge made clear that the exact recommendations were not to be released, while adding: “I will tell you that it was a process where we heard his name a lot. We definitely heard a lot about former President Trump and we definitely discussed him a lot in the room.”

Those comments sparked backlash on the same network later on in the evening, when CNN’s Anderson Cooper and the network’s legal commentator Elie Honig called Ms Kohrs’ media blitz a mistake.

“This is a horrible idea,” said Mr Honig. “And I guarantee you that prosecutors are wincing, watching her go on this.”

Mr Honig went on to accuse Ms Kohrs of not taking the process seriously. Cooper chimed in, adding: “There’s no reason for her to be out talking.”

“No. It’s a prosecutor’s nightmare. Mark my words, Donald Trump’s team is going to make a motion if there’s an indictment to dismiss that indictment based on grand jury impropriety,” Mr Honig concluded.

Fulton County’s district attorney has yet to issue any formal charges in the case stemming from the effort to tamper with Georgia’s election results, but a decision on that matter is expected to come imminently.

The former president also faces the possibility of charges resulting from January 6 at the federal level, as the Department of Justice has appointed a special counsel to make that decision in the coming weeks and months.