FILE - Fulton County Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis poses for a photo in her office in Atlanta, Jan. 4, 2022. Willis last year opened a criminal investigation “into attempts to influence the administration of the 2020 Georgia General Election.” A special grand jury with subpoena power was seated in May at her request. A group of Georgia Republicans who have been informed that they are at risk of being indicted in an investigation into whether former President Donald Trump and others illegally interfered in the 2020 election in Georgia are fighting subpoenas to testify before the special grand jury. (AP Photo/Ben Gray, File)
By Sara Murray and Jason Morris | CNN
At least eight of the Republican “fake electors” in Georgia have accepted immunity deals in an ongoing criminal investigation into efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election there, according to a new court filing.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had previously notified all 16 GOP fake electors in Georgia that they were targets in her investigation. Last month, Willis offered immunity deals to several of the Republicans who served as pro-Trump electors and they accepted, according to the filing.
The newly secured cooperators could offer insights into a key prong of Willis’s sprawling investigation into election interference: the attempts to put forward alternate slates of electors to block the certification of the 2020 presidential vote and the role Trump’s allies played in organizing the effort.
Other Republicans who served as pro-Trump electors could still face legal exposure in her investigation, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Friday filing was attorney Kimberly Bourroughs Debrow’s response to an earlier motion from Willis seeking to have Debrow disqualified from the case. Debrow represents a group of the GOP fake electors in Georgia and opposed the motion to have her tossed from the case.
“The District Attorney’s Motion is reckless, frivolous, offensive, and completely without merit,” Debrow wrote in Friday’s filing.
The district attorney’s office declined to comment.
The district attorney’s office said in an earlier court filing that the fake electors had begun incriminating one another, creating a conflict for Debrow in her joint representation of the fake electors.
In Friday’s filing Debrow responded forcefully, writing “there is no merit to the District Attorney’s claim that any elector incriminated another in their recent interview, and the recordings and transcripts prove it.”
The district attorney’s office also accused Debrow and an attorney she had previously worked with of failing to bring immunity proposals to the GOP fake electors back in 2022.
Debrow also disputed that accusation, saying the group of electors turned down “potential” immunity offers last year but had never been presented with specific and individual offers of immunity until this spring.
Willis recently told local law enforcement officials in a letter that she plans to make an announcement on possible charges against Trump or his allies between July 11 and September 1.
Originally published at Cnn Com Wire Service