Trump unleashes tirade against Fulton County witness, Jan. 6 judge

Donald Trump raged Monday morning against both the judge overseeing his 2020 election subversion case and a former Georgia lieutenant governor who is set to testify this week before an Atlanta grand jury weighing evidence against the former president and his allies.

Trump, who was put on notice about “inflammatory” rhetoric by US District Judge Tanya Chutkan last week, fumed on Truth Social over a report that former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan had agreed to testify before the Fulton County panel Tuesday.

“I am reading reports that failed former Lt. Governor of Georgia, Jeff Duncan [sic], will be testifying before the Fulton County Grand Jury. He shouldn’t,” Trump posted.

“I barely know him but he was, right from the beginning of this Witch Hunt, a nasty disaster for those looking into the Election Fraud that took place in Georgia,” the 77-year-old went on. “He refused having a Special Session to find out what went on, became very unpopular with Republicans (I refused to endorse him!), and fought the TRUTH all the way.”

Duncan is an unabashed critic of Trump who put out a joint statement with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in December 2020 rejecting the push from the 45th president’s allies to hold a special legislative session to address claims of election fraud.

The former Peach State second-in-command confirmed Saturday that he would testify to the grand jury, writing on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that “I look forward to answering their questions around the 2020 election.

“Republicans should never let honesty be mistaken for weakness,” he added.

Kemp himself also delivered testimony to a special investigating grand jury convened by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis last year. Willis is reportedly weighing potential charges against Trump and around a dozen of the former president’s allies and could announce them as soon as this week.

Over the weekend, CNN reported that prosecutors have obtained communications tying Trump’s legal team — including former Mayor Rudy Giuliani — to an unlawful Jan. 7, 2021 breach of election systems in Coffee County,”

“Just landed back in DC with the Mayor huge things starting to come together! Most immediately, we were just granted access — by written invitation! — to Coffee County’s systems. Yay!” read a Jan. 1, 2021 text message in a group chat of colleagues from Sullivan Strickler, the law firm hired by Trump’s team to examine the voting systems in the heavily Republican county, per CNN.

“The Mayor” appears to be a reference to Giuliani.

“WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL THE FULTON COUNTY GRAND JURY THAT I DID NOT TAMPER WITH THE ELECTION. THE PEOPLE THAT TAMPERED WITH IT WERE THE ONES THAT RIGGED IT, AND SADLY, PHONEY [sic] FANI WILLIS, WHO HAS SHOCKINGLY ALLOWED ATLANTA TO BECOME ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS CITIES ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD,” Trump fumed in all caps in another Truth Social post.

Willis’s investigation was triggered by a Jan. 2, 2021 phone call from Trump to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which the then-president stressed the need to “find 11,780 votes,” enough needed to reverse his loss to Joe Biden.

Trump also took aim at Chutkan in a 1 a.m. Monday post, quoting her statements during the sentencing of a Capitol rioter in October 2022.

“‘I SEE THE VIDEOTAPES. I SEE THE FOOTAGE OF THE FLAGS AND THE SIGNS THAT PEOPLE WERE CARRYING AND THE HATS THAT THEY WERE WEARING, AND THE GARB,’” the judge was quoted as saying.

“AND THE PEOPLE WHO MOBBED THAT CAPITOL WERE THERE IN FEALTY, IN LOYALTY, TO ONE MAN, NOT TO THE CONSTITUTION, OF WHICH MOST OF THE PEOPLE WHO COME BEFORE ME SEEM WOEFULLY IGNORANT; NOT TO THE IDEALS OF THIS COUNTRY, AND NOT TO THE PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRACY. IT’S A BLIND LOYALTY TO ONE PERSON WHO, BY THE WAY, REMAINS FREE TO THIS DAY.’”

“She obviously wants me behind bars,” the former president concluded the post. “VERY BIASED & UNFAIR!.”

Trump has previously called for Chutkan to recuse herself in the case.

Should Trump be indicted in Georgia, would be his fourth indictment in a matter of months, joining criminal cases against him in Florida, the District of Columbia, and Manhattan.