一个特别大陪审团的主席在乔治亚州的富尔顿县召开会议，以审查可能的选举干预美国前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)和他的盟友周二开始了各种媒体之旅，她在那里公开展示了她的小组的一些秘密调查结果。
在一系列印刷和电视采访中，陪审团主席艾米丽·科尔斯透露，陪审员建议对几个人提出指控，但没有指名道姓，并暗示前总统就在其中。
“你不会感到震惊，”Kohrs告诉《纽约时报》，她的小组是否建议对特朗普提出指控。“这不是火箭科学。”
特别大陪审团有权提出指控，但无权发布指控。如果该小组已经提交的最终报告建议的费用，然后将取决于富尔顿县地方检察官法尼威利斯，谁发起刑事调查在2021年2月，来决定是否追求他们。
法律专家告诉ABC新闻，Kohrs的言论迅速在有线新闻和互联网上传播，可能会使未来的案件复杂化，更广泛地说，会破坏公众对刑事司法程序的信心。
“她不应该这样做，”美国广播公司新闻首席法律分析师达恩·阿布拉姆斯在谈到科尔的公开评论时说。“这对刑事司法系统的客观性没有帮助，而且开始感觉她在给地方检察官施加压力，让他真正提出指控。”
Kohrs似乎没有明确违反特别大陪审团的章程，该章程要求陪审员不得公开讨论他们的秘密审议。
2023年1月28日，新罕布什尔州塞勒姆，前总统唐纳德·特朗普在新罕布什尔州共和党州委员会2023年年会上发表讲话
Reba Saldanha/AP，文件
但专家们一致认为，她的公开言论可能会在未来的诉讼中被引用，可能会成为驳回案件或改变审判地点的动议中存在偏见的证据。
消息人士告诉ABC新闻，特朗普的法律团队一直在关注Kohrs在媒体上的言论，并已经开始权衡如果对他提出指控的选择。
特朗普本人周三早些时候在他的真相社交平台上抨击了科尔斯，称她的评论是“非法袋鼠法庭”和“有史以来最大的政治迫害的延续”的证据。
富尔顿县法官罗伯特·麦克伯尼解散了陪审团提交了报告上个月。专家说，他没有禁止陪审员公开谈论公开的报告摘录，但限制他们分享他们审议的细节，让Kohrs的言论成为一个糟糕的光学问题。
“不聪明但不违法，”前司法部高级官员哈里·利特曼说在推特上写道。“当然，她15分钟的(公关)之旅可能对案件不利，并引发辩护动议。”
麦克伯尼的办公室拒绝对ABC新闻发表评论，Kohrs和Willis办公室的发言人都没有回应置评请求。
大陪审团于去年5月开庭，作为威利斯对选举干预指控的刑事调查的一部分，这一指控部分是由现在臭名昭著的2021年1月2日，电话特朗普在给佐治亚州国务卿布拉德·拉芬斯佩格的信中恳求Raffensperger“找到11，780票”，这正是特朗普赢得该州所需的票数。特朗普一再为他给拉芬斯珀格的电话辩护，称之为“完美”。
在长达一个月的调查过程中，陪审团“从75名证人处获得或涉及75名证人的证据”，并于今年1月提交了最终报告。本月早些时候，麦克伯尼法官下令公布该报告的部分内容透露很少关于大陪审团的调查结果，威利斯继续她的调查，并权衡指控的决定。
具体的收费建议是“只为地方检察官的眼睛-现在，”麦克伯尼下令。
该报告的摘录还显示，“大陪审团的大多数人认为，一名或多名证人可能在作证时犯下了伪证罪，”而且“大陪审团建议，在证据确凿的情况下，地区检察官应对此类罪行提出适当的起诉。”
特朗普对该报告的摘录做出反应，声称“完全无罪”，并感谢大陪审团的工作。据该媒体报道，当《亚特兰大宪法日报》的记者与Kohrs分享这一反应时，她翻了个白眼，然后大笑起来。
“他真的这么说了吗?”据说她问。“哦，那太棒了。这是惊人的。我爱它。”
由于她的言论，专家们也对科尔的人身安全表示担忧。前总统的直言不讳的批评者和他的政府内部的告密者一再面临暴力和更糟糕的威胁，这引起了人们对Kohrs将自己置于危险境地的担忧。
“真的希望有人能给艾米丽·科尔斯一些安全方面的建议为了她自己的幸福&安全预防措施，”发布奥利维亚·特罗伊这位前特朗普时代的白宫官员一直对前总统持批评态度。“还真希望她的决定能公之于众...这是我们国家最重大的案件之一，最终不会影响结果。”
By speaking out, could foreperson in Georgia Trump probe undermine a future case?
The foreperson of a special grand jury convened in Fulton County, Georgia, to examinepossible election interferenceby former President Donald Trump and his allies embarked Tuesday on a media tour of sorts, where she publicly telegraphed some of her panel's closely held findings.
In a series of print and television interviews, jury foreperson Emily Kohrs revealed that jurors recommended charges for several individuals, without naming any of them -- and intimated that the former president is among them.
"You're not going to be shocked," Kohrs told The New York Times about whether her panel recommended charges against Trump. "It's not rocket science."
The special grand jury has the power to recommend charges, but not issue them. Should the panel's already-submitted final report recommend charges, it would then be up to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, wholaunched the criminal probein February 2021, to determine whether or not to pursue them.
Legal experts tell ABC News that Kohrs' remarks, which quickly ricocheted across cable news and the internet, could complicate any future cases and, more broadly, undermine the public's confidence in the criminal justice process.
"She shouldn't be doing this," Dan Abrams, ABC News' chief legal analyst, said of Kohrs' public comments. "It isn't helpful to the perception of the objectivity of the criminal justice system, and it starts to feel like she's putting pressure on the district attorney to actually move forward with charges."
Kohrs appears to have stopped short of explicitly violating the special grand jury's charter, which mandates that jurors refrain from publicly discussing their secret deliberations.
But experts agreed that her public remarks could be cited in future litigation, possibly as evidence of bias in a motion to dismiss a case, or in a motion to change venues.
Trump's legal team has been monitoring Kohrs' comments in the press and has already begun weighing options if charges against him are brought, sources told ABC News.
Trump himself slammed Kohrs on his Truth Social platform early Wednesday, citing her comments as evidence of "an illegal Kangaroo Court" and a "continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt of all time."
Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney disbanded the jury after itsubmitted its reportlast month. He did not bar jurors from speaking publicly about the excerpts of the report that were made public, but restricted them from sharing details about their deliberations, leaving Kohrs' remarks a matter of bad optics, experts said.
"Not smart but not illegal," Harry Litman, a former senior Justice Department officialwrote on Twitter. "Of course, her 15 minute [public relations] tour could be bad for the case and give rise to defense motions."
McBurney's office declined to comment to ABC News, and neither Kohrs nor a spokesperson for Willis' office responded to a request for comment.
The grand jury was seated last May as part of Willis' criminal probe into allegations of election interference, which was sparked in part by the now-infamousJan. 2, 2021, phone callTrump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump pleaded with Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes," the exact number Trump needed to win the state. Trump has repeatedly defended his call to Raffensperger, calling it "perfect."
Jurors "received evidence from or involving 75 witnesses" over the course of its monthslong probe into the matter, and delivered their final report in January. Earlier this month, Judge McBurney ordered the release of portions of that report, whichrevealed littleabout the grand jury's findings as Willis continues her investigation and weighs charging decisions.
The specific charging recommendations are "for the District Attorney's eyes only -- for now," McBurney ordered.
Excerpts from the report also revealed that "a majority of the grand jury believes that perjury may have been committed by one or more witnesses testifying before it," and that "the Grand Jury recommends that the District Attorney seek appropriate indictments for such crimes where the evidence is compelling."
Trump reacted to the excerpts of the report by claiming "total exoneration" and thanking the grand jury for its work. When reporters for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution shared that response with Kohrs, she rolled her eyes then burst out laughing, according to the outlet.
"Did he really say that?" she reportedly asked. "Oh, that's fantastic. That's phenomenal. I love it."
Experts have also raised concerns about Kohrs' personal safety as a consequence of her remarks. Vocal critics of the former president and whistleblowers from within his administration have repeatedly faced threats of violence and worse, prompting concerns that Kohrs has put herself in harm's way.
"Really hope someone is advising Emily Kohrs on safety& security precautions for her own well-being,"posted Olivia Troye, a former Trump-era White House official who has been critical of the former president. "Also really hoping that her decision to go public ... about one of the most significant cases for our country, doesn't hurt the outcome in the end."
