Fani Taifa Willis is the district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, which contains most of Atlanta. She is the first woman to hold the office.
On February 10, 2021, Willis launched a criminal investigation into Donald Trump's attempts to influence Georgia election officials—including the governor, the attorney general, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger via a telephone call—to "find" enough votes to override Joe Biden's win in that state and thus undo Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election. In January 2022, she requested a special grand jury to consider charges of election interference by Trump and his allies. In May, a 26-member special grand jury was given investigative authority and subpoena power and tasked with submitting a report to the judge and Willis on whether a crime was committed.
Willis sent target letters to people she is investigating related to the fake electors plot. These include two Republican officials—State Senator Brandon Beach and David Shafer, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party—and the 16 people who falsely presented themselves as electors. She also sent a target letter to State Senator Burt Jones, but then a judge said she could not target Jones due to a conflict of interest which was created by Willis hosting a fundraiser for the democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.
After hearing from 75 witnesses—including former US Senator Kelly Loeffler, former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, and possibly Sidney Powell—the special grand jury completed its work and was dissolved on January 9, 2023. On February 16, following a judge's order, parts of the report were released. The judge did not permit the release of recommendations for possible charges, intending to preserve the "due process" for anyone who might be indicted later. Several days later, the foreperson of the grand jury hinted that the recommendations were not "some giant plot twist" and that no one would be "surprised".
On April 24, 2023, Willis announced she would announce decisions to charge Trump and his associates during the Georgia Superior Courts' fourth term, perhaps as soon as July or August 2023. Willis's office indicted Trump and 18 others on 41 charges on August 14, 2023. Their mugshots, including Trump's, were taken at Fulton County Jail.
