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Judge orders RNC boss, Alex Jones to testify in Fani Willis election case against Trump

October 11, 2023 | | Print Article

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was successful in an effort to compel testimony from two pro-Trump witnesses in the election case against former President Donald Trump.

After Willis’ office filed a petition on Tuesday, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and radio host Alex Jones were ordered by a judge in Fulton County, Georgia to testify in the criminal case, State of Georgia v. Ken Chesebro and Sidney Powell.

McDaniel and Jones are considered “a necessary and material witness in this prosecution” by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee who ruled that they “will be required to be in attendance and testify,” according to the filings.

“Ronna McDaniel possesses unique knowledge concerning communications between herself and Donald Trump as well as communications between herself and John Eastman regarding the conspiracy to cause certain individuals to falsely hold themselves out as the duly elected and qualified presidential electors,” McAfee wrote, in reference to the events following the 2020 election.

Eastman, a former Trump lawyer, was indicted in August under Georgia’s Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations statute along with 18 others, including Trump. Both he and the former president have pleaded not guilty.

Meanwhile, the judge determined that Jones had “unique knowledge” that needed to be heard in testimony after reports that he was seen with attorney Kenneth Chesebro outside the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

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“Alex Jones possesses unique knowledge concerning communications between himself and Kenneth Chesebro and other known and unknown individuals involved in the multi-state, coordinated efforts to influence the results of the November 3, 2020, presidential election in Georgia and elsewhere,” McAfee wrote.

Jones will reportedly be “protected from arrest in Georgia or any other state if he abides by the request to attend and testify in the trial,” Forbes reported, citing the court filing and adding that it “is expected his testimony won’t exceed one day and prosecutors do not know when he will be called to testify.

However, the controversial radio host seems poised to resist efforts to compel his testimony.

“Norm Pattis, an attorney for the far-right broadcaster, said Jones has nothing to offer in the trial — and that even if a court were to order him to testify, he would simply plead the Fifth, as he did when subpoenaed to testify to the House Jan. 6 select committee last year,” Politico reported.

“We’re not going to help Fani’s fantasy life come true any more than we did that of the J6 committee,” Pattis said.

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In another filing, prosecutors focused on Andrew Hitt, a 2020 Trump elector in Wisconsin.

“The State anticipates that Mr. Hitt will testify about his interactions with and related to Chesebro as it relates to Chesebro’s involvement in the scheme to have Trump presidential elector nominees convene and cast false Electoral College votes in Wisconsin on December 14, 2020,” they said..

“To compel testimony from an out-of-state witness, two judges must sign off: the judge in the jurisdiction where the case is being prosecuted, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, and a judge local to where the witness lives,” NBC News reported. “For McDaniel, that’s Michigan; for Jones, that’s Travis County, Texas; for Hitt, that’s Wisconsin. Certificates McAfee signed for McDaniel and Jones were in the docket, but there wasn’t one for Hitt yet Tuesday afternoon.”

Frieda Powers
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