‘Breakdown’ Episode 9: The Pinball Machine

The Fulton special grand jury investigation contends with a flurry of efforts to delay or avoid testifying. But are these tactics having any effect?
Gov. Brian Kemp has been in a dustup with the Fulton County District Attorney's office over the terms of his testifying before the special grand jury. The ninth episode of the AJC's podcast "Breakdown — The Trump Grand Jury" looks at how the Fulton DA's office is dealing with efforts to delay or avoid testifying. (Alyssa Pointer / AJC 2021 photo)

Credit: AJC 2021 photo

Credit: AJC 2021 photo

Gov. Brian Kemp has been in a dustup with the Fulton County District Attorney's office over the terms of his testifying before the special grand jury. The ninth episode of the AJC's podcast "Breakdown — The Trump Grand Jury" looks at how the Fulton DA's office is dealing with efforts to delay or avoid testifying. (Alyssa Pointer / AJC 2021 photo)

The most recent episode of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast focuses on former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s grand jury appearance and U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham’s attempts to avoid his testimony.

The podcast’s ninth season, “The Trump Grand Jury,” is covering the ongoing investigation by the Fulton County special purpose grand jury of former President Donald Trump and his allies for what happened in Georgia after the 2020 presidential election.

Giuliani, who has been Trump’s personal lawyer, showed up at the Fulton courthouse to testify before the grand jury after his lawyers had tried unsuccessfully to postpone it.

Graham, who placed two phone calls to the Secretary of State’s office in the weeks after the election, was scheduled to testify before the special grand jury on Tuesday. But the federal appeals court in Atlanta - the fifth court so far to be involved in Graham’s case - stepped in two days before the South Carolina senator was to appear and delayed his appearance.

Episode 9 of “The Trump Grand Jury” also covers a dustup between Gov. Brian Kemp and the Fulton District Attorney’s Office and decisions by judges in Colorado and New Mexico ordering two other lawyers who represented the Trump campaign to come to Atlanta and testify before the grand jury.

You can download the Breakdown podcast from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting platform. You can also stream it on your computer from ajc.com.