The latest episode of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast explores court filings that suggest a criminal investigation of former President Donald Trump and his allies has reached a new, more sensitive stage. The bonus episode also includes podcast hosts Bill Rankin and Tamar Hallerman interviewing the AJC’s metro columnist, Bill Torpy, and the newspaper’s political columnist, Patricia Murphy. They both have been keeping up with the special purpose grand jury investigation and gi...
Oct 11, 2022•48 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act has been on the books for more than half a century, and Georgia’s version was enacted in 1980. The 13th episode of Season Nine of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast — “The Trump Grand Jury” — takes a deep look at RICO. The episode traces its origin as a prosecutorial weapon to take Mafia dons off the streets. It also looks at how RICO has been used in recent years against schoolteachers, a metro Atlanta sheriff and street g...
Oct 04, 2022•39 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast The latest episode of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Breakdown” podcast takes a close look at the data breach at the Coffee County elections office which occurred one day after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Podcast hosts Bill Rankin and Tamar Hallerman interview Mark Niesse, the AJC’s elections and voting rights expert. Niesse has covered the wild developments surrounding the Coffee County data breach on Jan. 7, 2021, since news of it first surfaced. He explains how it happened, why...
Sep 27, 2022•41 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast Will Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis subpoena former President Donald Trump before the special purpose grand jury? So far, Willis has sent out-of-state witness subpoenas to Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows; close ally Lindsey Graham, the U.S. senator from South Carolina; and his inner circle of lawyers who tried to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Episode 11 of “The Trump Grand Jury” includes interviews of criminal defense lawyers, law professors and...
Sep 16, 2022•41 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast The Fulton County special purpose grand jury investigation is closing in on former President Donald Trump. Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff and close advisor, has been served an out-of-state witness subpoena to appear before the grand jury. The 10th episode of “The Trump Grand Jury,” the ninth season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast, explores the ramifications of Meadows’ subpoena. The special purpose grand jury has been meeting since May to investigate Trump an...
Sep 07, 2022•42 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast AJC journalists Bill Rankin and Tamar Hallerman focus on former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's grand jury appearance and U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham's attempts to avoid his testimony 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 unsuccessf...
Aug 25, 2022•46 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast Former President Donald Trump has assembled a legal team to defend him before the Fulton County special purpose grand jury that is investigating possible meddling that occurred in Georgia after the 2020 presidential election. The eighth episode of “The Trump Grand Jury,” the ninth season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Breakdown” podcast, introduces listeners to Trump’s new attorneys. Atlanta lawyer Drew Findling is nationally known for representing hip-hop superstars and, in the past, ha...
Aug 17, 2022•51 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast The public release of the recording of the Jan. 2, 2021, phone call from then-President Donald Trump to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was the impetus for what is now an ongoing special purpose grand jury investigation. Raffensperger and a top aide, Gabe Sterling, sit for an interview and talk about the 2020 presidential election and its aftermath. During the phone call, Raffensperger disagreed with Trump’s assertions that he had won Georgia by hundreds of thousands of votes, not lost the...
Aug 01, 2022•42 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast One sitting president was placed under arrest for speeding. Two former presidents came extremely close to being indicted, one from an investigation arising from the Watergate scandal, the other from the Whitewater controversy. Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporters Bill Rankin and Tamar Hallerman examine past criminal cases involving presidents and vice presidents. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is overseeing the special purpose grand jury investigation of former President Donald Tr...
Jul 25, 2022•57 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast The fifth episode of “The Trump Grand Jury,” the ninth season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast, recaps a busy period for the special purpose grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump and his allies. There are a flurry of witnesses coming in to testify about what happened at the state Capitol in the weeks after the November 2020 presidential election. There is a courtroom scuffle over legislative immunity. And there is the issuance of seven out-of-state materia...
Jul 18, 2022•51 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast The fourth episode of “The Trump Grand Jury,” the ninth season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast, focuses on criminal intent as part of the podcast’s continuing coverage of the Fulton County special purpose grand jury that is investigating what Donald Trump and his allies did in Georgia following the 2020 president election. If a criminal indictment is ultimately brought, prosecutors must show criminal intent – that Trump and others knew what they were doing was illegal and...
Jul 11, 2022•47 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast drops a special episode on Friday for Season 5: “The Tex McIver Case.” McIver, an Atlanta lawyer, was convicted of murder during a trial in Fulton County for killing his wife on Sept. 25, 2016. The killing happened when Tex and Diane McIver returned home to Atlanta from their 84-acre ranch in Putnam County. Diane McIver’s best friend, Dani Jo Carter, was driving the Ford Expedition. Diane McIver was sitting in the front passenger seat, her hus...
Jul 08, 2022•40 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast Is there a criminal case to be brought against former President Donald Trump and his allies for what happened in Georgia following the 2020 presidential election? The third episode of “The Trump Grand Jury,” the ninth season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast, explores that possibility. A Fulton County special purpose grand jury that is investigating the issue will ultimately recommend whether criminal charges should be brought. In a letter to top state officials, District A...
Jul 04, 2022•43 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast This is the murder case against Justin Ross Harris, who left his 22-month-old son Cooper to die in a hot car on June 18, 2014. Harris, a Home Depot web developer, took Cooper that morning to Little Apron Academy, the in-house daycare center at work. They stopped at a Chick-fil-A for breakfast. But when they leave, Harris doesn’t make the turn to the daycare. Instead, he drives to work, parks his car and walks in to the office. Within hours, Cooper is dead of hypothermia. The intense publicity of...
Jun 30, 2022•45 min•Ep 18•Transcript available on Metacast The second episode of “The Trump Grand Jury,” the ninth season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast, focuses on the woman who is overseeing the investigation of former President Donald Trump and his allies. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis grew up in courtrooms, tagging along with her father, an attorney. When Willis became a prosecutor, she rose through the ranks at the Fulton DA’s Office prosecuting homicide and sexual assault cases. In 2014, Willis oversaw one of...
Jun 27, 2022•43 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was sitting in his kitchen on the afternoon of Jan. 2, 2021, when he received a phone call from the White House. President Donald Trump, his chief of staff and some of his lawyers were on the line. During the conversation, Trump told Raffensperger to “find” him 11,780 votes to overturn the election results. That was one more than the 11,779-vote margin that gave Georgia’s 16 electoral college votes to President Joe Biden and turned Georgia Democratic...
Jun 20, 2022•45 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast The phone call from the White House came in at about 3 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2021. Then President Donald Trump, his chief of staff and his lawyers were on the line talking to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and members of his staff. During the recorded phone call, Trump asked Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes,” which would give him one more vote than he needed to flip the outcome of Georgia’s presidential election. On Monday, a special purpose grand jury will convene in Fulton County to invest...
Apr 29, 2022•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast In an emotional hearing, Judge Timothy Walmsley has the last word as he sentences Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and Roddie Bryan for killing Ahmaud Arbery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 16, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep 19•Transcript available on Metacast After 23 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction, Devonia Inman is finally free. Here are the improbable events that led to his release, and what Inman has to say about his experience. Plus, the new Cook County district attorney doesn't mince words about how the case went to trial two decades ago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 09, 2022•47 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast After about 10 hours of deliberation, the jury hearing the case against the three men charged with the murder of Ahmaud Arbery reached its verdict. The 18th episode of Season 8 of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast covers the verdict’s outcome and its aftermath. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 29, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Ep 18•Transcript available on Metacast It isn’t often a defendant takes the witness stand with his life on the line. But Travis McMichael did just that last week. He might as well have had the life of his father, Greg McMichael, on the line, too. The 18th episode of the Eighth Season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Breakdown” podcast focuses on what happened inside the courtroom and outside of it as the trial for the McMichaels and William “Roddie” Bryan near an end. All three men are being tried for the alleged murder of Ahma...
Nov 22, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Ep 17•Transcript available on Metacast The Atlanta-Journal Constitution's Bill Rankin, Asia Burns and Shaddi Abusaid are in Brunswick to follow developments in the first full week in the trial of the three men charged in Ahmaud Arbery's killing. The jury heard from the owner of the home under construction that Arbery visited before he was killed. And a defense lawyer makes a widely condemned statement regarding the Rev. Al Sharpton's presence at the trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 15, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep 16•Transcript available on Metacast Jury selection in the trial of three men accused in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery concluded amid controversy inside and outside the courtroom. Following that, the state and lawyers for Travis McMichael and his father Greg McMichael gave powerful opening statements. Join host Bill Rankin as he explores these developments and looks ahead in the trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 08, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast The second week of jury selection ended with the end in sight. It is expected that 64 Glynn County residents will be qualified into a pool from which 12 jurors and four alternates will soon be chosen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 01, 2021•41 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast Jury selection for the murder trial of the three men charged in Ahmaud Arbery's death is underway in Brunswick and many prospective jurors have expressed very strong opinions. Join host Bill Rankin as he unpacks the first week of jury selection and what it could mean for the upcoming trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 25, 2021•37 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast The trial for the three men charged in the death of Ahmaud Arbery will begin Oct. 18, almost 20 months to the day after he was shot and killed. Join host Bill Rankin ahead of what is expected to be one of the most closely followed trials in Georgia history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 17, 2021•36 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast A grand jury has indicted a former Glynn County district attorney, saying she violated her oath of office while responding to Ahmaud Arbery's death. Join host Bill Rankin as he takes a closer look at the indictment and explores the events of a pre-trial hearing in the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 20, 2021•49 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast During a hearing, the attorneys for the men accused in the death of Ahmaud Arbery formally asked a judge to allow evidence about the slain man's past before a jury. But that's not the only major update in the case. We have a federal hate crimes indictment, a change to Georgia's Citizen's Arrest Law, and a trial date. Join host Bill Rankin as he recounts the latest on the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 02, 2021•50 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast The lawyers for one of the three men accused in the death of Ahmaud Arbery are asking a judge to allow information about Arbery's past run-ins with the law to be entered into evidence. Join host Bill Rankin as he explores what this 404(b) could mean for the trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 21, 2021•52 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast Join host Bill Rankin on the one-year anniversary of Ahmaud Arbery's death as he explores who the man was in life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 23, 2021•42 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast 
