ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia state prosecutor has hinted that charges may be filed as part of a voter subversion investigation that began two years ago. And while Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis did not name Donald Trump or any of his allies, this is the first time that a prosecutor in multiple ongoing investigations into the former Republican president has signaled that charges could be brought.

In an effort to prevent the release of the special grand jury report, Willis argued in court last week that a decision in the case was “imminent” and that publication of the report could jeopardize the rights of “future defendants.” ”.

The Democratic prosecutor’s remarks raised anticipation that an investigation centered, in part, on Trump’s call to Georgia’s secretary of state could be completed before the ongoing federal investigation.

“I expect to see an indictment in Fulton County before I see a federal indictment,” said Clark Cunningham, a Georgia State University law professor.

In addition to the Georgia investigation, special counsel from the Justice Department is investigating Trump for his role in working with allies to reverse his 2020 presidential election loss and alleged mishandling of classified documents.

The most pressing legal risk for Trump is precisely the investigation he faces after the discovery of classified material at his Florida residence. But the case looks complicated, at least politically, after classified files were also found at President Joe Biden’s Delaware home and in his Washington office. The Department of Justice appointed a special prosecutor to investigate both cases.

Willis opened an investigation after the January 2, 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was released. In that conversation, the then president suggested to Raffensperger, a Republican, “find” the votes needed to reverse Trump’s narrow election loss in the state to Biden, a Democrat.

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“What I want to do is this: I just want to get 11,780 votes, one more than we have,” Trump said by telephone.

Since then, the scope of the investigation has expanded to cover, among other things: fake Republican voter lists, phone calls by Trump and others to Georgia officials in the weeks following the 2020 election, and widespread unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud.

In an interview, Trump insisted he had done “absolutely nothing wrong” and that his phone call with Raffensperger was “perfect”. He said he felt “very confident” that he would not be prosecuted.

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Tucker reported from Washington and Meg Kinnard from Columbia.