was one who did appear earlier this week before the special grand jury and schaffer is one of the most recognizable names of the 16 so-called fake electors who participated in a scheme to participate in the electoral college to subvert the election and declare donald trump as the winner. we can confirm that, and we don't know what he said in front of the grand jury, but we know that he received a letter from bonnie willis who is leading the investigation, and saying that he may be indicted in her criminal probe, and he has been the target of several investigators including u.s. house select committee who is investigating the january 6th attack, and it was earlier this year that the house told this committee that the elector scheme came at the direction of the trump campaign after they lost this state's vote. and we reached out to schaffer's attorney, but this is a major development in bonnie willis' investigation that is wide reaching and broad in scope as she is continuing to methodically gather information on racketeering and other charges. >> it is certified and they had lectors, an

david schaffer, the chairman of the georgia republican party and state senator brandon beach. both jones and schaffer reportedly participated in the fake electors scheme that trump and his allies cooked up as a way to float the results of the election. the washington post previously obtained an email that was sent out by the trump campaign to the fake trump electors. the email said, quote, i must ask for your complete discretion in this process. your duties our imperative to ensure the end results, a win in georgia for president trump but will be hampered unless we have complete secrecy and discretion. please, at no point should be mention anything to do with presidential electors or speak to the media. sounds totally legal and legit. news of the target letter sent out by fulton county district attorney fani willis, alongside the explosive revelations from the committee hearing is increasing the pressure on attorney general merrick garland and the department of justice. here is how a trio of former justice department officials described the situation. for the past 18 months an

the trail certainly have been built for that purpose, but it was very important to schaffer. it was how he tried, and try and to a large extent to get his life together after world war ii. so that is among the seminal events in 80 history, for sure. >> and i would love to go back to the turn of the 20th century which i found was one of the most fascinating parts of the book. and because it feels like there is, we are at sort of a tipping point culturally, sociologically, technologically, geographically. there was a quote that stood out to me in chapter two from william goodall frost to as the then president of kentucky's maria college who set of appalachia 1989, it is a longer journey from northern ohio to kentucky than from america to europe. that one days ride braces into the 18th century. and i'm curious about this moment because this is also at the same time when, and this is a wonderful statistic, i found admired in the book, that the boy scout handbook was second in book sales in this country only to the bible. >> for years. >> so you have got this sort of early, the da

the recipients of the target letters include to fake electors -- david schaffer, the chair of the georgia republican party who led the fake electors meeting -- and state senator burt jones, who coincidentally is currently brian kemp's running mate for lieutenant governor. also receiving a target letter is a republican state senator by the name of brendan beach, who the atlanta journal-constitution reports was a key intermediary between the trump campaign in those fake electors. remember that email from the trump campaign instructing the fake electors to keep the meeting secret, that email said they should pretend they were at the state capitol for a meeting with senator beach. it's big news on all of this. there are so many developments. it's big news all on its own that some of the biggest names in georgia republican politics have been told they could be indicted. but it's also big news because it is a major escalation of is considering whether to call donald trump himself to testify before the grand jury. joining me now is gwen keys fleming, former district attorney at dekalb county geo

david schaffer, the chairman of the republican party in georgia, is one of those who got target lettersnes who was a state senator. is a state senator. one of those who is the -- he happens to be the republican candidate for lieutenant governor, the running mate of brian kemp in his race against stacey abrams. so what's fani willis today did obviously has significant legal implications, but it also has enormous political implications and georgia. we have two high-profile state races, and this is a bombshell that has been dropped in the georgia election by far -- by fani willis. >> what do we know, michael, about the witnesses who may have spoken to the special grand jury so far? >> there has been a lot of witnesses. special grand journey was convened on june 1st and they've been hearing witnesses that started out with brad raffensperger, the secretary of state. we got that phone call from donald trump that had been state senators, state officials from the -- from georgia secretary of state's office, and the attorney generals office, in georgia, and the governor's office in georgia. they

on the prosecutor here from a miss, it belong fan victim said that the legacy of cult leader pull schaffer still costs a dark shadow over them. the sinister corp he's left behind has meant that after a lifetime of slavery, they must continue to live in poverty long after his own death in 2010. but with this will this way and so been freed hempel continues to fight for justice and to provide them we want an administration that seizes all of the colonies, assets and managers them in a way that either the proceeds or the assets themselves go to the victims that is all we want and to think more justice ah at least the hunt for mass graves was intensified after voluminous his confession. and judge correson lacks the money and the manpower for an exhaustive excavation and germany. for years the german government shied away from dealing with the same glorious part of his past. german diplomats actually maintained good relations with paul schafer and his set in 2017. the foreign office agreed to collaborate with chile to create a commission to document the crimes committed. we are told that german

and those 16 people includes the state republican chair david schaffer which we previously reported. so this district attorney in atlanta, willits, has been moving aggressively and looking to investigate and prosecute a number of election related crimes. and with these alleged fake electors being sent these letters that tell them that they are now targets, could face charges, this really indicates a significant ramp up from prosecutors in georgia and it begs the question how much further will the d.a. go, will she eventually subpoena trump, could she charge trump for possibly committing election fraud. we know that the d.a. has already asked rudy giuliani for example everyone senator lindsey graham for testimony. they are working through it with their lawyers and arguing in court. but this special grand jury was impanelled just a few weeks ago. they have broad power to subpoena records, also recommendations about who should be charged and for what about so the latest move is that these 16 fake electors being told that they could in fact be charged and again all of this as this one pr

to cover the fake electors scheme in seven battleground states with subpoenas to karen fan, david schaffer, and arizona republican party chair kelli ward. >> do not let this election be stolen. >> reporter: the probe also inching closer to trump as investigators raided jeffrey clarks home, the former doj official who pushed donald trump's voter fraud claims. >> even brought along something i've never seen before or heard of, an electronic sniffing dog, and they took all of the electronics from my house. >> reporter: and also seized electronics from former trump election attorney john eastman, who peddled baseless fraud claims and pushed a legal theory that vice president pence could block the 2020 election certification. >> all we are demanding of vice president pence is this afternoon at 1:00, he let the legislators of the state look into this. >> reporter: beyond the doj probe, a separate criminal investigation into trump and his allies is escalating in georgia, where investigators subpoenaed key trump allies, including rudy giuliani and south carolina senator lindsey graham. the distric

cnn reports one of the republicans who received a warning later is georgia republican party, david schafferbring back our sunday night panel. your reaction to the so-called target letters being sent out? big development? >> i think so. i think it also makes a lot of sense considering the fact that these target letters, i think show the investigators in fulton county are looking into the potential unlucky that the people who were on board with the fake elector scheme, this plan to have a slate of electors presented to congress to allow vice president pence to be able to say these electoral votes for joe biden shouldn't count, because there are alternates that had to be considered. the states should decide which one is legitimate. that whole -- it's the people behind it if they knew -- we knew it was illegal. they knew it was part of a broader plot. they knew that in trying to put this sleep together, they were violating the georgia state law. that is extremely important. the fact that they believe that they've gathered enough evidence should be able to make that case, says a lot about how fa

david schaffer is one of 16 fake electors who took part in the plan to try to keep donald trump in the white house despite joe biden's win. he also faces inquiries from federal investigators and the house january 6 committee. his attorney did not immediately respond to cnn's request for comment. >>> now to lottery fever, which has taken over the u.s. the drawing for the mega millions lottery and a $1.1 billion jackpot is later today. it is the second largest jackpot in mega millions history. the winnings can be paid out bit by bit annually over 29 years or you can take a lump sum which is about $648 million before taxes. mega millions tickets are sold in 45 u.s. states, washington, d.c. and the u.s. virgin islands. get your tickets. >>> you are watching "cnn newsroom." still ahead, a warning to joe biden straight from beijing, if you play with fire, you get burned. >>> and some areas of the u.s. are raising the alarm about mo monkeypox. we'll find out where they are calling it a public health emergency. frank is a fan of fast. he's a fast talker. a fast walker. thanks, gary. and for un

and key republican names among them including david schaffer, a trump ally who chairs the republican party in the state of georgia, burt jones a lawmaker running for lieutenant governor. big significant names in the republican party, your party, now targets. what do you make of it? >> well, i think to jim's point, people who have been watching this close lily are thinking finally we're getting close to consequences here. i think that has really baffled most americans to watch such cartoonish blatant attempts at frauding american voters as these fake electors go completely unpunished. and the trump era was really defined by the sort of no consequences, no accountability, and i think a lot of people thought once he is out, certainly with the new administration and new doj and certainly there will be some accountability for all of this wild election rigging and election fraud attempts. and like you've said, we've seen very little. so i think that people are thinking the georgia probe is heating up, that is good news. summertime someone is going to have to pay for all of this. and that i

yeah, are turning now to the niners again, jimmy g and adam schaffer who at the s p n who reported thatrepresentative gave permission to seek out a tray. but the thing is it was always under the impression that the niners have been seeking to trade ever since the season ended. we know he's now able to practice in a limited capacity. so those are the kind of that's the talk on day, guys, with so much variety out there, depending on where you are. >> ha inland, again, mild by the bay. we do have that breeze, which i know you've noticed as well. very windy through the city of san francisco this morning. i should say it's breezy, but that wind will really accelerate right to the carquinez on up into the delta. as you've also seen. look at this fog locking up the top of the bay bridge. low cloud cover low grade. back with us again this morning. at least for bayshore in coastal areas further inland. you're not looking at the gray near as much. now that high pressure ridge continuing to bring heat all across the nation's midsection. we were in the triple digits for the central valley yesterday