Today is the first day of August. Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis has maintained for months that August will likely be the month when a grand jury investigating possible election interference in the 2020 Georgia elections will be finished with their business. Willis is expected to indict former President Trump, as well as some of his inner circle from his time in office.

The big fish is Trump, of course, and the Democrat district attorney sent out a group email warning county leaders to “stay alert” and “make decisions that keep your staff safe.”

In the same group email, obtained by the AJC, Willis forwarded an obscene message she’d recently received as an example of the threats her office has gotten since opening an investigation into possible election interference in the 2020 Georgia elections.

The message called Willis a “corrupt (racial expletive)” and threatened, “You are going to fail, you Jim Crow Democrat (expletive).”

Willis explained to the group, “I am sending to you in case you are unclear on what I and my staff have come accustomed to over the last 2½ years. I guess I am sending this as a reminder that you should stay alert over the month of August and stay safe.”

She ended the note, “I took an oath. No one other than the citizens of Fulton County put me in this seat. I have every intention of doing my job. Please make decisions that keep your staff safe.”

Fulton County Solicitor-General Keith E. Gammage responded to the threatening messages mentioned in the email by calling them “The awful communication that you received is meant to threaten, harass and intimidate, not just you, but all of us. The sender and his or her ilk has and will continue to fail.” Both Willis and Gammage are presenting an attitude of strength, not backing off because of measures of intimidation.

Meanwhile, the Fulton County sheriff put bright orange barricades around the county courthouse in anticipation of “high profle legal proceedings.”

“I think that the sheriff is doing something smart in making sure that the courthouse stays safe,” Willis said. “I’m not willing to put any of the employees or the constituents that come to the courthouse in harm’s way.”

Willis said that people may not be happy with her upcoming announcements and “sometimes when people are unhappy, they act in a way that could create harm.”

In a statement issued late last night, a spokeswoman for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said the agency is coordinating with local, state and federal law enforcement to enhance security ahead of "high-profile legal proceedings" … #gapol https://t.co/mNA4wfKszb

— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) July 28, 2023

Willis said in a local news interview last weekend that she will announce charging decisions by September 1 in her investigation into Trump and his allies who allegedly attempted to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election result. “The work is accomplished. We’ve been working for two and half years. We’re ready to go.” She said as of Monday, a variety of security provisions would be in place for her team.

The drama is building. It is as if Willis is wishcasting violent reactions when an indictment is announced, if that is the way this plays out. And, I think it will happen. Not the violence, the indictment (s). Possible violence from Trump supporters has been hyped in the past – in Manhattan and in Miami – and didn’t happen. It won’t in Atlanta, either, but Democrats like to paint all Trump supporters as unhinged lunatics since the January 6, 2021 riot.

The question is when. When will Willis make her announcement? There is an August 10 hearing scheduled with a judge. Trump’s legal team asked the judge to disqualify Willis from the case, toss most of the evidence she has collected, and remove another judge in Fulton County from presiding over the case. So, Willis will likely keep her powder dry until after that hearing.