The judge who oversaw the Georgia special grand jury investigation into former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the state's 2020 election results said that the grand jury members "can talk about the final report."
Judge Robert C. McBurney told ABC News that "it's important for people to understand that witness testimony is not deliberations."
"I explained [to jury members] you don't talk about what the group discussed about the witnesses' testimony, but you can talk about witness testimony," McBurney told ABC News.
"You could talk about things that the assistant district attorneys told you ... and then finally, you can talk about the final report because that is the product of your deliberations, but it's not your deliberations."
McBurney added that the matter can get "problematic" if jurors start to "synthesize the testimony" and the group's thoughts on it, ABC News reported Monday.
"It's just important not to apply the wrong standard to grand jurors in this jurisdiction," the judge said. "Their oath requires them to keep secret their deliberations, and it is a different oath than what federal grand jurors take."
The special grand jury forewoman, Emily Kohrs, last week told several media outlets that the jury recommended indictments that cover a range or charges for more than a dozen people, who "might" include Trump.
Kohrs also spoke about testimony from other witnesses including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Lawyers for Trump told CBS News that Kohrs remarks mean the investigation "has been compromised" and "if any indictments were to come down, those are faulty indictments."
McBurney told ABC News that after the grand jury submitted its report in January, he held a "farewell session," at the request of the district attorney.
In that gathering, the judge "reminded them of their oath, which is a statutory obligation that they not discuss with anyone outside their group their deliberations — that's the one word that's in the oath."
McBurney also emphasized that the special grand jury did not have the ability to bring indictments. That decision would rest with another grand jury, should Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis pursue a case.
"This grand jury's sole role was to prepare a report that was merely a set of recommendations for the district attorney — full stop. Nothing more," McBurney told ABC News.
"And so folks should think long and hard about what impact, at all, this special purpose grand jury's work would have should there be an indictment down the road."
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