Donald Trump has always denied that he acted improperly in Georgia. Photo: AP.
Donald Trump has been indicted on 13 counts in connection with his alleged attempt to overturn the results of Georgia's 2020 presidential election.
On Monday, prosecutors filed charges accusing the former president of racketeering and breach of oath, and also other crimes.
>The allegations mean Mr. Trump faces a fourth criminal trial as he prepares to run again in next year's presidential race.
John Dean, who was a White House adviser to Richard Nixon, said the indictment was «much bigger» and «much more serious» than the Watergate scandal.
The existence of the indictments became apparent around 9pm local time ( 2:00 a.m. ET) when the judge presiding over the grand jury investigation was handed a package of documents by courthouse officials in a courtroom filled with journalists waiting for news.
The 98-page document revealed that Trump was indicted along with 18 others, including Rudy Giuliani, his former lawyer, and several other allies, including John Eastman, Mark Meadows, Jenna Ellis, and Jeffrey Clark.
Charges against Donald
The indictment charges Mr. Trump with operating a criminal enterprise to remain in office, for a total of 41 counts out of 19 defendants.
It also mentions other unidentified alleged accomplices, who have not been charged. .
In a statement following the arraignment, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said, «The indictment alleges that rather than comply with Georgia's legal process to contest the election, the defendants engaged in criminal racketeering to overturn the results of Georgia's presidential election.»
Ms Willis added that a grand jury has issued warrants for the arrest of 19 defendants and the defendants are due to surrender before noon on Friday 25 August. She intends to try all 19 defendants together and will seek a trial date in the next six months.
Responding to a question about Mr. Trump's claim that her investigation is politically motivated, Ms. Willis said: «I I make decisions in this office based on facts and the law. The law is absolutely nonpartisan. That is how decisions are made in every case.”
Fulton County Clerk hands over the indictments to Judge Robert McBurney. Photo: AP
In a statement, Trump's spokesman reiterated his claim that the timing of the indictment was politically motivated.
“Combined with the deliberately slow investigations of the Biden-Smith thug squads and false accusations in New York, the timing of this latest coordinated strike by a biased prosecutor in a predominantly Democratic jurisdiction not only betrays the confidence of the American people, but also reveals the true motives behind their fabricated allegations,” the spokesman said.
“They could have brought this two and a half years ago, but they chose to do so for reasons of election interference in the middle of Trump’s successful presidential campaign.”
Trump has already been indicted in New York in the so-called “hush money” case, in Washington, D.C. for his post-election 2020 handling of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, and in Florida for allegations that he mishandled confidential documents.
He has always denied that he acted improperly in Georgia after the election, as he tried to overturn the results in the state after he almost lost to Joe Biden.
The indictment could lead to the first televised trial of a former president, marking a watershed moment in US history. It is also notable for the use of «Rico» racketeering charges, which are commonly used to prosecute gang leaders.
Mr Trump posted a number of posts on his Truth Social platform calling the matter «ridiculous» and calling on a local spokesman election commission whom he called by name and called a «loser» so that he would not testify to the grand jury. THE ELECTIONS WERE STOLEN, THERE WAS THOSE THAT MADE FAKING, & THIS IS A SLIM THAT SHOULD BE GIVEN TO THE PROSECUTION,” he said.
Some of the allegations stem from Trump's now-infamous phone call to Georgian officials asking them to «find» the exact number of votes. he needed to undo his defeat at Biden.
The call between Trump and Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's Secretary of State, came to light the day after it took place, in which the former president falsely told Mr. Raffensperger that he might have committed a crime by refusing to cancel the election.
It is also alleged that Mr. Trump attempted to reverse the results of the vote by providing Congress with false confirmation of his post-election victory in Georgia, and that he lied about alleged electoral fraud by his aides.
< p>In the indictment states: «Defendant Donald John Trump lost the US presidential election held on November 3, 2020.
“One of the states he lost was Georgia. Trump and the other defendants charged in this indictment refused to admit that Trump lost, and they knowingly and deliberately joined a conspiracy to illegally change the election results in Trump's favor.
«This conspiracy contained a general plan and the purpose of committing two or more acts of racketeering in Fulton County, Georgia, elsewhere in the state of Georgia, and in other states.”
Donald Trump legal actions and when they began
The prosecution was brought by Fanny Willis, Fulton County District Attorney of Atlanta, and was approved by a state grand jury. unusual for political affairs as it was previously used to suppress mobsters.
It qualifies as a crime to participate in, acquire or maintain control of an «enterprise» through a «racketeering scheme» or collude to do so.
The proposed scheme does not need to be successful for Rico's charge to be effective.
While racketeering laws are commonly used to fight organized crime, the broader law allows prosecutors to tie crimes committed by different people to one common goal, criminal or not.
Ms Willis, like other prosecutors, tasked with investigating Trump has been criticized online by the former president and his supporters.
The former president said the black Willis, aged 52, was «a young woman, a young racist from Atlanta.» «/>Fulton County District Attorney Fanny Willis speaks at a press conference. Credit: AP
She long declined to comment on Trump's insults, but sent an email to her staff warning her that one of his attack ads contained «derogatory and false information.» about it and told them not to react publicly.
Georgia's judiciary is more transparent than the federal system, which means there are no barriers to televising the case from the first preliminary hearing.
This will be the first time in US history that a former president is the defendant in a televised trial.
Despite his legal troubles in several states, Trump remains the leader in the Republican primary race. by a significant margin.
He is supported by about 52% of Republican voters, while his next closest rival, Ron DeSantis, is behind by about 14%.
Republican poll.
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