Georgia indicts Trump and 18 allies on charges in election interference case — former president's 4th criminal indictmentA grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, has indicted former President Donald Trump and more than a dozen of his associates with election fraud, racketeering and other charges related to alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said at a news conference Monday night that arrest warrants have been issued for all the defendants in the case, and they have until noon on Aug. 25 to surrender.
Trump, the first former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges, has now been charged in four separate cases involving allegations that bookend his presidency.
The indictment names Trump as the top defendant and 18 others, including Rudy Giuliani, his former lawyer; John Eastman, a conservative lawyer; and Mark Meadows, former White House chief of staff. Other co-defendants include Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official; and Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis, conservative lawyers who pushed baseless claims of voter fraud.
The filing lists 41 total counts, including 13 against Trump, and notes there are 30 unindicted co-conspirators. In all, 19 defendants are charged with "the offense of violation of the Georgia RICO Act," among other charges.
The indictment describes the group as "a criminal organization whose members and associates engaged in various related criminal activities including, but not limited to, false statements and writings, impersonating a public officer, forgery, filing false documents, influencing witnesses, computer theft, computer trespass, computer invasion of privacy, conspiracy to defraud the state, acts involving theft, and and perjury."
The 98-page indictment lays out a scheme that began with Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election, including in the state of Georgia, and says that those charged "refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump."
"That conspiracy contained a common plan and purpose to commit two or more acts of racketeering activity in Fulton County, Georgia, elsewhere in the state of Georgia, and in other states," the filing states.
The indictment describes several schemes allegedly used by Trump and his co-defendants to attempt to reverse his electoral loss, including making false statements to state legislatures and top state officials; creating fake Electoral College documents and recruiting supporters to cast false votes at the Georgia Capitol; harassing Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman; and "corruptly" soliciting senior Justice Department officials and then-Vice President Mike Pence.
It also accuses members of the "enterprise" of stealing data, including ballot images, voting equipment software and personal voter information, from Coffee County, Georgia, and making false statements to government investigators.
The charges against TrumpThe indictment charges Trump with the following felony counts:
Violating the Georgia RICO Act
Three counts of solicitation of violation of oath by public officer
Conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer
Conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree
Conspiracy to commit false statements and writings
Two counts of conspiracy to commit filing false documents
Conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree
Two counts of false statements and writings; and filing false documents. The grand jury returned the indictments around 9 p.m. ET and it took around two hours to process before the details became public.
The investigation, led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, was prompted in part by a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call in which Trump told Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger: "I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state."
In a September 2022 statement, Trump called his conversation with Raffensperger "an absolutely PERFECT phone call" in which he did "nothing wrong." Trump has since repeated that that the call was "perfect," including at an Aug. 7 rally in New Hampshire.
The investigation grew from its initial focus, eventually probing a variety of efforts by Trump and his allies to undermine Joe Biden's victory in Georgia — including an alleged scheme to submit an alternate slate of electors committed to nominating Trump, attempts to pressure or intimidate election workers and, in at least one county, accessing election software and data.
Over the course of about six months in 2022, the special purpose grand jury's dozens of interviews included Trump advisers such as attorney Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, as well as Georgia officials such as Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp. In January, it completed a report based on its investigation and turned it over to Willis, who ultimately decided to bring the charges before a regular grand jury.
Before any charges were released to the public Monday, the Trump campaign released a statement calling Willis a "rabid partisan" who "stalled her investigation to try and maximally interfere with the 2024 presidential race" and damage Trump's campaign.
Attorneys for Trump said in February that they would challenge any indictment filed by Willis' office.
Three other felony cases against TrumpThe indictment in Georgia is now the fourth felony case filed against the former president.
In a New York State criminal case, Trump entered a not guilty plea on April 4 after he was charged with 34 felony counts of falsification of business records. The charges relate to alleged efforts to obscure the source of payments made to porn actress Stormy Daniels, who agreed in October 2016 not to speak publicly about an alleged affair with Trump. Trump has denied having the affair and any wrongdoing in connection with this case. He claims this case is also politically motivated.
He is also facing two federal cases filed by special counsel Jack Smith.
In Florida, Trump entered a not guilty plea on June 13 to 37 counts after he was indicted on allegations related to his handling of classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago residence after his presidency. He also pleaded not guilty in August to additional counts filed in a superseding indictment. Trump has denied wrongdoing and repeatedly criticized Smith, calling him a "radical."
And in Washington, D.C., Trump pleaded not guilty on August 3 to federal four counts related to an alleged conspiracy to thwart the electoral vote count following his 2020 election loss.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-charges-fulton-county-georgia-election-investigation/
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