Donald Trump, former U.S. president and now a key contender for the 2024 Republican nomination, is among the 19 individuals indicted in Fulton County. This indictment accuses these figures of a systematic attempt to influence Georgia officials into modifying the results of the 2020 election.
The indictment also hints at the possible involvement of more people, mentioning "unindicted co-conspirators Individual 1 through Individual 30," along with others yet unidentified by the Grand Jury.
Further, the indictment sheds light on unauthorized attempts to duplicate election data in Coffee County. In this county, Trump allies reportedly accessed a voting device and commissioned an IT company to uncover alleged voter fraud, which was found non-existent. Charged for their alleged roles in this scheme are Misty Hampton, the ex-election supervisor for Coffee County, and Cathy Latham, previously associated with the Republican Party in the same county.
Regarding the basis for these charges, under Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act, the prosecution only needs to establish a factual association among the defendants. Fred Smith Jr., a law professor at Emory University, explains that demonstrating the defendants' shared illegal objective and their consistent illegal activities to achieve it would suffice for a RICO charge.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis aims to prosecute all 19 defendants collectively, a move which may introduce added intricacies to the already complex case. Some defendants might contend the fairness of a joint trial, while others could advocate for the case's transition from state to federal jurisdiction. Shifting the trial could be advantageous for the defendants, according to Stephen Gillers from the New York University School of Law, as a more conservative jury might be selected and the case could face postponements.
Gillers anticipates possible jurisdictional disputes in the coming weeks. If deemed relevant to federal law, the case might remain at the federal level; otherwise, it could revert to the state court.
DA Fani Willis has granted the defendants a deadline till noon ET on August 25 for voluntary submission in Fulton County. Post this deadline, the arraignment process will commence, where charges will be presented, pleas entered, and official procedures like fingerprinting undertaken. For Trump, if proceeded, this would mark his first such process despite multiple indictments.
The indicted list also features:
- Former Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro, Jenna Ellis, and Sidney Powell;
- Mark Meadows, the ex-White House chief of staff;
- Jeffrey Clark, a previous Department of Justice official;
- Attorney Ray Smith, who testified to persuade Georgia legislators to reconsider the election outcome;
- Several individuals dubbed "fake electors" who claimed Trump's victory in Georgia by signing official elector certificates, including David Shafer, the former Georgia Republican Party Chair.
- Three people, including Chicago publicist Trevian Kutti, known for affiliations with artists R. Kelly and the artist now called Ye (formerly Kanye West), alleged to have pressured Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman into falsely confessing election fraud.
