Donald Trump, along with 18 others, has been recently charged by Georgia prosecutors for their alleged involvement in tampering with the 2020 presidential elections.
This marks the fourth instance of criminal charges brought against the former United States president within a span of 5 months.
Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, has successfully obtained a comprehensive 98-page indictment from a grand jury against Trump.
The indictment includes a range of criminal charges, notably violations of Georgia’s racketeering laws and participation in multiple conspiracies.
Among the indicted individuals are 18 other defendants, including Rudy Giuliani, who played a role in Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election results, and John Eastman, a constitutional scholar who convinced the former president of a theory suggesting that then-vice-president Mike Pence could reject the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
Additional defendants listed in the indictment encompass Mark Meadows, Trump’s chief of staff during the final months of his administration, Jeffrey Clark, a former official of the justice department, and Jenna Ellis, a lawyer representing the former president.
The former president and the other defendants “constituted a criminal organization” that “refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and wilfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favour of Trump”, prosecutors said in the indictment.
Previously, in a late-night press conference, Willis, a Democrat, refused the indictment that was politically motivated. “We look at the facts, we look at the law and we bring charges,” she said. Willis said her office would this week ask the judge to set a trial date within the next six months: “We do want to move this case along.”
Willis highlighted that defendants retain the option to surrender voluntarily until August 25.
She also emphasized that if found guilty of the racketeering charges, the defendants could face imprisonment. It’s worth noting that this state-level indictment is separate from a federal criminal case instigated by the Department of Justice, which pertains to alleged interference in the 2020 election across various states.
In response to these developments, Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social to reiterate his unverified claims that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” against him.
He announced intentions to present an elaborate report on purported election fraud in Georgia during a major news conference scheduled for the following Monday at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
He added “Based on the results of this conclusive report, all charges should be dropped against me and others, there will be a complete exoneration!”
