Former President Donald Trump Not Indicted in Georgia Election Investigation
Former President Donald Trump has not been indicted in the long-running investigation into the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. A list of criminal charges briefly appeared on a Fulton County website, but prosecutors have stated that Trump has not been indicted. The list included charges such as state racketeering counts, conspiracy to commit false statements, and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer. However, the filing was quickly taken down, and the Fulton County District Attorney’s office called the report of charges being filed inaccurate.
The appearance of the list on the website has caused confusion and raised questions about how it got there. The Fulton County courts clerk’s office stated that the document was fictitious and that documents without official case numbers should not be treated as official filings. However, the document did have a case number on it, leaving the explanation unclear.
Trump and his supporters, who have alleged that the investigation is politically motivated, immediately seized on the apparent error to claim that the process is rigged. Trump’s campaign even used the since-deleted document in a fundraising email, accusing the district attorney of robbing him of his right to due process and calling it an absolute disgrace.
Legal experts suggest that the appearance of the list may have been a clerical error, listing charges that prosecutors were planning to present to the grand jury for a vote. The grand jury is currently hearing from witnesses as part of the investigation into actions taken by Trump and others in their efforts to overturn his narrow loss in Georgia to Joe Biden. The grand jurors will ultimately decide whether to bring charges, so the counts listed in the filing may or may not be brought against Trump.
Despite the confusion caused by the posting of the list, legal experts believe that it will not ultimately impact the case against Trump. They argue that it provides insight into what prosecutors are planning to present to the grand jury, but the grand jury could still choose not to bring those charges. Trump’s legal team has criticized the prosecutors’ office, accusing them of constitutional violations and showing no respect for the integrity of the grand jury process.
The investigation in Georgia is expected to include a wide range of charges, including Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute. The charges listed in the filing include solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, which references Trump’s phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2, 2021, where he urged Raffensperger to find enough votes to overturn his loss in the state.
As the investigation continues, witnesses, including former Democratic state Sen. Jen Jordan and former Democratic state Rep. Bee Nguyen, have been called to testify before the grand jury. Both individuals attended legislative hearings in December 2020, during which false claims of widespread election fraud were made. Gabriel Sterling, a top official in the secretary of state’s office, was also seen arriving at the courthouse on Monday.
The investigation into the 2020 presidential election in Georgia remains ongoing, and while the posting of the list of charges caused confusion, it is not expected to have a significant impact on the case against Donald Trump. Trump’s legal team may make noise about the error, but legal experts believe it will not ultimately affect the outcome. The grand jury will ultimately determine whether to bring charges against Trump and others involved in the effort to overturn the election results.
