Former US President Donald Trump has been indicted for racketeering in an alleged bid to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to a 98-page indictment issued by a Georgia grand jury. The charges were brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and include 41 criminal counts against Trump and 18 other defendants. Racketeering carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
In addition to Trump, other notable defendants listed in the indictment are Mark Meadows, Trump’s former White House chief of staff, and lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman. The indictment accuses Trump and the other defendants of knowingly and willfully joining a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump.
The case centers around a phone call that Trump made on January 2, 2021, urging Georgia’s top election official, Brad Raffensperger, to find enough votes to overturn his narrow loss in the state. Raffensperger refused to do so. Four days later, Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent lawmakers from certifying Joe Biden’s victory.
The indictment alleges that Trump and his associates committed various crimes, including falsely testifying to lawmakers about election fraud and urging state officials to violate their oaths of office by altering the election results. It also mentions the breach of a voting system in a rural Georgia county and the harassment of an election worker who became the target of conspiracy theories. The indictment cites an alleged scheme to subvert the US electoral process by submitting false slates of electors.
The charges in Georgia add to Trump’s already mounting legal troubles. He is set to face trials in New York and Florida for separate cases involving hush money payments and federal classified documents. Trump has pleaded not guilty in all three cases.
Georgia, a state that was once reliably Republican, has become politically competitive in recent years. While the indictments could strengthen Trump’s support among Republicans, they may also hurt him in the eyes of independent voters in the 2024 presidential election.
Trump continues to falsely claim that he won the 2020 election despite multiple court cases and investigations finding no evidence of widespread fraud. The grand jury indictment is seen as a significant step in holding him accountable for his actions surrounding the election.
