Former President Donald Trump and 18 of his allies have been indicted in Georgia over their alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. The indictment, which spans nearly 100 pages, accuses Trump and his associates of engaging in a “criminal enterprise” to keep him in power. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who brought the case, described the defendants’ actions as a violation of Georgia’s legal process for election challenges.
The indictment outlines numerous acts committed by Trump and his allies, including pressuring Georgia’s Republican secretary of state to find enough votes for Trump to win, harassing an election worker, and attempting to persuade Georgia lawmakers to disregard the will of the voters. It also details a plot involving one of Trump’s lawyers to access voting machines and steal data from a voting machine company.
Among the defendants are former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, and Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results in Georgia. Other lawyers who promoted legally dubious ideas aimed at overturning the results, such as John Eastman, Sidney Powell, and Kenneth Chesebro, were also charged.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis announced that the defendants have until noon on August 25 to voluntarily surrender. She intends to seek a trial date within six months and plans to try the defendants collectively.
This indictment comes just two weeks after Trump was charged by the Justice Department special counsel in a conspiracy to overturn the election. The Georgia case covers similar ground as the Washington indictment, including attempts to disrupt the electoral vote count at the U.S. Capitol. However, the Georgia indictment involves a larger number of defendants, alleging a broader scale of criminal conduct beyond just the former president.
The posting of a list of criminal charges against Trump on a county website caused confusion at the courthouse. The document was quickly taken down, and a spokesperson for Willis clarified that an indictment had not yet been returned. Trump and his allies seized on this incident to claim that the investigation was rigged.
Trump’s legal team criticized the indictment, stating that it was based on witnesses with personal and political interests. They also highlighted the leak of the presumed indictment before witnesses testified or grand jurors deliberated.
The Georgia indictment includes 161 acts by Trump and his associates, many of which have already received significant attention. This includes a phone call on January 2, 2021, in which Trump urged Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn his election loss. Prosecutors argue that this call violated a Georgia law against soliciting a public official to violate their oath. Trump is also charged with making false statements and writings regarding his claims to Raffensperger and others.
