Fulton County hands Trump fourth indictment

by Dave Williams

Capitol Beat News Service

A Fulton County grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump Monday night, charging the Republican with trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia that saw Joe Biden become the first Democrat to carry the Peach State since 1992.

Monday’s indictment was the fourth for Trump, following federal charges arising from his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and his retaining of classified government documents at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida after leaving office. He also is accused in a New York case of paying hush money to ex-porn actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign to cover up a sexual relationship.

Unlike the other cases, Monday’s indictment was wide ranging, naming 18 other defendants and covering 41 counts. The list of defendants includes former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer; Mark Meadows, who served as the former president’s chief of staff; and former Georgia Republican Chairman David Shafer.

Charges listed on the indictment included violation of Georgia’s RICO law (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations), submitting false documents and false statements, forgery, conspiracy to commit election fraud, and perjury. The RICO charge, which was leveled against all 19 defendants, carries a mandatory minimum prison term of five years.

White County Republican Party Chair Ron Webb said he had not read the indictment as of Tuesday evening, and could not speak to the legal sufficiency of the case. However, he said he prosecuted many federal RICO statute cases in his career as an FBI agent.

“The federal RICO statute was used to go after organized crime, specifically the Mafia and drug cartels,” Webb said. “District Attorney (Fani) Willis’ indictment brings to mind the adage ‘using tanks to kill flies.’ These indictments are only fueling President Trump’s popularity and fundraising ability. They are making him into a messianic character who the people will rally behind because of their perceived persecution of him by the government. President Trump is innocent until proven guilty, and I think Ms. Willis better bring her ‘A’ game if she hopes to convict him.”

While the other cases against Trump were narrowly focused on specific incidents, the 97-page Georgia indictment encompassed several episodes.

The list includes then-President Trump’s infamous phone call asking Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger at the beginning of January 2021 to “find” 11,780 votes, the margin Trump needed to overcome Biden’s winning margin in Georgia.

The indictment also cited a meeting of “fake” Republican electors inside the state Capitol in December 2020 to certify Trump as the winner of Georgia’s 16 electoral votes rather than Biden, presentations Giuliani made to state lawmakers – also in December 2020 – leveling false allegations of election fraud, and a data breach at the elections office in Coffee County.

“Rather than abide by Georgia’s legal process for election challenges, the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia’s presidential election results,” Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis told reporters after the indictments were unsealed.

White County overwhelmingly voted for Trump in 2020, with 82.49 percent of the 14,816 who voted in the general election choosing him.

Georgia Sen. Bo Hatchett (R-Cornelia) came out hard against Willis and her 2 ½-year probe.

“The Fulton DA has previously received a judge’s reprimand for politicizing her office during this overreaching investigation,” Hatchett said. “Currently, she is wasting prosecutorial and police resources to transform downtown Atlanta into a circus. This marks the most recent instance of political theater by the DA, whose office is utilizing the justice system as a weapon against a former president, all funded by taxpayers.”

The grand jury had not been expected to act on Monday, as some final witnesses had been summoned to testify on Tuesday, including former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan. Instead, Duncan, who has been one of Trump’s most vocal critics among Georgia Republicans, spent more than an hour testifying early Monday evening.

“I was honored to answer their questions to the best of my ability,” he said shortly after completing his testimony.

The grand jury also heard Monday from two Georgia Democrats, former state Rep. Bee Nguyen and former Georgia Sen. Jen Jordan. Both ran unsuccessfully for statewide office last year, Nguyen for secretary of state and Jordan for attorney general.

“No individual is above the law,” Nguyen said after giving her testimony. “I believe that every individual who wrongfully and illegally tried to overturn our valid elections should be held accountable.”

Willis said she will give the defendants until noon Friday to turn themselves in. She said she plans to try all 19 at the same time.

While the timetable for that trial is up to the judge, Willis said she will ask for the case to be heard within the next six months.

Editor Samantha Sinclair and Northeast Georgian Editor Matthew Osborne contributed to this report.