Donald Trump and 18 allies were indicted in Georgia on Monday (14) for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 elections in the state.
The nearly 100-page indictment details dozens of actions by Trump or his allies to undo the former president’s defeat at the polls, including asking Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State to find enough votes for the former president to win in the state; harassing an election worker who faced false allegations of fraud; and attempting to convince Georgia lawmakers to ignore the will of the voters and appoint a new slate of electoral college electors favorable to Trump.
In a particularly attention-grabbing episode, prosecutors describe a scheme involving one of Trump’s lawyers to access voting machines in a rural Georgia county and steal data from a voting machine company.
Other defendants include former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows; Trump’s lawyer and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani; and a Justice Department official from the Trump administration, Jeffrey Clark, who helped the then-president try to overturn his electoral defeat in Georgia. Other lawyers who presented legally dubious ideas to overturn the results include John Eastman, Sidney Powell, and Kenneth Chesebro.
The defendants may voluntarily surrender by noon on August 25. The prosecution plans to seek a trial date within six months and intends to try the defendants collectively.
If found guilty, the defendants could face heavy sentences: violating the extortion law alone could result in a sentence of five to 20 years.
The indictment of Trump in Georgia is the fourth in a five-month period, each in a different city, which would be daunting for anyone, but perhaps not so much for Trump, who is simultaneously balancing the roles of criminal defendant and presidential candidate.
Recapping the other cases Trump faces in court:
1. Falsification of Criminal Records – New York
Trump has 34 criminal charges involving falsification of business records related to a series of checks from the Trump Organization that he signed in 2017 for his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. The payments were to reimburse Cohen for a hush money payment he made in October 2016 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to cover up a potential sex scandal shortly before the election. But, according to the indictment, internal documents falsely recorded the checks as payments for legal work that Cohen supposedly performed in 2017.
The trial is expected to take place in March 2024.
2. Government Confidential Documents
Trump is facing 40 criminal actions related to the possession of government confidential documents after leaving the presidency and conspiracy to obstruct government efforts to recover them.
The trial is expected to take place in July 2024.
3. 2020 Election Subversion (Federal)
Trump is facing four criminal actions related to his attempt to overturn his defeat in the 2020 elections to Joseph R. Biden Jr.
The trial has not yet been scheduled.
Source: AP