Former United States President Donald Trump has been indicted in Georgia for crimes related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in that state, just weeks after he was indicted by the federal government for similar crimes, the Washington Post reports. He has been charged with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO in legal circles. A federal version of the law was originally designed to prosecute mob bosses who were leading complex criminal enterprises. Georgia’s version, which is one of the most expansive in the country, allows prosecutors to weave together several alleged crimes into one charge that carries up to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors allege the Trump campaign is a criminal enterprise and the scheme was to overturn the popular vote in Georgia. After a two-and-a-half-year investigation, prosecutors put together a sprawling indictment. “The goal of this criminal enterprise is to keep Trump in power, so it would be essential to have Trump indicted,” said Clark Cunningham, a law professor at Georgia State University. There is a similar federal law on the books. Georgia has one of the more expansive state versions because it allows for a wide variety of crimes to be folded into the racketeering charge. Politicians, a prominent rapper, and public school teachers have been prosecuted under Georgia’s racketeering law. Caren Morrison, a former federal prosecutor and now an associate law professor at Georgia State University, said that under Georgia law if someone is part of the alleged conspiracy, they don’t have to set foot in Georgia to be charged. What is an indictment? Georgia’s indictment of Trump lays out threats, intimidation. An indictment is a written statement of criminal charges that have been approved by a grand jury; in this case, a group of randomly selected people from Georgia who heard prosecutors’ evidence against Trump. Trump called, cajoled, and even threatened top Georgia election officials, the indictment alleges. Trump called state officials and urged them to find and throw out enough suspect votes to offset his loss in the state: After the results in Georgia were final, Trump talked to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, and in an intimidating, hour-long phone call said he wanted to find enough votes to flip the state’s results. There is a recording of the call, and Trump has never denied its authenticity. In fact, he recently stood by what he said: “You owe me votes because the election was rigged,” is how he summarized his conversation. Trump also called the state’s top Republican leaders: Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, Attorney General Chris Carr, and House Speaker David Ralston. His top advisers called many others. Trump publicly attacked election officials in Georgia: As election results were being counted, Georgia’s governor, secretary of state, and top aides talked about the intimidation and even death threats they and their workers received from Trump supporters. One top official in Georgia directly tied the violent rhetoric to Trump’s actions: “Mr. President,” he said, “you have not condemned these actions or this language.” While this was going on, Trump attacked some of these officials, calling them “corrupt” in a speech on the day of the attack on the Capitol. Potential tampering of election equipment: Well after the votes were counted, Trump allies copied sensitive election equipment in a rural Georgia county and then shared it with election deniers across the country. They didn’t have the ability to change votes, but security experts worry they gave hackers valuable insight into election infrastructure. Trump’s defense He says he didn’t do anything wrong, and this is all protected political speech “This was a perfect phone call,” he has said of his call to Raffensperger. However, his pressure to overturn results came after election results were certified; after two statewide recounts led by Republicans; and after multiple court challenges alleging widespread fraud were thrown out. Trump’s lawyers in the Jan. 6 indictment have also argued his questions about the election are protected by the First Amendment. But the judge overseeing that case recently warned that free speech is “not absolute.”
![Former US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump makes a keynote speech at a Republican fundraising dinner in Columbia, South Carolina, on August 5, 2023 [Sam Wolfe - Reuters]](https://www.newtimes.co.rw/thenewtimes/uploads/images/2023/08/15/thumbs/1200x700/26777.jpg "Former US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump makes a keynote speech at a Republican fundraising dinner in Columbia, South Carolina, on August 5, 2023 [Sam Wolfe - Reuters]")