Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Aug. 14, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Atlanta DA Fani Willis Drops Hammer On MAGA: Arrest Warrant Issued For Trump
MAGA got dealt a significant blow. A grand jury in Atlanta, led by District Attorney Fani Willis, has issued a 41-count indictment against Trump, implicating him in alleged criminal efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results.
The detailed, 98-page indictment also names 18 other individuals, including prominent figures from Trump’s circle like his former attorney Rudy Giuliani and Trump administration White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. All 19 defendants face accusations under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
This indictment marks Trump’s fourth. Others charged in the indictment include Trump lawyer John Eastman; Jeffrey Clark, who was Assistant Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources Division under the Trump administration; Trump ally Kenneth Chesebro; Jenna Ellis, a former member of Trump’s legal team; and Sidney Powell, who for a time was a public face of the Trump campaign and pushed the fake election propaganda.
According to legal observers, DA Willis adopted an innovative approach, leveraging the RICO Act designed initially to tackle organized crime. The indictment is built upon more than 160 acts that contribute to what prosecutors claim is a complex conspiracy, NPR reported.
The central theme of the indictment revolves around allegations that Trump and his co-defendants engaged in actions meant to overturn the 2020 election outcome. The indictment alleges these actions formed a “common plan and purpose to commit two or more acts of racketeering activity.”
Among the charges, Trump himself faces 13 felony counts, with the overarching theme being the alleged conspiracy to unlawfully alter the election results. The indictment spans events from Oct. 31, 2020, before the election, to Sept. 15, 2022, outlining a series of interconnected actions that the prosecution believes constitute a larger conspiracy.
The indictment alleges that Trump and his co-conspirators refused to accept the election outcome and knowingly worked to change it in their favor. The extensive document paints a comprehensive picture of the alleged conspiracy, encompassing acts committed over nearly two years, Slate reported.
“Defendant Donald John Trump lost the United States presidential election held on November 3, 2020,” the indictment reads, introducing the racketeering count. “One of the states he lost was Georgia. Trump and the other Defendants charged in this Indictment refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump. That conspiracy contained a common plan and purpose to commit two or more acts of racketeering activity in Fulton County, Georgia, elsewhere in the State of Georgia, and in other states.”
In a press conference late on Aug. 14, Willis said that all of the defendants had until noon on Friday, Aug. 25, to voluntarily surrender to Fulton County authorities.
The Trump campaign released its statement before the indictment was even unsealed.
“These activities by Democrat leaders constitute a grave threat to American democracy and are direct attempts to deprive the American people of their rightful choice to cast their vote for President,” the campaign said. “Call it election interference or election manipulation—it is a dangerous effort by the ruling class to suppress the choice of the people. It is un-American and wrong.”
The campaign also released a long email of background against Willis, accusing her again of “fundraising on her bogus indictments of President Trump.”
Trump’s camp has tried to discredit Willis from the start, even putting out an ad featuring a false claim that she was having an affair with a gang member.
Willis is the first woman elected to her role in Fulton County, where Atlanta is, and has handled various high-stakes cases. She’s won 11 convictions in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal and is currently seeking the death penalty against a shooter who allegedly killed eight people in Atlanta-area spas in 2021, including six Asian women.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks in the Fulton County Government Center during a news conference, Aug. 14, 2023, in Atlanta. Donald Trump and several allies have been indicted in Georgia over efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
