Donald Trump and 18 others are indicted on counts that include racketeering, perjury and theft.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/2916091

Former US President Donald Trump has been charged with attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state of Georgia.

He and 18 others have been indicted on counts that include racketeering in a 41-charge document issued by a Fulton County grand jury.

The indictment marks the fourth time Mr Trump has been criminally charged this year.

He has denied the accusations in all cases.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis launched an investigation in February 2021 into allegations of election meddling against Mr Trump and his associates.

The list of defendants indicted late on Monday night includes former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former White House lawyer John Eastman and a former justice department official, Jeffrey Clark.

The indictment says the alleged co-conspirators “knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump”.

The charge sheet also refers to the defendants as a “criminal organization”, accusing them of a number of crimes, including:

False statements and writings
Impersonating a public officer
Forgery
Filing false documents
Influencing witnesses
Computer trespass
Conspiracy to defraud the state
Theft and perjury.

The most serious charge, violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (Rico) Act, is punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison.

The act - designed to help take down organised criminal syndicates like the mafia - helps prosecutors connect the dots between underlings who broke laws and those who gave them marching orders.

  • BitingChaos@lemmy.worldEnglish
    23·
    11 months ago

    Well, you see, first amendment and all that.

    Trump just happened to be recorded while saying out loud some random thoughts he happened to have at that particular moment.

    He wasn’t telling anyone to do anything, and his words were not targeted to anyone in particular.

    Just because he happened to be on the phone with someone is completely coincidental and totally unrelated.

    So, any attempt to charge Trump with a crime would mean that you are ONLY criminalizing THOUGHTS and SPEECH.

    Checkmate.

    This is basically the explanation Trump used in regards to the recent threat he made on Truth Social about going after anyone that goes after him.

    • CaptDust@sh.itjust.works
      91·
      11 months ago

      Lol there’s so much more than the one call, they got literally months of records in evidence. Could read it, or just watch the DA conference for a summary