- Fulton County grand jury indicts Trump with 41 counts of racketeering.
- Former Trump attorneys, Meadows, Eastman, and Clark charged.
- Trump denounces biased probe, claims it breaches trust.
A Fulton County grand jury’s 41-count indictment against former US President Donald Trump includes allegations of racketeering. This is the fourth criminal charge against Trump this year, and in each instance, he has denied the allegations.
In February 2021, the Fulton County District Attorney, Fani Willis, opened an inquiry into claims that Trump and his associates interfered in elections.
Georgia election investigation
Former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former White House attorney John Eastman, and a former justice department officer named Jeffrey Clark are among the defendants charged late on Monday night.
The accusers are said to have “knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump,” according to the indictment.
The defendants are also referred to as a “criminal organization” in the charge sheet, which names them for a variety of offenses such as forging documents, impersonating public officials, influencing witnesses, computer trespassing, conspiring to defraud the state, stealing, and perjury.
A maximum of 20 years in jail is the maximum penalty for the most serious accusation, which is breaking the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) Act. The Trump campaign branded the district attorney a “rabid partisan” who brought “these bogus indictments” to sway the 2024 presidential election and “damage the dominant Trump campaign.”
The Trump team denounced the probe conducted by a biased prosecutor in a predominately Democratic jurisdiction, arguing it breaches American citizens’ trust and reveals the real reason behind their false claims.
Federal prosecutors in Washington, DC, have already accused Mr. Trump of plotting to rig the 2020 election, which he nearly lost to President Joe Biden, a Democrat. The probe focuses particularly on Georgia, a crucial state in the race for the US presidency, which Mr. Trump just missed winning.
After consenting to interviews with Fulton County prosecutors, at least eight “fake electors” who signed a fraudulent certificate declaring Mr. Trump won the election in that state have struck immunity agreements in the case.
