Last night, the lights went out in Georgia…
Former President Donald J. Trump and 18 others have been indicted by an Atlanta grand jury in a sweeping racketeering case, accusing Trump and some of his former top aides of orchestrating a “criminal enterprise” to override the results of the 2020 election in the Peach State.
Using a statute normally associated with mobsters, the indictment brings charges against Rudy Giuliani, and Mark Meadows, his White House chief of staff at the time of the election, and 16 others.
According to The New York Times, prosecutors wrote in the indictment,
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.”
Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney who led the investigation said,
I make decisions in this office based on the facts and the law, the law is completely nonpartisan.”
All 19 defendants are being charged under Georgia’s racketeering statute, and each of them has at least one additional charge;
Donald Trump, former US president
Rudy Giuliani, Trump lawyer
Mark Meadows, White House chief of staff
John Eastman, Trump lawyer
Kenneth Chesebro, pro-Trump lawyer
Jeffrey Clark, top Justice Department official
Jenna Ellis, Trump campaign lawyer
Robert Cheeley, lawyer who promoted fraud claims
Mike Roman, Trump campaign official
David Shafer, Georgia GOP chair and fake elector
Shawn Still, fake GOP elector
Stephen Lee, pastor tied to intimidation of election workers
Harrison Floyd, leader of Black Voices for Trump
Trevian Kutti, publicist tied to intimidation of election workers
Sidney Powell, Trump campaign lawyer
Cathy Latham, fake GOP elector tied to Coffee County breach
Scott Hall, tied to Coffee County election system breach
Ray Smith, Trump campaign attorney
Misty Hampton, Coffee County elections supervisor
.@HillaryClinton joins @maddow after a Georgia grand jury returns indictments in 2020 election probe:
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 15, 2023
"This is a terrible moment for our country to have a former president accused of these terribly important crimes. The only satisfaction may be that the system is working." pic.twitter.com/E2AlT1aOze
Last night night Hillary Clinton was a guest on The Rachel Maddow Show when the indictment was announced and said,
I never would have guessed it, but here we are… I was going to say, just tell me when to show up the next time, we’ll see what he’s charged with then.”
Trump won’t be able weasel his way out of this one so easily since it’s a state case. And there are so many players, you can pretty much bet that they’ll be flipping on each other right and left –but mostly right.
If Trump is convicted of the RICO charge in Georgia, there is no probation. He will be doing jail time. Fani Willis said at her press conference. pic.twitter.com/MXBEBSc2sL
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) August 15, 2023
Former Republican Lt. Governor of Georgia Jeff Duncan moments ago after exiting the Fulton County Courthouse:
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) August 14, 2023
“Donald Trump was the worst candidate ever, in the history of our party … and now we are going to have to pivot from there.”
pic.twitter.com/qRUZgcYEt0
(Photo screen grab; via NY Times)
