Donald Trump.Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Donald Trumpwas indicted in a fourth criminal investigation on Monday night, shortly after Georgia prosecutors presented evidence to a grand jury regarding the former president’s efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election results.
The Fulton County charges bring him toa total of 91 criminal countshe’s been indicted on this year between the four investigations, several of which come with recommended prison time. If convicted of violating the Georgia RICO Act — classified a step above felony, as a “serious felony” — Trump would face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years.
Eighteen allies were also charged, including former White House chief of staffMark Meadows; former Trump attorneysRudy Giuliani,Sidney Powell,John Eastman,Jenna Ellis, Bob Cheeley, Ray Smith III and Kenneth Chesebro; former assistant U.S. attorney generalJeffrey Clark; former Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer; and current Georgia state Sen. Shawn Still.
Additional defendants include a GOP strategist, local elections officials, an Atlanta bail bondsman,a publicist, an Illinois pastor and a onetime congressional candidate.
After the indictment was processed on Monday night, Willis said that she would request a trial datewithin six monthswith the goal of trying all 19 defendants together.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.David Walter Banks/Getty
The focus of two separate grand juries convened in the case was on whether Trump or his allies engaged in possible crimes related to their efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss in Georgia, a historically red state where he lost the popular vote to DemocratJoe Biden.
In February, the foreperson of the first grand jury — a special grand jury whose goal was to determine if there’s basis to pursue indictments — toldCNNit would be a “good assumption” that a subsequent jury panel would lay charges on Trump andabout a dozen othersin his orbit.
Almost immediately afterlosing the state to Biden in 2020, Trump pinned his loss on fraud, all while pressuring officials in the state to “find” votes in his favor.
Much of the scandal regarding his efforts in Georgiahinged on a Jan. 2, 2021, phone callbetween the former president and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump told the secretary to “find 11,780 votes” for him.
That phone call — which was leaked toThe Washington Postand made public soon after —helped spark the various investigationsinto Trump’s efforts to overturn the election.
Over the course of its investigation, the grand jury issued subpoenas for testimony from Republican Sen.Lindsey Graham, Giuliani, and other allies of the former president, including members of his legal team, such as attorneys Eastman, Ellis, Chesebro and Cleta Mitchell.
Willis said earlier that the special grand jury had heard from a total of 75 witnesses,CNN reported.
Thetwice-impeachedformer president’s post-White House life has been mired inintensifying investigationson various fronts.
Former President Donald Trump appears in a Manhattan court for a historic arraignment on April 4, 2023.SETH WENIG/POOL/AFP via Getty
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer.
Earlier this year, he was alsofound liable for sexually abusing and defamingformerElleadvice columnistE. Jean Carroll, with a jury ordering that Trump pay Carroll $2 million for sexual abuse and $3 million for defamation. The former president is nowsuing Carroll for defamation.
Trump, his family and his supporters have repeatedly and insistently denied wrongdoing in the various criminal, congressional and civil inquiries.
source: people.com
