A Fulton County Grand Jury returned an indictment on Monday against Donald Trump and 18 others, including Rudy Giuliani.
The 41-count indictment also named the former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and a top former Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, lawyers John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, Jenna Ellis, and Ray Smith, along with several others.
All were charged with violating Georgia’s RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization) act.
Trump was charged with felony racketeering and numerous conspiracy charges, court filings show.
NBC reports:
The racketeering charge carries a sentence of five to 20 years, while a conspiracy conviction can result in a minimum sentence of one year in prison with a variable maximum sentence.
“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,” the indictment says.
The 98-page indictment lays out a number of alleged schemes aimed at achieving that goal, including pressuring state officials to change the results, accessing voting machines and data in rural Coffee County, and harassing election worker Ruby Freeman with bogus fraud claims.
Georgia DA Fani Willis said at a late-night news conference that arrest warrants have been issued for all of the defendants and that each has until Aug. 25 to surrender voluntarily.
Trump updated his Truth Social account to put on full blast Fulton County DA Fani Willis after his charges were announced.
“So, the Witch Hunt continues! 19 people Indicated tonight, including the former President of the United States, me, by an out of control and very corrupt District Attorney who campaigned and raised money on, ‘I will get Trump,’” the former president wrote.
A post from Trump also said he would present his own “report” next week that would lead to “complete EXONERATION.”
“A Large, Complex, Detailed but Irrefutable REPORT on the Presidential Election Fraud which took place in Georgia is almost complete & will be presented by me … on Monday of next week in Bedminster, New Jersey,” the post said. “Based on the results of this CONCLUSIVE Report, all charges should be dropped against me & others. … They never went after those that Rigged the Election. They only went after those that fought to find the RIGGERS!”
Credit: AP News, CBS, NBC, Fox