Trump 63: Fani Makes It Four (Indictments)

[GreyhoundFan]

Fani Willis has indicted TFG and 18 others for multiple felonies. MAGAworld is already crying.

 

Continued from here:

 

Fani is making live remarks.

[GreyhoundFan]

She is giving those indicted until noon Friday to surrender. Warrants have been issued.

 

She's going to try the 19 people together.

 

She only took a few questions and has walked out of the room.

[Xan]

Oh, I like it.  Nothing special about Donny -- he's just one of 19 people.  If they can all crime together, they can be tried together.  I think Meadows will flip and possibly some of the minor players from Georgia.  Sidney Powell might ride this to the end but I'm not sure about Cheseboro and Guiliani.

[GreyhoundFan]

This is from earlier on Monday. No big surprise:  "Finger-pointing begins inside Trump team over Jan. 6 indictment"

Quote

From the moment special counsel Jack Smith listed six co-conspirators in Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 indictment but didn’t name or charge them, a major question has been which of them might be tempted to flip and serve as witnesses for the prosecution.

Then Trump’s legal team set about previewing in the media an “advice of counsel” defense — one that could seemingly lay at least some blame at the feet of the co-conspirators who provided him that legal advice.

Predictable finger-pointing has now commenced.

Much of it is aimed at former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, identified in the indictment as Co-Conspirator 3. But there’s now also a sign that at least one co-conspirator might be gesturing back in the direction of Trump and his campaign.

On the eve of a Fulton County, Ga., grand jury considering charges in its own Jan. 6 case this week, CNN reported that prosecutors there have obtained text messages linking the Trump team to a voting system breach in Coffee County, Ga. (Coffee County was one of multiple counties in which local officials allegedly gave outsiders access to voting machines and data without a court order or subpoena.)

In response, a lawyer for alleged Co-Conspirator 1, Rudy Giuliani, sought to distance the former mayor from those events — and more notably, from Powell.

“Rudy Giuliani had nothing to do with this,” Robert Costello told CNN. “You can’t attach Rudy Giuliani to Sidney Powell’s crackpot idea.”

Giuliani’s lawyer isn’t the only one pointing to Powell. A lawyer for former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik — who does not match the identity of any alleged co-conspirator as described in the indictment but recently met with Smith’s team — suggested that Powell went further than Giuliani or Trump.

“Sidney Powell’s conduct stands in stark contrast to that of Rudy Giuliani and President Trump, who were looking to only make claims that could be backed up by evidence,” Kerik’s lawyer Timothy Parlatore, who previously served on Trump’s legal team, told Rolling Stone.

On the eve of a Fulton County, Ga., grand jury considering charges in its own Jan. 6 case this week, CNN reported that prosecutors there have obtained text messages linking the Trump team to a voting system breach in Coffee County, Ga. (Coffee County was one of multiple counties in which local officials allegedly gave outsiders access to voting machines and data without a court order or subpoena.)

In response, a lawyer for alleged Co-Conspirator 1, Rudy Giuliani, sought to distance the former mayor from those events — and more notably, from Powell.

“Rudy Giuliani had nothing to do with this,” Robert Costello told CNN. “You can’t attach Rudy Giuliani to Sidney Powell’s crackpot idea.”

Giuliani’s lawyer isn’t the only one pointing to Powell. A lawyer for former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik — who does not match the identity of any alleged co-conspirator as described in the indictment but recently met with Smith’s team — suggested that Powell went further than Giuliani or Trump.

“Sidney Powell’s conduct stands in stark contrast to that of Rudy Giuliani and President Trump, who were looking to only make claims that could be backed up by evidence,” Kerik’s lawyer Timothy Parlatore, who previously served on Trump’s legal team, told Rolling Stone.

“Based on the contents of their questions, and my understanding of criminal law, the main individual who was discussed who Mr. Kerik gave any information that could be incriminating would be Sidney,” Kerik’s lawyer previously told Rolling Stone.

Which co-conspirators face the most trouble is an important question. But the most significant question remains how much trouble Trump faces.

And a quote from the new Rolling Stone story stands out on that front. It comes from an attorney for Kenneth Chesebro, who matches the description of Co-Conspirator 5 in Trump’s indictment.

“Whether the campaign relied upon that advice as Mr. Chesebro intended,” attorney Scott Grubman wrote, “will have to remain a question to be resolved in court.”

Grubman added: “We hope that the Fulton D.A. and the special counsel fully recognize these issues before deciding who, if anyone, to charge.”

This comment would seem intended to call into question Trump’s “advice of counsel” defense, at least insofar as it involves Chesebro’s advice.

The New York Times recently reported on a Dec. 6, 2020, memo from Chesebro that Smith has cast as a turning point in the alternate-electors plot becoming a criminal one. In the memo, Chesebro qualified his plan by saying, “I’m not necessarily advising this course of action.” He also reportedly said it was “a bold, controversial strategy, and that there are many reasons why it might not end up being executed on Jan. 6.”

Former Trump attorney general William P. Barr has cast doubt on the effectiveness of Trump’s “advice of counsel” argument by citing similar qualifiers offered by another alleged co-conspirator, John Eastman, in his own legal advice.

“I’m not even sure you would characterize what Eastman said as ‘advice,’” Barr said recently. Barr added that “some of what he was saying essentially was, ‘Well, you know, it’s unclear here, and you can make this argument. I’m not saying the courts would accept it,’ and so forth. And you act on that, it’s your own hazard.”

Suggesting that your advice wasn’t actually followed, as Chesebro apparently might, isn’t the same as pinning the blame on Trump or anyone else, personally.

But there is a natural tension between the Trump team’s suggestions that he was relying upon advice of counsel and the interests of those who provided that counsel — just as there will seemingly be tension between what the various alleged co-conspirators say about their own roles in how the plot came together.

Increasingly, that tension has broken out into the open.

 

[Xan]

At least this time we'll have cameras in the courtroom.  And there's a good chance that Donald finally gets a mugshot on this indictment.  The only thing better would be seeing him in handcuffs.

[Dandruff]

I hope rules and potential penalties re. inappropriate defendant communication and witness intimidation come down fast and hard.

Also, I suspect that a certain defendant can't or won't buy lawyers for the rest and has been taking extra potty time tonight to consider the dilemma.

[Xan]

He posted this around 2:30 AM.  

I suspect that somehow Donny's team is behind the leaked indictments just to make things seem sketchy.  I love that he's so rattled that we've gone back to "indicated".

I really wish that some political cartoonist would start drawing him as a witch.

Edited August 15, 2023 by Xan

[GreyhoundFan]

7 hours ago, Xan said:

At least this time we'll have cameras in the courtroom.  And there's a good chance that Donald finally gets a mugshot on this indictment.  The only thing better would be seeing him in handcuffs.

Rachel Maddow and the MSNBC team talked about this last night. There will likely be a nasty fight, like there was in NY, to have the case moved to the federal court.  The defendants will push for that very hard in the hopes that a R victory in 2024 will mean the whole case will be dismissed or at least any parties found guilty will be pardoned. In GA, the governor has no power to pardon.  
 

 

29 minutes ago, Xan said:

He posted this around 2:30 AM.  

I suspect that somehow Donny's team is behind the leaked indictments just to make things seem sketchy.  I love that he's so rattled that we've gone back to "indicated".

I really wish that some political cartoonist would start drawing him as a witch.

Over the years there have been several. Here are a couple.

 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

This is a helpful piece from the Post: "Here’s who else was charged in Georgia (other than Trump)"

Quote

Former president Donald Trump was not the only person criminally charged in the Atlanta area in his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia. Eighteen of his close allies and supporters were also charged in a sprawling anti-racketeering case.

You can read the full indictment here.

Here are the others:

Rudy Giuliani

Charges: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act; three counts of solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer; three counts of false statements and writings; conspiracy to commit impersonation of a public officer; two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree forgery; two counts of conspiracy to commit false statements and writings; and conspiracy to commit filing false documents.

Giuliani served as Trump’s personal attorney and was central to efforts by the Trump team to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory in several battleground states, including Georgia, by promoting unsupported claims of vast election fraud. He continued to do so even as many state and federal officials — including William P. Barr, Trump’s attorney general — disputed those claims. Giuliani’s December 2020 appearances before the Georgia legislature, where he peddled disproved conspiracy theories of voter fraud, and his role in organizing an alternate slate of Trump electors have drawn scrutiny from Fulton County prosecutors.

One year ago, Giuliani appeared for six hours before an unusual special-purpose grand jury assembled to investigate alleged election interference. Under Georgia law, the investigative panel had full subpoena power for records but could not issue indictments — only recommendations, which it did in a report that remains mostly under seal.

Giuliani is also being sued over defamation claims by two former Georgia election workers whom he accused of election fraud. In that case, Giuliani said in a legal filing he is no longer contesting that he made false and defamatory statements about those workers — though he also indicated he will argue his claims were constitutionally protected speech and did not damage the workers.

In a statement early Tuesday, Giuliani attacked those who brought the indictment against Trump, saying the charges had “the purpose of framing President Donald Trump and anyone willing to take on the ruling regime.”

Mark Meadows

Charges: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act; solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer.

Meadows, Trump’s White House chief of staff in 2020, played a key role in efforts to overturn Trump’s loss in Georgia. In the chaotic weeks after Election Day, Meadows often organized and sat in on Trump’s phone calls with Georgia state officials, including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), as Trump pressured them to reverse Biden’s victory in the state. Meadows communicated with Trump allies, including Giuliani, as they pushed election conspiracy theories and plotted ways to keep Trump in office. Meadows took a particular interest in Georgia, making a surprise December 2020 visit to a ballot-counting center outside Atlanta — an incident Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) cited when she sought to subpoena Meadows to appear before the special-purpose grand jury. Meadows unsuccessfully fought his subpoena before appearing before the panel in November

There was no immediate response when The Washington Post contacted Meadows’s lawyer for comment.

John Eastman

Charges: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act; solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer; conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer; two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree forgery; two counts of conspiracy to commit false statements and writings; conspiracy to commit filing false documents; filing false documents.

Eastman, a conservative attorney who once clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, played a key role in developing an outlandish legal strategy to try to help Trump stay in power by using the vice president’s ceremonial role overseeing the election certification proceeding. Eastman and Giuliani met with Georgia state senators in December 2020 and urged them to disregard the election results. Eastman told senators that the Republican-controlled legislature could appoint a pro-Trump slate of electors and then the president of the U.S. Senate — at the time, Vice President Mike Pence — could determine whether that slate should be counted in Congress’s certification of the election rather than the Biden electors. He also falsely asserted, without evidence, that Trump lost Georgia in part because 66,000 underage people and 2,500 felons had voted in the state that year. A New Mexico judge ordered Eastman to appear before the investigative grand jury last year.

An attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kenneth Chesebro

Charges: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act; conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer; two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree forgery; two counts of conspiracy to commit false statements and writings; conspiracy to commit filing false documents.

Chesebro, an appellate attorney who studied under and worked with Harvard Law professor Lawrence Tribe, was the first to suggest that alternate Trump electors could be recognized on Jan. 6, 2021. He first shared the strategy with a friend representing the Trump campaign in Wisconsin before connecting with Eastman, Trump lawyer Boris Epshteyn and Giuliani to coordinate across six more swing states, including Georgia. He was subpoenaed by the special-purpose grand jury and has argued that his communications with the Trump campaign were protected by attorney-client privilege, although he was never paid for his work.

Neither Cheseboro nor his attorney immediately responded to a request for comment.

Sidney Powell

Charges: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act; two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud; conspiracy to commit computer theft; conspiracy to commit computer trespass; conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy; conspiracy to defraud the state.

Powell, a former federal prosecutor, was one of Trump’s more extreme allies in his efforts to subvert the 2020 election results, voicing a series of baseless conspiracy theories including that voting machines had been rigged for Biden. In Georgia, she alleged Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and Raffensperger, the secretary of state, were taking payoffs as part of that scheme — a claim that unsettled some Trump allies and led to her exit from Trump’s official post-election legal team. Still, Powell kept filing lawsuits alleging fraud across the battleground states, including in Georgia, and she remained in Trump’s orbit. At a White House meeting in December 2020, Trump considered naming Powell as a special counsel to investigate the election — an event that has drawn the scrutiny of Fulton County prosecutors investigating Powell’s efforts to undermine the Georgia vote. A subpoena request for Powell also suggested prosecutors are looking into what role she might have played in an alleged breach of election data in Coffee County, Ga.

An attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Jenna Ellis

Charges: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act; solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer.

Ellis was hired by the Trump campaign in November 2019 after making TV news appearances defending Trump and misrepresenting herself as a “constitutional law attorney.” She was part of the Trump legal team that challenged the 2020 election results and spoke with lawmakers in Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Georgia, urging them to reject the popular vote results in their states. She reportedly wrote memos for Trump outlining how Pence could overturn the election results and how parts of the Electoral Count Act were unconstitutional. In March, she was censured by a Colorado judge and signed a legal acknowledgment that “she made a number of public statements about the November 2020 presidential election that were false” and did so with a “reckless state of mind,” mainly in appearances on Fox News. A Colorado judge ordered Ellis to testify before the special-purpose grand jury last year.

Jeffrey Clark

Charges: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act; criminal attempt to create false statements and writings.

Clark was a mid-level Justice Department official friendly to Trump’s views on the election whom Trump considered installing as acting attorney general. Several former senior Justice Department officials testified about a bizarre effort by Clark to volunteer himself and the Justice Department as advocates for Trump’s bogus claims of massive voter fraud during the election. Clark proposed sending a letter to officials in key states, including Georgia, that said the Justice Department had “identified significant concerns” about the vote and that the states should consider sending “a separate slate of electors supporting Donald J. Trump” for Congress to approve, according to hearing testimony from the House Jan. 6 committee. Clark’s actions led to a dramatic confrontation at the White House on Jan. 3, 2021, when senior Justice Department officials told Trump they would resign — and many other senior officials would also quit — if the president appointed Clark in place of acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen, who was refusing to legitimize the fraud claims. Clark has denied that he devised a plan to replace his boss, the attorney general, and said all of his communications after the election were lawful.

Rachel Cauley, spokeswoman for the Center for Renewing America, said in a written statement: “Willis is exceeding her powers by inserting herself into the operations of the federal government to go after Jeff. … It’s clear Willis aspires to higher office and is using this witch hunt to climb the political ladder. Jeff Clark was simply doing his job in 2020 and he doesn’t deserve to be subjected to this naked political lawfare[.]”

Ray Smith

Charges: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act; three counts of solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer; three counts of false statements and writings; conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer; two counts of conspiracy to commit false statements and writings; two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree forgery.

Smith is an Atlanta-based lawyer who filed one of the Trump campaign’s election challenges in state court and sent a letter to state officials raising concerns about voter fraud. He also attended the meeting of Trump’s electors in Atlanta on Dec. 14, 2020. During the meeting of the electors, Smith explained that they were meeting and voting purely to preserve their legal remedy should the election challenge succeed in court, according to Smith’s attorney.

A lawyer for Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

David Shafer

Charges: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act; impersonating a public officer; two counts of first-degree forgery; three counts of false statements and writings; criminal attempt to commit filing false documents.

Shafer is the former chairman of the Republican Party of Georgia who has said that he stepped down from the role in June to focus on what he described as his likely indictment in Atlanta. Shafer helped organize and chaired the meeting of Trump’s electors on Dec. 14, 2020. He also served as an elector and stated during the meeting that the electors were meeting and voting purely to preserve their legal remedy in the event a election challenge prevailed in court.

There was no comment from Shafer or his representatives.

Shawn Still

Charges: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act; impersonating a public officer; two counts of first-degree forgery; two counts of false statements and writings; criminal attempt to commit filing false documents.

Still, now a state senator in Georgia, was the finance chairman of the state GOP in 2020. He helped organize the meeting of Trump’s electors on Dec. 14, 2020, and served as one of the electors. He allegedly stood at the door of the room in the Georgia Capitol where the group met, admitting electors after checking their IDs and initially barring the public and the media from entering the room.

Still did not immediately return a message asking for comment.

Mike Roman

Charges: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act; conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer; two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree forgery; two counts of conspiracy to commit false statements and writings; conspiracy to commit filing false documents.

Roman helped coordinate the alternate-elector plan with other Trump lawyers and top aides. Roman sent emails about the elector plan that were later published by the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack. He circulated a detailed spreadsheet that kept track of each of the seven states that Biden had won but where he and others on the campaign were urging Trump’s electors to gather and vote on Dec. 14, 2020.

An attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Stephen Cliffgard Lee

Charges: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act; two counts of criminal attempt to commit influencing witnesses; conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings; influencing witnesses.

A suburban Chicago pastor, Lee was captured on police body-camera video when officers responded to a December 2020 911 call at the home of Ruby Freeman, one of the Fulton County election workers accused by Giuliani and Trump of counting “suitcases” of illegal ballots at a vote-processing site in Atlanta. Freeman called 911 after Lee repeatedly knocked on her door. Confronted in his car, Lee told officers he was “working with some folks to help Ruby out” and “get some truth.” When Freeman refused to talk to him, Lee allegedly sought the help of Harrison Floyd, a former Illinois congressional candidate and former director of Black Voices for Trump, and Trevian Kutti, a former publicist for singer R. Kelly and associate of the rapper Kanye West, now known as Ye, to arrange a meeting with Freeman, according to court filings. Prosecutors sought to question Lee as part of their investigation into the harassment of Freeman, her daughter Shaye Moss and other election workers, but Lee successfully challenged his subpoena for the special-purpose grand jury.

Harrison Floyd

Charges: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act; conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings; influencing witnesses.

Also known as Willie Floyd III, Floyd has faced scrutiny from Georgia prosecutors for his role in helping arrange a meeting where Kutti, the former associate of West, allegedly told poll worker Freeman to confess to election fraud or she would go to jail — a meeting partially captured on police body-camera video. Floyd told Reuters that he had been asked for help in arranging the meeting with Freeman by Lee, the suburban Chicago pastor who told police he was trying “to get some truth.” Prosecutors sought to question Floyd before the special-purpose grand jury, but it is unclear whether he ever appeared.

Trevian Kutti

Charges: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act; conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings; influencing witnesses.

Kutti, the former publicist for R. Kelly and associate of West, is under scrutiny for her role in allegedly trying to pressure Freeman to falsely confess to election fraud. According to court filings, Kutti told Freeman in a Jan. 4, 2021, meeting that “an armed squad” of federal officers would approach Freeman and her family within 48 hours and that she was there to offer help by connecting her to “very high-profile people that can make particular things happen … in order to defend yourself and your family.” Kutti allegedly warned Freeman that she was “a loose end for a party that needs to tidy up” and said that if she refused Kutti’s help that her “freedom and the freedom of one or more of your family members” would be disrupted, according to court filings citing police body-camera video. Prosecutors sought Kutti’s testimony as one of their first witnesses before the special-purpose grand jury, but she reportedly did not testify. Kutti has denied any wrongdoing, claiming in an Instagram post that Freeman “told a chaplain she wanted to provide evidence in exchange for immunity for her and her daughter, but didn’t trust a white man to help her.” Freeman has denied seeking immunity and has been repeatedly cleared of the election fraud claims made by Trump and his associates.

Misty Hampton

Charges: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act; two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud; conspiracy to commit computer theft; conspiracy to commit computer trespass; conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy; conspiracy to defraud the state.

Hampton, also known as Misty Martin, was Coffee County’s elections supervisor during the 2020 election and its aftermath. She made a video that went viral online soon after the election, claiming to show that voting machines used in her county could be manipulated. Hampton told The Washington Post in May 2022 that she had allowed businessman Scott Hall into her office to hunt for proof of election fraud. Surveillance footage shows that Hampton was at the elections office on Jan. 7, 2021, when computer forensics contractors working with Hall and pro-Trump lawyers copied the county’s election software.

She did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cathy Latham

Charges: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act; impersonating a public officer; first-degree forgery; false statements and writings; criminal attempt to commit filing false documents; two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud; conspiracy to commit computer theft; conspiracy to commit computer trespass; conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy; conspiracy to defraud the state.

Latham was chairwoman of the Coffee County Republican Party in rural Georgia and one of the Trump electors who signed certificates in a bid to keep Trump in power. Records show that Latham was also involved in an effort to provide unauthorized access to election equipment in Coffee County. She spoke on Jan. 6, 2021, with Hall, who helped lead the effort. Surveillance footage shows that the following day, Latham met Hall and computer forensics contractors working for pro-Trump lawyers at Coffee County’s elections office, where the contractors copied the county’s election software. Latham appeared to introduce the contractors to county officials and posed for a selfie with one of them. Latham later denied going into the elections office on Jan. 7 and denied involvement in the copying.

She did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Scott Hall

Charges: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act; two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud; conspiracy to commit computer theft; conspiracy to commit computer trespass; conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy; conspiracy to defraud the state.

Hall, the owner of a bail bonds company, had connections with Trump’s campaign and testified about the election to a Georgia Senate subcommittee on Dec. 3, 2020. A good-governance activist recorded Hall saying in a telephone call that he had arranged for a plane to ferry people to Coffee County and accompanied them as they “went in there and imaged every hard drive of every piece of equipment” and scanned ballots. Surveillance footage confirms he was there. Hall claimed on the call that they obtained necessary permissions from authorities.

He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Robert Cheeley

Charges: Violation of the Georgia RICO Act; conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer; two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree forgery; two counts conspiracy to commit false statements and writings; conspiracy to commit filing false documents; solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer; false statements and writings; perjury.

Cheeley, an attorney in Fulton County, showed videos from the State Farm Arena as he questioned the results of the presidential election when he testified in December 2020 before the Georgia Senate. He represented election skeptics who sought to review ballots and separately served as an attorney for Latham.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Grandpa Ranty is taking a page from the Lindell playbook:

 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

This is so true:

 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

If anyone is interested, here is Fani's full press conference from last night:

 

[CTRLZero]

4 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

If anyone is interested, here is Fani's full press conference from last night:

We watched it last night, and laughed when she said she was going to get some sleep.  I’m surprised she took questions.  It will be interesting learning more in-depth information about all the crimes these individuals perpetrated on the nation.  

 

[Xan]

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Grandpa Ranty is taking a page from the Lindell playbook:

 

 

So many questions...  If he had "irrefutable proof", why is he just now divulging it?  What could he possibly say?  Is he just desperate to have a press conference and tell his side?  How many times will he quote "2000 Mules"?  Could we have a drinking game where everyone takes a drink when Donald says "perfect phone call"?

I do hope he slanders someone and that Tanya Chutkan is watching.  I'd like to see that trial moved up to December.

[Dandruff]

1 hour ago, Xan said:

So many questions...  If he had "irrefutable proof", why is he just now divulging it?  What could he possibly say?  Is he just desperate to have a press conference and tell his side?  How many times will he quote "2000 Mules"?  Could we have a drinking game where everyone takes a drink when Donald says "perfect phone call"?

I do hope he slanders someone and that Tanya Chutkan is watching.  I'd like to see that trial moved up to December.

I predict a massive grift.  Can't imagine what he'll try to pass as proof.

[Alisamer]

1 hour ago, Xan said:

So many questions...  If he had "irrefutable proof", why is he just now divulging it?  What could he possibly say?  Is he just desperate to have a press conference and tell his side?  How many times will he quote "2000 Mules"?  Could we have a drinking game where everyone takes a drink when Donald says "perfect phone call"?

I do hope he slanders someone and that Tanya Chutkan is watching.  I'd like to see that trial moved up to December.

Honestly how long do these people think they can keep this up? They have "irrefutable proof" and they're going to present it... but not yet. Not for 3 years. Over and over and over again they claim to have proof and then fail to produce the proof. If they actually had any proof at all they'd have brought it forward within the first year after the election. 

I won't be surprised if the press conference is just an hour and a half ranting repeat of his rally speeches but which can be condensed down into this:

"The election was stolen from ME and everyone knows it because I said so and also I'm incapable of ever losing because I've never been told no in my life. Insert claims about election fraud without presenting any evidence at all here. And all that's irrelevant because it doesn't matter because I WON. I won!!! Witch hunt! Insert rant personally insulting everyone even remotely related to the indictments here. I am the greatest, smartest, most brilliant ever president and everyone who doesn't love me is a loser! My fans are many and mighty and stupid and heavily armed! All my fans should send me money for my defense. Now, once you're done sending me your money, here is a list of people I want destroyed. It'd be a shame if something happened to them, wouldn't it? MAGA!"

There is no proof. If there was proof it would have come out by now. What little election fraud that has been found was done by Trump voters, almost exclusively.

I think the press conference might well be less a presentation of proof of fraud and more a call to arms.

[GreyhoundFan]

"Trump is indicted in Georgia on charges of racketeering. What it means, what happens next"

Quote

Former president Donald Trump and a long list of his allies have been indicted in Georgia for crimes related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in that state, just weeks after he was indicted by the federal government for similar crimes. Here’s what that means and what happens next for him.

Trump is charged with a crime — racketeering — that carries up to 20 years in prison

Trump has been charged with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO in legal circles. A federal version of the law was originally designed to prosecute mob bosses who were leading complex criminal enterprises. Georgia’s version, which is one of the most expansive in the country, allows prosecutors to weave together several alleged crimes — in this case, conspiracy to defraud the state, false statements and writings, impersonating a public officer, forgery, computer theft and dozens of others — into one charge that carries up to 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors allege the Trump campaign is the criminal enterprise and the scheme was to overturn the popular vote in Georgia. After a two-and-a-half-year investigation, prosecutors put together a 98-page indictment, with 19 defendants and 13 charges against Trump alone.

The whole point of using this statute is to nab the big fish, say legal experts.

“The goal of this criminal enterprise is to keep Trump in power, so it would be essential to have Trump indicted,” said Clark Cunningham, a law professor at Georgia State University.

There’s a similar federal law on the books. Georgia has one of the more expansive state versions, because it allows for a wide variety of crimes to be folded into the racketeering charge. Politicians, a prominent rapper and public school teachers have been prosecuted under Georgia’s racketeering law. Caren Morrison, a former federal prosecutor and now an associate law professor at Georgia State University, said that under Georgia law, if someone is part of the alleged conspiracy, they don’t have to set foot in Georgia to be charged.

What is an indictment? Georgia’s indictment of Trump lays out threats, intimidation

An indictment is a written statement of criminal charges that has been approved by a grand jury; in this case a group of randomly selected people from Georgia who heard prosecutors’ evidence against Trump. Trump called, cajoled and even threatened top Georgia election officials and put together a months-long campaign to lie about the election results in Georgia, the indictment alleges.

The examples given in the indictment mostly fall into these categories:

Trump called at least six state officials and urged them to find and throw out enough suspect votes to offset his loss in the state: After the results in Georgia were final, Trump talked to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, and in an intimidating, hour-long phone call said he wanted to find enough votes to flip the state’s results. To prosecutors, that call is a central piece of evidence of Trump’s intent to commit a conspiracy to overturn the election results: “This was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy,” the indictment reads. There’s a recording of the call, and Trump has never denied its authenticity. In fact, he recently stood by what he said: “You owe me votes because the election was rigged,” is how he summarized his conversation. Trump also called the state’s top Republican leaders: Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, Attorney General Chris Carr and House Speaker David Ralston, as well as a top election official in Georgia as she was investigating ballot fraud. His top advisers called many others.

Trump falsely claimed, without any proof, that widespread fraud tainted the election results: Trump and his allies’ false statements are a key part of this indictment. The indictment methodically lists Trump’s tweets falsely claiming he won in Georgia, a call he made to Vice President Mike Pence deriding him as a “wimp” and a letter he sent to Raffensperger almost a year after the election falsely claiming ballot fraud. “Trump knowingly, willfully and unlawfully [made] false statements,” the indictment reads. “This was an act of racketeering activity [under Georgia law] and an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.”

Trump publicly attacked election officials in Georgia: As election results were being counted, Georgia’s governor, secretary of state and top aides talked about the intimidation and even death treats they and their workers received from Trump supporters. One top official in Georgia directly tied the violent rhetoric to Trump’s actions: “Mr. President,” he said, “you have not condemned these actions or this language.” While this was going on, Trump attacked some of these officials, calling then “corrupt” at a speech the day of the attack on the Capitol. The indictment lists Trump and his allies’ baseless statements about one election worker in particular, Ruby Freeman. She and her daughter said they were forced into hiding after being assaulted with racist attacks for doing their job. The indictment charges a police chaplain from Illinois for going to Freeman’s home and allegedly threatening her.

Accessing election equipment: Well after the votes were counted, Trump allies copied sensitive election equipment in a rural Georgia county then shared it with election deniers across the country. They didn’t have the ability to change votes, but security experts worry they gave hackers valuable insight into election infrastructure. Prosecutors allege they broke various Georgia computer security laws, like unlawful possession of ballots, computer theft, computer trespass and interference with primaries and elections. A local election official in Coffee County, Georgia — Misty Hampton — was indicted, as well as the former GOP chair of the county, Cathleen Alston Latham. Prosecutors allege this is connected to Trump because his top lawyers met with him at the White House in December to discuss “certain strategies and theories intended to influence the outcome of [the election], including seizing voting equipment.” Later, people listed in the indictment tried to transmit the data from Coffee County to the Trump campaign, it alleges.

Forgery related to fake electors: After the 2020 election, Republicans in seven states that Trump had lost created their own slates of pro-Trump electors to compete with the official state slates of pro-Biden electors. In Georgia, they met at the state Capitol like the legitimate electors and the former head of the Republican Party in Georgia led the meeting. He is indicted on a charge of allegedly impersonating a public officer. So is a current state senator in Georgia, Shawn Micah Tresher Still. The indictment alleges this is connected to the Trump campaign because his lawyer Rudy Giuliani helped orchestrate the meeting of fake electors.

Trump’s defense: He didn’t do anything wrong, and this is all protected political speech

“This was a perfect phone call,” he has said of his call to Raffensperger. But his pressure to overturn results came after election results were certified; after two statewide recounts led by Republicans; and after multiple court challenges alleging widespread fraud were thrown out.

Trump’s lawyers in the Jan. 6 indictment have also argued his questions about the election are protected by the First Amendment. As the indictment was released in Georgia, they argued that trying to prosecute Trump’s tweets constitutes a violation of free speech. That will be litigated in upcoming trials. But the judge overseeing the Jan. 6 case recently warned that free speech is “not absolute.”

Catching up on the details of the Georgia election investigation

Trump was the first Republican president since George H.W. Bush in 1992 to lose Georgia, and he obsessed about his loss there. So he subsequently put enormous focus from his perch in Washington on trying to overturn Joe Biden’s win. In the final weeks of Trump’s time in office, Trump lawyers, political operatives, local GOP officials and senior White House officials helped Trump apply leverage to state Republican lawmakers and leaders to get them to overturn the election results.

Prosecutor Fani Willis has said people are likely to go to jail if convicted.

Fani Willis is the top prosecutor for Fulton County in Georgia, which encompasses Atlanta. She’s a Democrat who was elected to the job in 2020, and soon after she got the job, she launched an investigation into Trump’s attempts to overturn the election results in her state. She said she felt a responsibility to dig into this after she heard the recording of the phone call between Trump and Georgia’s secretary of state.

A local prosecutor has the authority to investigate a former president because under the constitution, states are sovereign entities and have the ability to pass — and enforce — their own laws, said Kristy Parker, a former federal prosecutor who has worked under multiple administrations.

The only exception is if the president were carrying out his or her official duties. “But there is no reason to think that is going to apply here,” Parker said, “because what Trump is doing, based on what we know — the phone call and publicly available facts — is he was trying to get a state official and state bodies to set aside a free and fair election in Georgia. That is not part of any president’s official duties.”

Throughout the investigation, Willis has been vocal about the likelihood that people in this election fraud investigation will go to jail.

“I refuse to fail,” she told the Wall Street Journal recently.

Trump will likely appear in court in Georgia to enter a plea

It’s called an arraignment, and this could happen just weeks after Trump was arraigned in Washington, D.C., for felony charges related to his efforts to overturn his election loss in several states; not just Georgia. He pleaded not guilty. Willis said those charged must surrender by Aug. 25.

Trump could be fingerprinted and pose for a mug shot

Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat has said that if Trump is charged, he will be treated like any other arrestee — subject to a mug shot that could be made public and a surrender at the county jail where squalid conditions and an inmate death recently sparked a Justice Department investigation.

“Unless someone tells me differently, we are following our normal practices,” Labat said.

This is Trump’s fourth criminal indictment

His criminal trials will be intertwined with the presidential election.

• In New York: He was indicted in April for allegedly falsifying business records to keep an alleged affair quiet during the 2016 election. He pleaded not guilty and faces a trial in March, right at the height of the primary elections for president.
• In Florida: He was indicted in June for allegedly hiding classified information and lying about it, then indicted again for allegedly trying to delete evidence. He faces a trial in May, around the time the Republican Party is finalizing or already finalized its nominee for president.
• In DC: He is awaiting a trial date after being charged with plotting to overturn the 2020 election and the events that led up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. The government has proposed starting this trial in early January, before voting starts in primary elections for president.
• Also in New York: A jury found he sexually abused a woman who alleged he raped her in the 1990s. Trump has maintained his innocence. He faces a second defamation trial in January for calling the woman, E. Jean Carroll, a “whack job” a day after the jury reached its verdict.

 

[CTRLZero]

I liked this graphic of the individuals under indictment (Georgia case) and the number of charges against each.

 

Spoiler

 

[fraurosena]

 

1 minute ago, CTRLZero said:

I liked this graphic of the individuals under indictment (Georgia case) and the number of charges against each.

 

  Hide contents

 

Pity they didn't list Trump's title as "Mr."

[Xan]

2 hours ago, Alisamer said:

I think the press conference might well be less a presentation of proof of fraud and more a call to arms.

This.  You're right.  He has no new proof and all he can do is yell "We can't allow this to happen!"  There will be some utter garbage about suitcases full of ballots or a comment that someone made about hackable voting equipment. Bottom line:  He has nothing.  It's either armed rebellion or fleeing the country, at this point.

[fraurosena]

 

[Audrey2]

Interesting facts about Fani Willis, she is also a Howard University alum and also pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority a few years after vice president Kamala Harris, also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, graduated from Howard. 

I'm really surprised the Republicans haven't discovered this and aren't whining about it yet.

[SassyPants]

Racketeering charges, perfect. Trump is a mobster, everyone with 2 functioning neurons can see the signs. I can think of no more fitting charges.

[GreyhoundFan]

Nobody ever accused Meadows of being smart...

 

[Xan]

1 hour ago, Audrey2 said:

Interesting facts about Fani Willis, she is also a Howard University alum and also pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority a few years after vice president Kamala Harris, also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, graduated from Howard. 

I'm really surprised the Republicans haven't discovered this and aren't whining about it yet.

They're already going after her because her father was rumored to be a Black Panther.  They're digging up dirt on her family.  The rightwing will go as low as they can go.