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Former President Donald Trump and 18 others are now facing RICO charges concerning alleged interference in Georgia’s 2020 election. According to CNN, news of the indictment was revealed Monday.
This is the fourth time the former president has been indicted this year, as per Fox News.
According to the outlet, Trump and his 18 co-defendants were indicted by an Atlanta-based grand jury on Monday and hit with a total of 41 criminal charges.
The indictment alleges that the group “joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome” of the 2020 Georgia election. Additionally, the indictment states that the group did so after Trump lost the election.
“[The defendants] unlawfully conspired and endeavored to conduct and participate in a criminal enterprise,” the indictment reads as per CNN.
In addition to the 18 co-defendants, the case reportedly includes 30 additional “unindicted co-conspirators,” as per CNN.
“Defendant Donald John Trump lost the United States presidential election held on November 3, 2020. One of the states he lost was Georgia. 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. That conspiracy contained a common plan and purpose to commit two or more acts of racketeering activity in Fulton County, Georgia, elsewhere in the State of Georgia, and in other states,” the indictment reads as per CNN.
Most specifically, a 2021 investigation into Trump’s alleged actions revealed that he ordered Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to reverse Biden’s electoral win in Georgia.
According to the outlet, Trump and his co-conspirators have officially been charged with violating Georgia’s “violation of Georgia’s RICO law.” Additionally, the 98-page indictment includes charges of “false statements and writings,” “impersonating a public officer,” “forgery in the first degree,” and more.
According to CNN, the RICO charges against the group were brought forth by Georgia’s Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. As The Shade Room previously reported, Willis brought RICO charges against rapper Young Thug and his conglomerate YSL last May.
The district attorney reportedly began investigation efforts into Trump’s alleged election interference in February 2021, as per The Conversation.
Additionally, Willis’ case against Trump is reportedly “insulated against” any “meddling” from the former president regardless if he is reelected in 2024. He will also be unable to pardon himself or others in “any state law convictions,” and he will not “be able to dismiss the Fulton County prosecutors bringing the charges,” as per CNN.
Furthermore, all parties included in the indictment must turn themselves in by noon on August 25.
According to The Conversation, a conviction of a violation of Georgia’s RICO Law carries a “minimum five-year sentence.”
