Prosecutors in the US state of Georgia probing Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election were set to begin presenting evidence before a grand jury on Monday for what could be a sweeping, multi-defendant indictment.
The case would be the fourth launched against Trump this year, and it might result in the first broadcast trial of a former president, which would be a watershed moment in US history, as well as charges generally used to bring down mobsters.
Trump took to his Truth Social platform, calling the investigation “ridiculous” and pushing a local election official, whom he identified by name and labeled a “loser,” not to appear before the grand jury.
“THOSE WHO RIGGED & STOLE THE ELECTION WERE THE ONES DOING THE TAMPERING, & THEY ARE THE SLIME THAT SHOULD BE PROSECUTED,” Trump said, with his indictment expected before the end of Tuesday.
One event that is very likely to be included in the allegations is Trump’s now-infamous phone call to Georgia authorities, in which he asked them to “find” the precise number of votes he would have needed to reverse his defeat to President Joe Biden.
Analysts expect him to face charges in connection with a conspiracy to deliver phony certification of a purported Trump victory in Georgia to the US Congress, as well as false testimony regarding election fraud supplied by Trump associates.
The broad case might possibly involve the harassing of two Fulton County poll workers and the unauthorized access to sensitive data from an elections office in a small county south of Atlanta, one day after the 2021 Capitol violence.
A separate “special” grand jury heard from 75 witnesses last year and produced a secret report in February that, according to the foreperson, recommended numerous indictments.
According to judicial commentators, Atlanta-area prosecutor Fani Willis would combine the claims against Trump and other co-conspirators into a single case under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law.
Racketeering charges are often used to prosecute organized crime, but Georgia law allows prosecutors to link actions committed by multiple people to one common aim, criminal or not.
Georgia’s court system is more open than the federal system, therefore the case can be aired from the first preliminary hearing onward.
The Fulton County grand jury meets on Mondays and Tuesdays, and local court observers expect Willis to complete and bring any indictments approved by the panel within two days, which is her usual timeline for racketeering cases.