Former President Donald Trump and 18 others were indicted by a grand jury in Georgia this week in connection with their alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.
The indictment marks the fourth criminal case to be leveled against Trump this year and follows a lengthy investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, an elected Democrat who has been looking into the former President’s efforts to interfere with the election results for more than two years.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]A total of 41 charges were filed against 19 individuals, including Trump’s former White House chief of staff, a handful of his former lawyers, and several so-called false electors who have been accused of helping Trump seek to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 win in Georgia. They collectively face a gamut of different charges but are all being prosecuted under Georgia’s anti-racketeering law for conspiring to nullify the election. Willis has set a deadline of noon on Aug. 25 for each of the 19 people charged to turn themselves in.
Here is a look at the 19 defendants charged in the indictment.
Donald Trump
The former President faces 13 criminal charges in the Georgia election meddling case, including violating state racketeering laws and soliciting a public official to violate his oath of office, conspiring to commit forgery in the first degree, conspiring to file false documents, and making false statements. Willis, the lead prosecutor in the case, accused Trump of being the head of a “criminal enterprise” to overturn the 2020 election, refusing to accept his loss and making unfounded assertions of widespread election fraud in Georgia. The indictment also alleges that he pressured top state officials, including Gov. Brian Kemp, to find a way to reverse his loss. In a recorded Jan. 2, 2021 phone call with Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Trump asked the state’s top election official to “find” 11,780 votes—one more than the number he lost by in the decisive swing state. Trump has described the phone call as “perfect” and denied he did anything wrong.
Rudy Giuliani
The former mayor of New York City, who first made his name as a federal prosecutor known for using racketeering charges to pursue organized crime, now finds himself facing a racketeering charge of his own—among several other charges—for his alleged role in the plot to keep Trump in power. As Trump’s personal attorney, Giuliani oversaw Trump’s effort to lobby state legislatures to reverse the outcome of the election. In Georgia, he repeatedly claimed that there was ballot fraud in the state, even though officials had counted the votes three times, won multiple lawsuits over the outcome, and debunked extravagant fraud claims. Yet Giuliani visited the Georgia Capitol in December 2020 to repeat those claims and urge state legislators to use powers they didn’t have to appoint Georgia’s electors and hand the state’s election to Trump. Prosecutors have said that Giuliani was involved in the false electors scheme in a total of seven states that Trump lost. Earlier this year, public information suggests that he could be the unnamed “Co-conspirator 1” in Trump’s federal indictment over election interference brought by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith.
In total, Giuliani faces 13 counts in the Georgia case—the same number as Trump—including violating the state’s racketeering laws, 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.
John Eastman
As one of Trump’s lawyers, Eastman was a key legal architect of the effort to keep Trump in power using false electors in swing states that he lost. The indictment alleges that he pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to try to subvert the election during a joint session of Congress where electoral votes would be counted, which Pence refused to do, and helped develop the scheme to put in place a slate of “alternate” electors in seven battleground states who would falsely certify that Trump had won their states. Eastman was likely “Co-conspirator 2” in the earlier federal indictment over election interference.
Read More: Here’s What We Know About the Alleged Trump Co-Conspirators in the Jan. 6 Indictment
He has been charged with nine counts in Georgia, including violating the state’s racketeering laws, 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, and filing false documents.
Mark Meadows
The former White House chief of staff was allegedly deeply involved in the efforts to keep Trump in power, organizing phone calls with Georgia state officials and communicating with Trump allies as they pushed election conspiracy theories, according to the indictment. Meadows was particularly interested in Georgia, making a surprise December 2020 visit to a ballot-counting center outside Atlanta and putting Trump on the phone with a top state elections investigator. He faces two charges in the case: violating Georgia’s racketeering laws and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer.
Sidney Powell
The lawyer on Trump’s team who memorably vowed to “release the Kraken” faces seven charges in the Georgia indictment for her alleged involvement in the scheme to overturn the election results. Prosecutors said that she advanced false claims of voter fraud and pushed Trump to assert federal authority to seize voting machines that she falsely claimed had been rigged for Biden. Powell also spread a baseless conspiracy theory that Georgia’s Republican governor and secretary of state were taking payoffs to help Biden win—a claim that several Trump allies repudiated and likely led to her exit from Trump’s post-election legal team.
The indictment also alleges that Powell coordinated with local GOP officials and hired a forensics data firm to illegally access sensitive voting data, equipment and software stored on Dominion voting systems in Coffee County, Ga., Michigan and elsewhere. She has been charged with violating Georgia’s racketeering laws, 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, and conspiracy to defraud the state.
Kenneth Chesebro
Prosecutors alleged that Chesebro, an attorney, was the first to suggest the false electors strategy, drafting memos on the topic and marshaling Trump supporters to pose as electors in states won by Biden in order to disrupt the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021. He faces seven felony charges, including conspiracy to commit forgery and conspiracy to file false documents, as well as violation of an anti-racketeering act originally aimed at dismantling organized crime groups.
Chesebro also played a role in the effort to pressure Pence to unilaterally overturn the election, drafting a “President of the Senate” strategy memo that largely laid the groundwork for Trump and Eastman’s last-ditch bid to upend the election. He is likely “Co-conspirator 5” in the earlier federal indictment.
Jeffrey Clark
A former high-ranking lawyer in the Justice Department, Clark had drafted a letter he wanted to send to Georgia officials demanding the state legislature call a special session to examine votes in the presidential election and consider appointing pro-Trump electors, the indictment alleged. In the letter, he falsely wrote that the Justice Department “identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple States, including the State of Georgia.” Trump considered installing Clark as acting attorney general after the Justice Department refused to send the letter. He is likely “Co-conspirator 4” in the earlier federal indictment and faces two charges in Georgia: violating the state’s racketeering laws and a criminal attempt to create false statements and writings.
Jenna Ellis
A right-wing attorney who represented Trump, Ellis planned the hearings before Georgia lawmakers in which Trump allies pushed baseless fraud claims, according to the indictment. She also allegedly wrote at least two legal memos to Trump advising that Pence should block Biden’s victory from being certified by Congress on January 6. Ellis has been charged with violating Georgia’s racketeering laws and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer.
Ray Smith
An attorney for Trump’s 2020 campaign in Georgia, Smith filed one of Trump’s election challenges in state court and participated in a Georgia senate hearing in which he falsely alleged widespread fraud and voting irregularities took place in the state’s election, according to the indictment. Prosecutors also said he made false statements about illegal voting by felons and dead people, and attended the meeting of Trump’s electors in Atlanta on Dec. 14, 2020. He faces a total of 12 charges in the Georgia case, including violating the state’s racketeering laws, three counts of solicitation of violation of oath by a public office, three counts of false statements and writings, conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, two counts of conspiracy to commit false statements and writings, and two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree forgery.
Robert Cheeley
A Georgia-based trial attorney, Cheeley has been charged with 10 crimes after making false assertions at a legislative hearing in Georgia where he claimed election workers were double- and triple-counting votes. At the hearing, he showed video clips of election workers handing ballots at the State Farm Arena in downtown Atlanta that he falsely claimed contained evidence of vote-rigging. Cheeley said their actions “should shock the conscience of every red blooded Georgian” and compared it to the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, even though there is no evidence that election workers were miscounting votes. His charges include violating Georgia’s racketeering laws, 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, and perjury.
Michael Roman
A senior Trump campaign staffer, Roman was involved in the unsuccessful plot to use slates of fake GOP electors to block the certification of Biden’s victory, working with other Trump allies including Chesebro to distribute forms and handle logistics of their meetings, the indictment alleged. Emails that he sent about the elector plan were published by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. Prosecutors also said that he promoted baseless claims of massive voter fraud. Roman faces seven charges in Georgia, including violating the state’s racketeering laws, 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, and conspiracy to commit filing false documents.
David Shafer
One of Trump’s false electors in Georgia, Shafer portrayed himself as the “chairperson” of the Electoral College of Georgia and filed 16 fake electoral votes for Trump. He helped organize the meeting of Trump’s electors on Dec. 14, 2020 in which they signed a certificate illegitimately declaring themselves as the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors and falsely claiming that Trump had won. Shafer is the former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party and previously served in the Georgia state senate. He faces eight criminal charges in the case: violating the state’s racketeering laws, impersonating a public officer, two counts of first-degree forgery, three counts of false statements and writings, and criminal attempt to commit filing false documents.
Shawn Still
A Georgia state senator since January 2023, Still was one of the false electors in Georgia who sought to keep Trump in power after his election defeat. According to the indictment, he signed paperwork illegitimately declaring himself as one of the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors and falsely claimed that Trump had won the state. In an interview with the House Jan. 6 select committee, Still said the fake electors were told by the Trump campaign that their vote was being cast “as a contingency in the event of an overturn.” He faces seven charges in the case: violating Georgia’s racketeering laws, impersonating a public officer, two counts of first-degree forgery, three counts of false statements and writings, and a criminal attempt to commit filing false documents.
Stephen Cliffgard Lee
A pastor from Illinois, Lee is among those implicated in efforts to intimidate Atlanta election workers. Prosecutors said he tried to pressure Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman and her daughter after Trump and his allies falsely accused them of pulling fraudulent ballots out of a suitcase during the vote count. Lee allegedly knocked on Freeman’s door, prompting her to call the police three times. He told officers that he was “working with some folks to help Ruby out” and “get some truth.” Lee now faces five charges in the case: violating Georgia’s racketeering laws, two counts of criminal attempt to commit influencing witnesses, conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings, and influencing witnesses.
Harrison William Prescott Floyd
Floyd, a Maryland resident and former leader of Black Voices for Trump, was also implicated in the effort to intimidate Freeman, the Georgia election worker. Prosecutors said he arranged a meeting between Freeman and Trevian Kutti, a publicist, who allegedly pressured and threatened her during the meeting, which was videotaped by police. Floyd has been charged with violating Georgia’s racketeering laws, conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings, and influencing witnesses.
Trevian C. Kutti
Prosecutors charged Kutti for taking part in a plot to pressure Freeman, the Georgia election worker, into falsely admitting to committing fraud on election day. A former publicist for musicians R. Kelly and Kanye West, Kutti allegedly told Freeman in a videotaped 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 also allegedly warned Freeman that if she refused, 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. Kutti denied any wrongdoing in an Instagram post, claiming 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 cleared of the baseless election fraud claims.
Kutti faces three charges: violating Georgia’s racketeering laws, conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings, and influencing witnesses.
Cathay Latham
Latham was one of the 16 Republicans who served as fake electors in Georgia. She signed paperwork illegitimately declaring herself as one of the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors and falsely claimed that Trump had won the state. The former head of the Republican Party in Coffee County, Ga., Latham was also cited in the indictment for her involvement in an alleged scheme to help grant pro-Trump activists unauthorized access to voting equipment to copy sensitive election data and software in January 2021. She can be seen in surveillance video escorting Trump supporters into restricted areas of the Coffee County election office, where prosecutors allege voter data was breached.
She faces 11 charges in the case: violating Georgia’s racketeering laws, 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, and conspiracy to defraud the state.
Scott Graham Hall
A Trump supporter from the Atlanta area, Hall was allegedly involved in a plan to access election equipment in Coffee County, Ga. Surveillance footage shows he spent hours inside a restricted area of the Coffee County elections office when voting systems were breached in January 2021. In testimony before the grand jury in the Fulton County case, he acknowledged that he gained access to a voting machine. Hall faces seven charges in the case, including violating Georgia’s racketeering laws, 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, and conspiracy to defraud the state.
Misty Hampton
A former election supervisor for Coffee County, Ga., Hampton allegedly helped Trump supporters access the county’s voting equipment after the 2020 election. She was present in the county election office on Jan. 7, 2021 when a computer forensics team copied software and data from the election equipment and allegedly allowed two other men to access the elections office later that month. The indictment also alleges that she tampered with electronic ballot markers and tabulating machines.
She faces seven charges in the case: violating Georgia’s racketeering laws, 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, and conspiracy to defraud the state.
source https://time.com/6306031/trump-georgia-indictment-co-conspirators/
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