Georgia election racketeering prosecution
The State of Georgia v. Donald J. Trump, et al. is a pending criminal case against Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, and 18 co-defendants. The prosecution alleges that Trump led a "criminal racketeering enterprise", in which he and all other defendants "knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome" of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Georgia. All defendants are charged with one count of violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute, which has a penalty of five to twenty years in prison. The indictment comes in the context of Trump's broader effort to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election. As of February 2024, it is one of four ongoing criminal indictments against Trump.
State of Georgia v. Trump, et al. | |
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Court | Fulton County Superior Court |
Full case name | The State of Georgia v. Donald J. Trump, et al. |
Charge | List of charges
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Citation(s) | 23SC188947 (indictment) |
Case history | |
Prior action(s) | Plea bargains (pre-trial)
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Court membership | |
Judge(s) sitting | Scott F. McAfee |
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Business and personal
45th President of the United States
Tenure
Policies
Appointments
Presidential campaigns
Impeachments
Prosecutions
Interactions involving Russia
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Defendants are variously charged with forty additional counts from other allegations, including: Trump and co-defendants plotted to create pro-Trump slates of fake electors; Trump called the Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, asking him to "find 11,780 votes", which would have reversed his loss in the state by a single vote margin; and a small group of Trump allies in Coffee County illegally accessed voting systems attempting to find evidence of election fraud.
A grand jury handed up the indictments on August 14, 2023, following an investigation launched in February 2021 by Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis. The case was set to be heard in the Fulton County Superior Court with judge Scott F. McAfee presiding. Another judge denied requests from former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, former Department of Justice (DOJ) official Jeffrey Clark, and three other defendants to have their cases removed to federal court. Four defendants have pleaded guilty to some of the charges and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution, and have received sentences including probation, fines, and making public apologies. The date of trial for the remaining fifteen defendants (who pleaded not guilty) is not yet set.