A grand jury in Georgia indicted Donald Trump late Monday night, accusing the former president and a slate of allies of trying to steal President Joe Biden’s win in the state during the 2020 presidential election.
The indictment is made up of 41 charges against 19 defendants, from Trump to his former attorney Rudy Giuliani and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
The legal case centers on the state’s RICO statute, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. That kind of measure typically targets people engaged in organized crime.
It also focused on a pressure campaign on state election workers and officials, as well as the harassment that resulted from Trump’s naming of Ruby Freeman, a poll worker he accused of election fraud.
Trump and his presidential campaign criticized the charges, calling them politically motivated as the former president seeks his second term in office.
Here’s what you need to know about Trump’s indictment in Georgia – his fourth set of criminal charges.
The Georgia indictment list: Donald Trump’s 18 co-defendants
Aides, attorneys, and campaign officials: these are the kinds of people who have been indicted along with Donald Trump in the Georgia election case.
The list:
- Rudy Giuliani, a Trump lawyer – and former New York City mayor – who was actively involved in the Georgia election protest;
- Mark Meadows, former White House chief of staff who helped organize many of the protests in Georgia and elsewhere;
- John Eastman, a lawyer who developed legal theories on how Trump could spike some of Biden’s electoral votes;
- Kenneth Chesebro, an active pro-Trump lawyer;
- Jeffrey Clark, a top Justice Department official;
- Jenna Ellis, a Trump campaign lawyer;
- Robert Cheeley, a lawyer who promoted evidence-free claims of fraud;
- Mike Roman, a Trump campaign official;
- David Shafer, Georgia Republican Party chairman and one of the so-called “fake electors;”
- Shawn Still, another fake Trump elector;
- Stephen Lee, a pastor involved in alleged intimidation of election workers;
- Harrison Floyd, leader of Black Voices for Trump;
- Trevian Kutti, a publicist involved in alleged intimidation of election workers;
- Sidney Powell, a Trump campaign lawyer who pushed conspiracy theories about the balloting;
- Cathy Latham, a fake Trump elector tied to attempts to breach voting systems in Coffee County;
- Scott Hall, accused of involvement in Coffee County election system breach;
- Misty Hampton, Coffee County elections supervisor;
- Ray Smith, a Trump campaign attorney.
− David Jackson
Trump’s team reacts to indictment
In a statement, Trump’s legal team denounced the “shocking and absurd” events, including an accelerated timeline for witness testimony Monday and the accidental release of a “presumed and premature indictment before the witnesses had testified or the grand jurors had deliberated.”
The legal team – −attorneys Drew Findling, Jennifer Little and Marissa Goldberg – also said the “one-sided grand jury presentation relied on witnesses who harbor their own personal and political interests” against Trump.
− David Jackson
What is an indictment?
An indictment is a formal document that contains allegations that someone committed a crime. It includes the charges laid out against a person and is filed before a case can move forward in court, David Weinstein, a former federal and state prosecutor, previously told USA TODAY.
Weinstein said that an indictment means a grand jury decided that there’s “more likely than not” enough evidence – based on testimony – to move forward with charging a person. At least twelve jurors must be in agreement that a defendant allegedly committed a crime to issue an indictment.
After a person is indicted, they must go to trial where a jury will reach an unanimous decision on whether to pursue conviction.
− USA TODAY staff
