The Fulton County District Attorney who has been investigating former President Donald Trump over allegations he tried to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results reportedly has enough evidence to charge him with a racketeering indictment.
Fani Willis began investigating Trump in February 2021 over a phone call he had with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, where Trump questioned the results of the election after issues were identified with hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots.
Now, her office has assembled enough evidence to bring a sprawling racketeering indictment, two people briefed on the case told The Guardian.
Willis, who previously served as a chief municipal judge and as been the Fulton County DA since January 2021, is expected to formally bring charges against Trump and potentially an unknown number of individuals next month. In April, she ordered law enforcement to ramp up security at the county courthouse in preparation for a “pending announcement” many expect to be an indictment of Trump.
A July 20 report shows that local police are beefing up security in preparation for an arraignment, having sent deputies to Miami and New York (where Trump was arraigned) to study the security protocols used. Officials say they want the public to feel that there’s enough security in place, without it looking “too militarized.”
Georgia’s RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) statute requires prosecutors to demonstrate the existence of an “enterprise,” and a pattern of racketeering activity that is predicated on at least two qualifying crimes, the Guardian explained.
Unnamed sources who spoke with the outlet said Willis can bring a racketeering indictment predicated on statutes related to influencing witnesses and computer trespass.
Specific evidence was not mentioned, but Trump’s conversations with Raffensperger could be the basis for charges related to influencing witnesses.
Other charges related to computer trespass could be connected to an alleged breach of voting machines, when lawyer Sidney Powell — acting on Trump’s behalf investigating potential election fraud — accessed voting machines at the county election office and copied system data.
Willis, who spent 16 years as a prosecutor in the Fulton County DA’s office prior to becoming a judge, has experience with RICO cases, having successfully prosecuted nearly a dozen Atlanta public school educators accused in a cheating scandal.
In a court motion filed the day before the Guardian’s story was published, Trump’s legal team argued Willis should be disqualified. His lawyers told the court Willis should be removed from the case because she is using the investigation as a way to attract campaign donations.
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