Status: 15.08.2023, 15:19 p.m.
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump is charged with attempting to influence the election. © Robert F. Bukaty/AP/dpa
Donald Trump is struggling with one indictment after another. At a dizzying pace, the mountain of legal problems for the Republican is getting bigger.
Atlanta/Washington - More serious allegations against Donald Trump: In the US state of Georgia, the former president is facing a new extensive indictment in connection with attempted election fraud. In total, it is the fourth indictment against the Republican for a criminal offense.
In addition to Trump, 18 other people have to answer in court - including his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows, his former chief of staff in the White House. Trump is charged with eight counts on 13 counts. Among them is an offence that is usually used in cases of organised crime or mafia trials.
The new indictment
A jury decided on Monday evening (local time) in Atlanta that Trump should stand trial for his attempts to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. The prosecutor in charge, Fani Willis, has given Trump and the other defendants a deadline of August 25 to report to the court. The new indictment, which is almost a hundred pages long, contains extensive accusations against the ex-president. In detail, Trump and accomplices are accused of pressuring public officials to violate their oath of office. The Republican is also accused of false testimony and filing false documents. In total, the indictment lists 19 charges in 41 cases against the 19 accused.
Particularly delicate is a criminal offense from the so-called Rico law. This makes it possible for the prosecution to take action against several defendants at the same time as part of a criminal organization. The law was originally enacted to crack down on protection racketeering by the mafia. Long prison sentences are imminent. The indictment also mentions other people who are alleged to have participated in the plot. Prosecutor Fani Willis said that all their efforts had the "illegal goal" of helping Trump seize another term as president. The former president and the other defendants had "knowingly and intentionally participated in a conspiracy to illegally change the election results in favor of Trump."
Trump rejects accusations
Previously, Trump had already been indicted at the federal level for his campaign against his own defeat in the 2020 election. The fact that an ex-president comes to court for a criminal offense has never happened in the history of the United States before Trump. The Republican, who wants to run again in the 2024 presidential election, rejects all allegations and sees any prosecution against him as an attempt by his opponents to prevent him from returning to the White House.
Trump also dismissed the new allegations as a "witch hunt." Trump's lawyers called the indictment "flawed and unconstitutional." The 77-year-old is supported by his party. "Americans see through this desperate hoax," said U.S. House of Representatives Chairman Kevin McCarthy. MP Elise Stefanik from the party's leadership circle accused the judiciary of interfering in the election campaign.
There was also an unexpected reaction from Hillary Clinton. The Democrat lost to Trump in the 2016 presidential election – the two are considered intimate enemies. Clinton was a guest on a TV show on Monday night when the indictment was announced. "It is a terrible moment for our country that a former president is being indicted for these horrific crimes," she said.
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The campaign against the election result
Trump had lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden. But he refuses to admit defeat. The 77-year-old unwaveringly claims that he was deprived of a victory by massive electoral fraud. Neither Trump nor his lawyers have provided any evidence to support these claims. Trump's campaign against the election result culminated in a storming of the Capitol in Washington by his supporters on January 6, 2021. With the outbreak of violence, the mob tried to prevent the formal confirmation of Biden's election victory in parliament. Several people were killed.
Georgia was one of the states that played a key role in the outcome of the 2020 election. Biden won in the state by a narrow margin of about 12,000 votes. Trump tried to change his election defeat there – as well as in other states – retrospectively. Among other things, Trump bluntly called on Georgia's top election watchdog, his Republican party colleague Brad Raffensperger, in a one-hour phone call to "find" enough votes for him to "recalculate" and turn the result. A recording of the infamous telephone conversation was later made public.
The series of lawsuits for Trump
Because of these and other attempts at influence that became public, prosecutor Willis had initiated investigations in Fulton County in Georgia in 2021. Trump will have to contest four trials in the coming months - in the middle of the election campaign. In recent months, charges had already been brought against the Republican in three other cases in New York, Miami and Washington. The New York case is related to hush money payments. The case in Miami revolves around the storage of top-secret government documents in Trump's private estate. In Washington, on the other hand, the 2020 election is also at stake - about attempted election fraud and the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
None of these cases, and no possible conviction, precludes Trump running for president or becoming president in 2024. However, the case in Georgia is not being heard at the federal level, but at the state level, so he could not pardon himself if convicted, even if he wins the election. In cases under federal law, this might be possible. Even with a victory in Georgia, Trump would not have won the 2020 election. However, at the time, he tried to overturn the results in several states at the same time - and thus collect enough votes to move into the White House. Dpa