On 14 August 2023, District Attorney Fani Willis convened a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia. It was to decide on an indictment against the former president of the United States, Donald Trump, and 18 of his allies for violating 16 laws of the state of Georgia. The charges include violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
The 98-page indictment – which lists 161 acts in furtherance of the conspiracy – reveals that Donald Trump and his associates sought to subvert the will of the American people.
Long after recounts and court proceedings confirmed that Donald Trump had lost the 2020 presidential election, the defendants are alleged to have pressured authorities in Georgia to overturn the election results in order to keep Donald Trump in power.
Then, on 3 January 2021, two weeks before the inauguration of newly elected President Joe Biden, a phone recording was released. In it, Donald Trump can be heard asking Georgia’s chief electoral officer and Republican secretary to find the number of votes he needed to change the election result in Georgia in his favour.
The prosecutor of Georgia accused the defendants of, among other things, forming a criminal conspiracy, defrauding the state, obstructing the counting of votes, inciting state officials to commit crimes, influencing witnesses and submitting false documents to Congress.
The grand jury decided on 14 August 2023 that the prosecution had presented it with sufficient evidence to indict Donald Trump and his co-defendants for the crimes they were accused of. However, the reading of the indictment will not take place on the same day, but has been rescheduled for 5 September 2023.
The identification of the defendants will also take place independently of the jury’s decision and the reading of the complaint. This should take place no later than 25 August 2023.
Technically, the identification of the accused is an arrest, but the defendants do not have to stay in jail if they are willing to pay the bail set by the judge. In the case of Donald Trump, the bail was set at 200,000 US dollars (about 185,000 euros).
Fani Willis has refused to give the former president of the United States special treatment. So he has to go through the formalities: He has to register his personal details and fingerprints and have his photograph taken by the police. Donald Trump was held in the Fulton County jail near Atlanta for about 20 minutes.
The prosecutor has set 4 March 2024 as the date for the actual start of the trial. What makes this case unique is that Georgia is allowing the trial to be televised.
To the German translation of this article: August 2023: Anklageerhebung im US-Bundesstaat Georgia