Donald Trump has now added a fourth criminal case to his list of ever-growing legal troubles – this time for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
The former president was indicted by a grand jury in Fulton County on 14 August on 13 charges accusing the ex-president of engaging in a conspiracy to replace public officials with fake electors as well as engaging in overt acts to further the conspiracy.
The indictment arrived after a two-year-long investigation from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis into Mr Trump’s actions following the 2020 election.
It is the second criminal indictment the former president is facing related to his alleged interference in the election that Mr Trump lost. The ex-president was charged with four federal counts related to his supposed efforts earlier this year.
A statement from Mr Trump’s campaign called the latest indictment “bogus” and accused Ms Willis of engaging in political targeting.
“Combined with the intentionally slow-walked investigations by the Biden-Smith goon squads and the false charges in New York, the timing of this latest coordinated strike by a biased prosecutor in an overwhelmingly Democrat jurisdiction not only betrays the trust of the American people, but also exposes true motivation driving their fabricated accusations,” the statement from Mr Trump’s campaign read.
“They are taking away President Trump’s First Amendment right to free speech, and the right to challenge a rigged and stolen election that the Democrats do all the time. The ones who should be prosecuted are the ones who created the corruption.”
What charges is he facing?
The indictment in the 2020 election interference case charges Mr Trump with 13 counts: violating the RICO Act, three counts of solicitation of violating an oath by a public officer, conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, two counts of conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, two counts of conspiracy to commit false statement and writings, conspiracy to commit filing of false documents, filing false documents and two counts making false statements.
The charges stem from an alleged plot and conspiracy Mr Trump engaged in to turn Georgia’s votes over to himself. One of the many actions stated in the indictment was Mr Trump’s effort to replace electors in Georgia with false ones.
It is the second criminal case over Mr Trump’s alleged actions while he was running the country.
Former President Donald Trump walks over to speak with reporters before he boards his plane at Ronald Reagan Washington Airport after his arraignment— (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
The first federal indictment against the ex-president occurred on 8 June, when a grand jury in Mr Smith’s investigation charged Mr Trump and his co-defendant Walt Nauta on 37 counts related to Mr Trump’s alleged unlawful retention of national defence information and obstruction of justice.
Those charges stem from a case that began early last year after National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) officials discovered more than 100 classified documents in boxes that were retrieved from Mr Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida residence.
This came after his first criminal indictment in March on state charges in New York.
In that case, he appeared in a Manhattan courtroom to face criminal charges following Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into hush payments leading up to the 2016 presidential election.
After the first two arraignments, he returned to his properties to deliver remarks to crowds of supporters to cast himself as a victim of political persecution, baselessly accusing his political rivals of interfering with his chances of winning election to the presidency in 2024.
In all three cases, Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty.
In this handout photo provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, stacks of boxes can be observed in the White and Gold Ballroom of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida— (Getty Images)
This most recent indictment stems from a years-long investigation from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis that has been probing Mr Trump’s attempts to reject the results of that election in the state of Georgia.
So will he go to jail?
With his growing list of criminal cases, speculation is mounting as to whether Mr Trump will face jail time.
If convicted, federal and state prosecutors and judges could have to decide whether to jail a presidential candidate – or even the potential victor in the 2024 race.
Following the first federal indictment, experts said that the Justice Department was likely to attempt to have Mr Trump incarcerated if he’s convicted.
Each charge in that case – the classified documents case – carries a maximum sentence ranging from five years to 20 years. A potential sentence, if convicted, could include decades in prison.
National security lawyer and George Washington University law professor Kel McClanahan said that the department will probably “want to go for incarceration” in the case of Mr Trump, according to Insider.
Mr McClanahan said that the evidence in the indictment is intended to show that Mr Trump “is a kingpin who knowingly broke the law, endangered national security, endangered nuclear weapon security, [and] endangered other countries’ national security”.
Former US President Donald Trump waves from his vehicle following his appearance at Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. United States Federal Courthouse, in Miami, Florida, on June 13, 2023— (AFP via Getty Images)
The consensus among most legal experts commenting on the indictment appears to be that Mr Trump is in serious legal jeopardy.
In Georgia, there are mandatory minimum sentences under the racketeering charges Mr Trump faces. The former president could be sentenced to between five and 20 years in prison if he is convicted.
A former assistant US attorney in the Southern District of New York, Sarah Krissoff, said that “to the extent that there’s a conviction here, the Department of Justice is going to want to be seeking a real sentence” because of the “nature of the conduct, how long it lasted, his involvement, the involvement of other people, working allegedly at Trump’s direction”.
She noted that if Mr Trump is convicted, the sentence would depend on the judge, which seems likely to be Trump-appointee Aileen Cannon in the District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump could be looking at a maximum of five to 20 years of prison time if he is convicted in the January 6 charges.
