PRESS RELEASE Contact: [email protected]
For Immediate Release
Date: November 14, 2022
Watch the full briefing here
Washington, DC – Today, Former Ambassador Norman Eisen, legal scholar and counsel in the first impeachment and trial of former President Donald Trump, Debra Perlin, Policy Director, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Ryan Goodman, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz professor of law at New York University School of Law, and founding co-editor-in-chief of Just Security, and Leslie Dach, co-chair of the Defend Democracy Project participated in a virtual press briefing hosted by the Defend Democracy Project. They provided an update on the multiple criminal investigations into Donald Trump, including for his efforts to defy the results of the 2020 election.
As the bipartisan House Select Committee on January 6’s work will soon come to a close, attention now turns to the investigations former President Trump faces into his role in planning what a federal judge has termed a “coup in search of a legal theory.” Those investigations include the rapidly accelerating criminal case in Georgia, with charges expected as soon as later this year, as well as the Department of Justice’s investigation of January 6th, and other probes focused on the “fake electors” scheme.
“When you look at the evidence, Trump faces the substantial likelihood of criminal charges in Georgia,” said Former Ambassador Norman Eisen, legal scholar, and counsel in the first impeachment and trial of former President Donald Trump. “Trump’s audio tape demanding Brad Raffensperger to find 11,780 votes that did not exist, is a smoking gun. So are the false electoral certificates. The door is going to be slammed on him in court, as it has been over and over again already. The law and facts are not on his side and we believe he will likely be charged.”
“Like the mob bosses of the past were brought to justice, Trump appears to have personally choreographed plans to overturn the election results in Georgia. And as such, the RICO charge is really salient,” said Debra Perlin, Policy Director, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “We hope that this report that we’re releasing today will demonstrate just one more step towards the accountability that our democracy demands, that we all need, and the American people showed that they want in last week’s election.”
“Donald Trump faces great legal peril and a substantial likelihood of criminal charges in multiple investigations, across multiple states,” said Ryan Goodman, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz professor of law at New York University School of Law, and founding co-editor-in-chief of Just Security. “The elements of the offence under the Espionage Act fit hand in glove with the evidence that has been presented by the Justice Department in the Mar-A-Lago case. There are also a host of aggravating factors that tip the scales toward indictment.”
“In the aftermath of a midterm election where democracy was on the ballot, democracy won,” said Defend Democracy Project co-chair, Leslie Dach. “As Americans, we believe that no one is above the law, not even Donald Trump. No matter what they do in life, and no matter if they are an elected official or the President of the United States. The threats to our democracy continue, but the antidote to many of those threats is accountability.”
Watch the full briefing here.
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