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Defend Our Country Digest

Defend Our Country Digest: Special Fourth Indictment Edition

By August 16, 2023No Comments

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Trump’s fourth indictment: a 98-page game-changer from Georgia

  • AP: How the Georgia indictment against Donald Trump may be the biggest yet: The fourth indictment of former President Donald Trump may be the most sweeping yet. The sprawling, 98-page case unveiled late Monday night opens up fresh legal ground and exposes more than a dozen of Trump’s allies to new jeopardy. But it also raises familiar legal issues of whether the First Amendment allows a politician to try to overturn an election. Already, Trump and his supporters are alleging the indictment is the product of a politicized, corrupt process to hobble him as he competes for the GOP nomination to face President Joe Biden next year.
  • CNN: Takeaways from the Georgia indictment of Donald Trump and 18 others: Former President Donald Trump on Monday was criminally charged for the fourth time this year in a sweeping Georgia indictment accusing him of being the head of a “criminal enterprise” to overturn the 2020 election. The indictment from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis included 18 defendants in addition to Trump, 41 charges in total and 30 unindicted co-conspirators. It marks a key departure from special counsel Jack Smith’s charges against Trump for election subversion. Smith had only charged the former president in his indictment earlier this month, even as he listed six co-conspirators. Willis’ indictment also went well beyond what transpired in Georgia as she used racketeering violations to charge a broad criminal conspiracy.
  • New York Times: The Trump Georgia Indictment, Annotated: A grand jury in Fulton County, Ga., on Monday unveiled the fourth criminal indictment of former President Donald J. Trump. Like a federal indictment earlier this month, this one concerns Mr. Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. But it differs in that it charges 18 other defendants who are alleged to have taken part in the scheme. The New York Times is annotating the document.
  • Reuters: Georgia indictment: How will Trump defend himself? Will it work?: Donald Trump is likely to claim that his right to free speech and genuine concerns about voter fraud protect him from charges that he pressured Georgia officials to change the results of the 2020 election in his favor. But legal experts say the case appears to be a straightforward fraud prosecution that will turn on whether Trump knowingly broke the law, regardless of whether he believed his actions were justified. “Even if he thought he had a right to do what he did, that doesn’t justify fraudulent activity,” said former federal prosecutor E. Danya Perry. “If you believe money in someone else’s bank account is rightfully yours, that doesn’t mean you can embezzle it.” Georgia state prosecutors allege Trump and 18 co-defendants conspired to illegally change the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged Trump and his co-defendants with 41 criminal counts. Trump himself faces 13 counts including racketeering, false statements and soliciting a public servant to violate their oath. Trump has denied wrongdoing. In a statement before the indictment was released, his campaign accused Willis of being a “rabid partisan” who was trying to undermine his reelection bid.
  • Politico: An early test for Georgia prosecutors: Trump’s likely bid to take the case to federal court: One of the first big battles in the new racketeering case against Donald Trump is likely imminent: Should the former president face a jury in state or federal court? Although the charges were filed in state court in Fulton County, Ga., Trump is sure to attempt to “remove” the case to federal court, where he would potentially have a friendlier jury pool and the chance of drawing a judge whom he appointed to the bench. To try to get the case into federal court, Trump is expected to argue that much of the conduct he’s been charged with was undertaken in his capacity as an officer of the federal government, because he was still president during the critical period when he and his allies attempted to subvert the 2020 election results. A federal law, known as a “removal statute,” generally allows any “officer of the United States” who is prosecuted or sued in state court to transfer the case to federal court if the case stems from the officer’s governmental duties.
  • New York Times: Who Has Been Charged in the Election Inquiry in Georgia: The indictment Georgia prosecutors filed Monday in an election interference case targeting former President Donald J. Trump and his associates includes 41 criminal charges against 19 people who are accused of helping him seek to overturn his 2020 election loss.

Indictment triggers strong reactions, as Trump promises a revelatory report and press conference next week

  • Politico: Trump says he plans to hold press conference responding to Georgia indictment: Former President Donald Trump says he will hold a press conference this coming Monday in response to a Georgia grand jury indicting Trump and 18 allies on racketeering charges. Trump claimed in a Truth Social post Tuesday that a report from his team was conducted on the “presidential election fraud” and that all charges should be dropped based on the findings of that report. Officials in the past have found no evidence of election fraud, but the allegations have spread widely across conservative media since the election. “A Large, Complex, Detailed but Irrefutable REPORT on the Presidential Election Fraud which took place in Georgia is almost complete & will be presented by me at a major News Conference at 11:00 A.M. on Monday of next week in Bedminster, New Jersey,” Trump said in the post.
  • Hill: Top Democrats urge Trump, supporters not to interfere with legal process: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) urged former President Trump and his supporters not to interfere with the legal process as it plays out in Georgia following Monday night’s indictment. “As a nation built on the rule of law, we urge Mr. Trump, his supporters, and his critics to allow the legal process to proceed without outside interference,” the top Democrats in Congress wrote in a joint statement issued late Monday. Their request comes after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) announced the fourth indictment against Trump since April. The 19 co-defendants face charges related to a conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
  • Guardian: Republicans rally to Donald Trump’s defense after Georgia indictment: Republicans rallied to Donald Trump’s defense after the former president was indicted on 13 criminal charges in Georgia over his attempt to overturn his defeat there by Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the US House, said: “Justice should be blind, but Biden has weaponized government against his leading political opponent to interfere in the 2024 election.” Trump faces 91 criminal charges in all, also regarding hush-money payments to an adult film star, retention of classified information and federal election subversion.
  • Axios: “Another disastrous Trump indictment”: GOP candidates react to Georgia charges: Some of former President Trump’s Republican rivals in the 2024 presidential primaries offered mixed reactions to his fourth indictment, with a handful criticizing the GOP frontrunner.

In The States

Alabama: Alabama Republicans defend in federal court ignoring U.S. Supreme Court ruling to create a second majority Black district

  • New York Times: Why Alabama’s Congressional Maps May Need to Be Redrawn, Again: Alabama’s congressional map has been in limbo since June, when the Supreme Court ruled that the State Legislature had drawn it in a way that violated a landmark civil rights law and undercut the power of Black voters. Now, a panel of three federal judges will decide whether the state’s Republican supermajority, which hastily drew a new map last month, fulfilled the justices’ order to create a second majority-Black district or something “close to it.” In the new map, Republicans chose to increase the percentage of Black voters in one of the state’s six majority-white congressional districts to about 40 percent from about 30 percent, ignoring an outcry from Democrats and Black residents. 
  • AP News: Federal judges question Alabama’s new congressional map, lack of 2nd majority-Black district: Federal judges reviewing Alabama’s new congressional map on Monday sharply questioned if state lawmakers ignored the court’s directive to create a second-majority Black district, so minority voters have a fair opportunity to influence elections.The three-judge panel held a hearing as they weigh whether to let the map stand or to step in and draw new congressional districts for the state. The panel heard arguments Monday but did not indicate when it would rule. Alabama was forced to draw new district lines after the U.S. Supreme Court, in a surprise June decision, upheld the panel’s earlier finding that the state’s then-map — which had just one Black-majority district out of seven in a state where more than one in four residents is Black — likely violated the federal Voting Rights Act.
  • NPR: Alabama lost a voting rights case at the Supreme Court. It’s still trying to win: The state of Alabama is taking an unusual legal position as it heads into a closely watched court hearing this week about its congressional voting districts. In June, Alabama lost at the U.S. Supreme Court. A majority of justices upheld a lower court’s ruling that found the congressional map the state used in last year’s midterm elections likely violated the landmark Voting Rights Act by diluting the power of Black voters. The remedy the three-judge panel ordered was a new map with two districts where Black voters have a realistic opportunity of electing their preferred candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. Because of how racially polarized voting is in Alabama, the panel said in each of those two districts, Black Alabamians will need to make up the majority of the voting-age population or “something quite close to it.”

Florida: Agreement in redistricting lawsuit could reverse Gov. DeSantis Congressional map 

  • WFLA: Redistricting lawsuit could change the makeup of Florida Legislature: As the fight to control Congress in 2024 begins, a legal fight in Florida could play a role in the outcome. That’s as the courts narrow the case against the state’s new congressional districts, potentially opening up a pathway for a Democrat to return to Florida’s northern district. Late Friday, the battle over the state’s congressional districts was minimized. The lawsuit now focuses on one district rather than the entire state. The plaintiffs agreed to narrow the scope of their suit to just Al Lawson’s former district that got chopped up in Northern Florida.
  • Tampa Bay Times: Surprise agreement could reverse part of DeSantis’ redistricting map: Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to dismantle a North Florida congressional district formerly held by a Black Democrat could be reversed, according to a surprise agreement reached late Friday by lawyers for the state and civil rights groups challenging Florida’s map. Under the agreement, the plaintiffs will drop their legal challenges to congressional districts in Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, and focus arguments on the North Florida district they say violates state and federal voting rights protections for Black voters.

What Experts Are Saying

UPDATED: States United Democracy Center: “Former President Donald Trump has been charged in four criminal investigations, two of which are directly related to attempts to overturn the will of the people in elections. Each investigation is overseen by a prosecutor, whose job is to follow the law and to follow the facts wherever they lead. Of the four criminal investigations underway as of August 2023, two are overseen by federal prosecutors and two are overseen by county prosecutors in two states. Each investigation has also been considered by a grand jury made up of everyday Americans. Their job is to examine the facts and determine whether criminal charges are warranted.  Citizens have the power to hold our elected leaders accountable under the law. That’s a sign of a healthy democracy. Here are the basics of each case.” Resource: Understanding the Trump Criminal Cases 

Norman Eisen, Brookings Institute senior fellow, and Amy Lee Copeland, criminal defense and appellate attorney in Savannah, GA: “[T]he [Fulton County] indictment stands out, above all, because Georgia offers uniquely compelling evidence of election interference — and a set of state criminal statutes tailor-made for the sprawling, loosely organized wrongdoing that Mr. Trump and his co-conspirators are accused of engaging in. It is a reminder of the genius of American federalism: When our democracy is threatened, states have an indispensable part to play in protecting it.” New York Times Op-Ed: This Indictment of Trump Does Something Ingenious 

Wendy Weiser, vice president for Democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law: “Monday’s indictment once again spotlights the unprecedented and far-reaching conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election and disenfranchise millions of voters. The crimes alleged by the District Attorney focus on Georgia and also illustrate the broader plot to spread the Big Lie of widespread voter fraud and undermine American democracy. Election denial continues to undermine our democracy in Georgia and across the country. The campaign to overturn the 2020 election spawned an election denier movement that continues to destabilize our election system and increase its vulnerability to sabotage. The same conspiracy theories that drove the plot to overturn the 2020 election are being used to justify new laws restricting access to voting and facilitating partisan interference in election administration. Election officials in Georgia and across the country are still being targeted for harassment and intimidation. And election deniers continue to threaten the security of voting equipment and data. In addition to holding wrongdoers accountable, we need to address these ongoing threats.” Brennan Center for Justice Press Release 

Erica J. Hashimoto, a professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center where she serves as a director of the Appellate Litigation Program: “The indictment of former President Donald Trump in Georgia is unique among the pending criminal cases Trump faces in many ways, but one significant difference is that it involves nineteen defendants…The Georgia indictment, by contrast, charges nineteen defendants, and each defendant faces a racketeering charge under Georgia’s RICO statute. Cases involving that many defendants can be legally and logistically complicated to schedule and bring to trial. As discussed below, some of the defendants—particularly those whose alleged role in the conspiracy was more limited—may have strong reasons to seek separate trials. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has made clear that she intends to “try the 19 defendants in this indictment together.” But if any defendant succeeds in being tried separately, the stakes for DA Willis and the State would be very high in that first trial.” Just Security: The Fulton County DA’s Options: Multi-Defendant Trial(s) and the Paths Ahead

Dennis Aftergut, a former federal prosecutor and counsel to Lawyers Defending American Democracy: “Trump and all 18 others stand charged with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act. It provides a framework for prosecutors to tell jurors an integrated story of a defendant’s crime operation. The statute, which was passed in the 1980s to fight organized crime, ironically enough, packs a punch. Five years in prison is the mandatory minimum sentence for anyone convicted under it; 20 years is the maximum.” Boston Globe Op-Ed: The Georgia indictment against Trump: Five reasons why it matters

Neal Katyal, former United States acting solicitor general: “For my paid subscribers, I’ve put together this explainer of the Georgia indictment. The indictment is as serious as it gets. Both in the gravity of the charges (and accompanying detail) and the tantalizing prospect that the prosecutors have already managed to flip key witnesses (including the possibility they flipped someone in the December 18, 2020 Oval Office meeting with Trump). Learn all about it here!” Courtside: Emergency episode on the Trump Indictment in Georgia

Headlines

The MAGA Movement And The Ongoing Threat To Elections

Independent: MAGA conspiracy theorist Kari Lake rails against Trump indictment – with conspiracy about Epstein’s death

Trump Investigations 

CNN: Trump property manager pleads not guilty

Hill: Trump asks for hold on Jan. 6 lawsuit due to federal charges

New York Times: Trump Could Face an Extraordinary Trial Schedule Next Year

January 6 And The 2020 Election

MLive: Michigan man who stolen baton, attacked officers pleads guilty in Jan. 6 assault

Fall River Herald News: A grand jury indicts Swansea man on more charges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riots

Opinion

Washington Post: Is Georgia’s case against Trump one case too many?

New York Times: This Indictment of Trump Does Something Ingenious

Hill: Trump says he has blanket immunity. Not so fast

In the States

New York Times: Arkansas Warns School Districts Not to Offer A.P. African American Studies

WOUB: The Ohio Supreme Court rejects a lawsuit to keep the abortion rights amendment off November’s ballot