Monday, August 14, 2023

It's the RICO

Prosecutors brought 11 counts against Trump and his associates, including forgery and racketeering, which is used to target members of organized crime groups.

[...]

Trump and eighteen others have been indicted on charges of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (Rico) Act.

[...]

Prosecutors have long used the federal Rico act to go after the mafia. But Georgia’s version is even more expansive than the federal statute. It allows prosecutors in the state to bring racketeering charges if a defendant attempts or solicits a crime, even if they don’t bring charges for those crimes itself.

[...]

“The indictment includes 41 felony counts and is 97 pages long. Please remember that everyone charged … is presumed innocent,” [Fani Willis says in a press conference].

She then lists the names of those charged:

Donald Trump,
Rudolph Giuliani,
John Eastman,
Mark Meadows,
Kenneth Chesebro,
Jeffrey Clark,
Jenna Ellis,
Ray Stallings Smith III,
Robert Cheeley,
Michael a. Roman,
David Shafer,
Shawn Still,
Stephen Lee,
Harrison Floyd,
Trevian c. Kutti,
Sidney Powell,
Cathleen Latham,
Scott Hall,
Misty Hampton

[...]

The indictment includes 41 felony counts.

[...]

The Fulton county DA’s office will be proposing a trial date within the next six months.

[...]

Willis said she was, “giving the defendants the opportunity to voluntarily surrender no later than Friday the 25th day of August at noon.” This is the normal procedure.

  Guardian
In my earlier post, I reported that there were 10 indictments. It appears other indictments were handed up at the same time as the RICO charge.  The charges in the RICO indictment are somewhat different, however:


The indictment notes 30 unindicted co-conspirators in
a criminal organization whose members and associates engaged in various related criminal activities including, but not limited to, false statements and writings, impersonating public officer, forgery, filing false documents, influencing witnesses, computer theft, computer trespass, computer invasion of privacy, conspiracy to defraud the state, acts involving theft, and perjury.  [p.15]
Willis will be trying all 19 defendants together.  Together with all the defendants and their attorneys, they're going to need a huge courtroom.




You can read the full indictment here.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.




And I really wanted Lindsey Graham charged in Georgia.

UPDATE 08/15/2023:





To be continued...

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