Topline
Former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants were indicted late Monday in Georgia for their efforts to overturn the 2020 election, with Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis bringing racketeering charges against the defendants—known as RICO charges—that allege their post-election efforts were part of an criminal enterprise.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks during a news conference at the Fulton County ... [+]
Key Facts
Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law, modeled after a federal RICO law passed in 1970, makes it a crime for people to participate in a criminal enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity, or conspire to do so.
A pattern of racketeering activity is defined as committing at least two underlying crimes defined in the law—in Trump’s case, the indictment lists false statements, impersonating a public officer, forgery, filing false documents, influencing witnesses, solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, election interference, computer trespass, conspiracy to defraud the state and perjury.
RICO laws were initially established to prosecute organized crime—though they’re not limited to being used for that—allowing prosecutors to charge a group of people all working to commit illegal acts even if not all of them directly committed every crime alleged.
Georgia’s RICO law goes beyond the federal law, with more statutes counting as underlying crimes that can show a pattern of racketeering, including just conspiracy or solicitation to commit those crimes.
In the case of this indictment, Willis’ office alleges Trump and his allies “knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump,” constituting a criminal organization that “functioned as a continuing unit for common purpose of achieving the objectives of the enterprise” and committed allegedly illegal acts in their attempts to overthrow the election.
If convicted, RICO violations in Georgia are punishable by between five to 20 years in prison, and/or a fine of up to $25,000 or three times the amount gained through the racketeering, on top of any penalties for the actual underlying crimes themselves.
Chief Critic
Trump has broadly denied the charges against him in Georgia, calling it a “witch hunt … by an out of control and very corrupt District Attorney” and alleging charges were brought now to damage him in the 2024 race. Attorney Rudy Giuliani, who was also charged Monday and frequently used the federal RICO statute when he was the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan decades ago, called the indictment “an affront to American democracy” that “does permanent, irrevocable harm to our justice system.”
Big Number
161. That’s the number of acts the indictment lays out that were allegedly done as part of the alleged RICO conspiracy, though not all 161 are themselves crimes—and some of them take place outside Georgia. The indictment alleges Trump and his co-defendants broadly carried out the conspiracy by making false statements to pressure state legislators and officials into tossing out Trump's loss in Georgia, sending Congress a fake slate of electors claiming Trump won the state and soliciting Justice Department officials to make false statements about the results. It also says the co-conspirators harassed election worker Ruby Freeman, unlawfully breached election equipment and made false statements to cover up and further the conspiracy.
Surprising Fact
The RICO charges are part of 41 total charges brought against the defendants, including 13 against Trump specifically. In addition to Giuliani, Trump’s co-defendants include former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and attorneys Sidney Powell and John Eastman.
Tangent
In addition to the Trump indictment, Willis has also brought several other high-profile RICO cases that include a broad number of defendants, including against Atlanta public school teachers involved in a wide-ranging cheating scheme. Her office is currently using RICO to prosecute rapper Young Thug and members of his Young Stoner Life collective, whom Willis accuses of participating in gang activity. Last year, Willis told reporters she’s a “fan of RICO” because it allows her to tell jurors the “whole story” of an alleged criminal enterprise.
Key Background
Trump and his co-defendants were indicted late Monday, marking the former president’s fourth indictment and the culmination of Willis’ years-long investigation into the aftermath of the 2020 election that began in February 2021. Prosecutors interviewed 75 witnesses as part of the probe. The effort to overturn Georgia’s results was part of a broader scheme by Trump and his allies to flip the election results in battleground states, which involved numerous unsuccessful lawsuits, the fake elector scheme and attempts to pressure state legislators and officials. Trump’s efforts to overturn Georgia’s election gained widespread attention due to his phone call with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which he urged him to “find” enough votes to overturn President Joe Biden’s win. Willis’ office charged Trump with making false statements and soliciting Raffensperger to violate his oath during that call. Trump has continued to defend his phone call with Raffensperger and efforts to contest the election results, and his attorney John Lauro has defended Trump’s phone call request as an “aspirational ask.”
Further Reading
Trump Indicted By Fulton County Grand Jury In Georgia Election Interference Case (Forbes)
Trump And Giuliani Blast Election Meddling Charges (Forbes)
Meet Trump’s 18 Co-Defendants Charged In The Georgia Election Interference Case (Forbes)
