GA - Former President Donald Trump indicted, 10 counts in 2020 election interference, violation of RICO Act, 14 Aug 2023

[BritsKate]

I don't believe anyone will take a plea on this one because it is so obviously politically motivated it truly disgusts me. I'm an Independent voter.

If anything, it is going to help Trump raise money and it won't surprise me if he is the Republican nominee. smh.

At their peril, I guess. This is a strong case and all the odds are very much in the State's favor on this one. Jurors will eventually only have to agree on 2 charges in furtherance of a conspiracy and they'll be given well over 100 to choose from.

I sure wouldn't be willing to risk my liberty for 5 years given those odds. I also disagree it's politically motivated though too. It sure appears as though Trump et al absolutely broke the law and left quite the trail of breadcrumbs. Not attempting to hold them accountable for doing so is unconscionable to me. That would be nothing less than a dereliction of duty. JMO

 

[PommyMommy]

AUG 14, 2023

Georgia charges Trump, former advisers in 2020 election case

Former U.S. President Donald Trump was hit with a sweeping fourth set of criminal charges on Monday when a Georgia grand jury issued an indictment accusing him of efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

www.reuters.com

[...]

"Trump and the other defendants charged in this indictment refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump," the indictment said.

Lawyers for those named either declined to comment or did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[...]

The indictment cites a number of crimes that Trump or his associates allegedly committed, including falsely testifying to lawmakers that election fraud had occurred and urging state officials to violate their oaths of office by altering the election results.

Prosecutors also cited the breach of a voting system in a rural Georgia county and the harassment of an election worker who became the focus of conspiracy theories.

It also mentions an alleged scheme to subvert the U.S. electoral process by submitting false slates of electors, people who make up the Electoral College that elects the president and vice president.

The indictment reaches across state lines, saying that Trump advisers, including Giuliani and Meadows, advanced the conspiracy by calling officials in Arizona, Pennsylvania and elsewhere seeking to change the outcome in those states.

[...]

 

[MyBelle]

BBM for focus.

That isn't obvious to me. No snark intended, I am really interested in why you think so.

Because Willis announced she was launching an investigation nearly the moment she took office 2.5 years ago. She had a special grand jury for more than a year, but it couldn't indict. They wanted to, according to the very verbose jury foreperson. At the time, legal analysts were very critical of her. Link below.

Instead of Willis filing charges herself, she impaneled a second grand jury that could indict. Trump is her ham sandwich right before SHE runs for re-election. She has also totally ignored all of the cyber-security experts and the Department of Homeland Security who have raised red flags about the Dominion voting machines in Georgia.

JMO

By speaking out, could foreperson in Georgia Trump probe undermine a future case?

The foreperson of the Georgia grand jury probing election interference by former President Trump has publicly telegraphed some of her panel's closely held findings.

abcnews.go.com

Legal experts tell ABC News that Kohrs' remarks, which quickly ricocheted across cable news and the internet, could complicate any future cases and, more broadly, undermine the public's confidence in the criminal justice process...

...But experts agreed that her public remarks could be cited in future litigation, possibly as evidence of bias in a motion to dismiss a case, or in a motion to change venues.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

Because Willis announced she was launching an investigation nearly the moment she took office 2.5 years ago. She had a special grand jury for more than a year, but it couldn't indict. They wanted to, according to the very verbose jury foreperson. At the time, legal analysts were very critical of her. Link below.

Instead of Willis filing charges herself, she impaneled a second grand jury that could indict. Trump is her ham sandwich right before SHE runs for re-election. She has also totally ignored all of the cyber-security experts and the Department of Homeland Security who have raised red flags about the Dominion voting machines in Georgia.

JMO

By speaking out, could foreperson in Georgia Trump probe undermine a future case?

The foreperson of the Georgia grand jury probing election interference by former President Trump has publicly telegraphed some of her panel's closely held findings.

abcnews.go.com

Legal experts tell ABC News that Kohrs' remarks, which quickly ricocheted across cable news and the internet, could complicate any future cases and, more broadly, undermine the public's confidence in the criminal justice process...

...But experts agreed that her public remarks could be cited in future litigation, possibly as evidence of bias in a motion to dismiss a case, or in a motion to change venues.

Thank you very much for responding. I will read those articles as I am not familiar with that information.

Are you of the opinion that the true Georgia election results were reversed by faulty Dominion voting machines?

I ask because you have linked several articles that to my mind suggest that.

I think you and I disagree on a lot of things, and I appreciate your willingness to engage in respectful dialogue.

Also I try to always keep an open mind.

Not to humble brag LOL

 

[MyBelle]

Thank you very much for responding. I will read those articles as I am not familiar with that information.

Are you of the opinion that the true Georgia election results were reversed by faulty Dominion voting machines?

I ask because you have linked several articles that to my mind suggest that.

I think you and I disagree on a lot of things, and I appreciate your willingness to engage in respectful dialogue.

Also I try to always keep an open mind.

Not to humble brag LOL

LOL. I don't believe the results were reversed. I think the election workers in Coffee County questioned the RELIABILITY of the Dominion voting machines. To me, they genuinely feared the machines may have been hacked or manipulated in some way. Cathy Latham, a retired school teacher, and member of the Republican Party, truly believed something was amiss with the machines. Now, she's been indicted.

Something is seriously wrong when a Prosecutor in another county decides to go after retirees for no other reason than their political party affiliation and their concerns about election integrity.

JMO

 

[Maat99]

Because Willis announced she was launching an investigation nearly the moment she took office 2.5 years ago. She had a special grand jury for more than a year, but it couldn't indict. They wanted to, according to the very verbose jury foreperson. At the time, legal analysts were very critical of her. Link below.

Just a friendly heads up - I think you accidentally posted the wrong link. I read the article you linked and this is an inaccurate summary.

Legal analysts quoted in this article were critical of a grand jury member who spoke to the press. There is no criticism of Willis.

No one was critical of Willis’s decision to launch an investigation because it was too soon after she took office or for any other reason.

The article says that the grand jury was convened for 10 months - not more than a year.

The article also says that the grand jury was convened to recommend charges but not issue indictments - so also no criticism that no charges were issued since none were asked for or expected.

Also, there is no quote from or claim that the jury foreperson said they “wanted to” indict.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

LOL. I don't believe the results were reversed. I think the election workers in Coffee County questioned the RELIABILITY of the Dominion voting machines. To me, they genuinely feared the machines may have been hacked or manipulated in some way. Cathy Latham, a retired school teacher, and member of the Republican Party, truly believed something was amiss with the machines. Now, she's been indicted.

Something is seriously wrong when a Prosecutor in another county decides to go after retirees for no other reason than their political party affiliation and their concerns about election integrity.

JMO

This Cathy Latham?

On Jan. 7, 2021, Hampton and another Coffee County elections official, Cathy Latham, allegedly helped Trump’s operatives access voting systems, according to documents, testimony and surveillance video reviewed by CNN. Security footage showed that Latham, who also served as a fake elector, escorted Sullivan Strickler experts into a Georgia elections office hours ahead of the breach. That evidence is part of a civil lawsuit pertaining to election security in Georgia. When giving a deposition in the suit, Latham had claimed she “didn’t go into the office,” but footage shows she spent four hours in the office that day, including going into and out of the area where Sullivan Strickler forensics experts were working, an area that was not covered by surveillance cameras. Latham even posed for a selfie with one of the operatives.

Texts and Emails Link Trump Allies to Georgia Voting Systems Breach: Report

Text messages and emails connect Rudy Giuliani and other Trump allies to a voting systems breach in Coffee County, Georgia.

www.rollingstone.com

I dunno--doesn't really sound like true belief that something was amiss with the voting machines to me.

 

[MyBelle]

This Cathy Latham?

On Jan. 7, 2021, Hampton and another Coffee County elections official, Cathy Latham, allegedly helped Trump’s operatives access voting systems, according to documents, testimony and surveillance video reviewed by CNN. Security footage showed that Latham, who also served as a fake elector, escorted Sullivan Strickler experts into a Georgia elections office hours ahead of the breach. That evidence is part of a civil lawsuit pertaining to election security in Georgia. When giving a deposition in the suit, Latham had claimed she “didn’t go into the office,” but footage shows she spent four hours in the office that day, including going into and out of the area where Sullivan Strickler forensics experts were working, an area that was not covered by surveillance cameras. Latham even posed for a selfie with one of the operatives.

Texts and Emails Link Trump Allies to Georgia Voting Systems Breach: Report

Text messages and emails connect Rudy Giuliani and other Trump allies to a voting systems breach in Coffee County, Georgia.

www.rollingstone.com

I dunno--doesn't really sound like true belief that something was amiss with the voting machines to me.

She wasn't a "fake elector," she was an elector for Donald Trump if he won, which he did not. The Sullivan Strickler experts were trying to determine if there was a breach.

Security experts are now reporting that security breaches are very possible. Are they liars? This article doesn't think so:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/14/politics/dominion-voting-georgia-vulnerabilities-2024/index.html

Georgia voting equipment breach at center of tangled tale

A breach of sensitive voting equipment data from a rural county in Georgia spilled into the public light last month when documents and emails produced in response to subpoenas revealed the involvement of high-profile supporters of former President Donald Trump.

apnews.com

JMO

 

[LaborDayRN]

I just have to say that Fanny Willis is a BOSS! JMO

Re-Watch | Fulton County DA Fani Willis holds press conference after Trump Georgia indictment

She delivered he news conference once the indictments in the Trump grand jury were entered into the Fulton County system.

www.11alive.com

 

[BritsKate]

Because Willis announced she was launching an investigation nearly the moment she took office 2.5 years ago. She had a special grand jury for more than a year, but it couldn't indict. They wanted to, according to the very verbose jury foreperson. At the time, legal analysts were very critical of her. Link below.

Instead of Willis filing charges herself, she impaneled a second grand jury that could indict. Trump is her ham sandwich right before SHE runs for re-election. She has also totally ignored all of the cyber-security experts and the Department of Homeland Security who have raised red flags about the Dominion voting machines in Georgia.

JMO

By speaking out, could foreperson in Georgia Trump probe undermine a future case?

The foreperson of the Georgia grand jury probing election interference by former President Trump has publicly telegraphed some of her panel's closely held findings.

abcnews.go.com

Legal experts tell ABC News that Kohrs' remarks, which quickly ricocheted across cable news and the internet, could complicate any future cases and, more broadly, undermine the public's confidence in the criminal justice process...

...But experts agreed that her public remarks could be cited in future litigation, possibly as evidence of bias in a motion to dismiss a case, or in a motion to change venues.

Respectfully, you seem to presume because a special grand jury was empaneled that couldn't issue an indictment it somehow weakens the case? I think it's probably just the opposite, really.

A grand jury indicts everything from shoplifting to murder, right? In Georgia, a special grand jury can sit longer, focus on primarily one topic, can inspect documents, compel evidence, subpoena witnesses and usually issue a report when done as to recommended action. The DA can request a special grand jury but it's up to a majority of Superior Court judges whether or not it's granted and having one is indeed rare but this is a complex, extremely important case.

So, it's not one grand jury that found substantial evidence of criming but actually two. And I'm not worried about the jury foreperson though I totally get why she freaked so many lawyers out...Georgia has very special rules for their grand juries. There's a lot of transparency and jurors are allowed to speak publicly. That said, I do believe she came very close to going too far in some of her public statements but not so much as to prejudice the case against Trump. It's just too massive evidentiary-wise.

I don't see much evidence to support a claim of political bias unless one assumes a democratically elected democratic prosecutor couldn't ever possibly be impartial to simply uphold her oath. Willis was correct to launch an investigation because there was plenty of prima facie evidence to implicate Trump et al in criminal wrongdoing, including that very public damning phone call.

JMO

 

[BritsKate]

She wasn't a "fake elector," she was an elector for Donald Trump if he won, which he did not. The Sullivan Strickler experts were trying to determine if there was a breach.

Security experts are now reporting that security breaches are very possible. Are they liars? This article doesn't think so:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/14/politics/dominion-voting-georgia-vulnerabilities-2024/index.html

Georgia voting equipment breach at center of tangled tale

A breach of sensitive voting equipment data from a rural county in Georgia spilled into the public light last month when documents and emails produced in response to subpoenas revealed the involvement of high-profile supporters of former President Donald Trump.

apnews.com

JMO

From your link:

Georgia officials have dismissed the potential for these weaknesses to be exploited.

“It’s extremely unlikely that any bad actor would be able to exploit our voting systems in the real world. The system is secure,” Gabriel Sterling, a top election official in the Georgia secretary of state’s office, said in a press release from earlier this month, adding that safeguards are already in place to “mitigate these hypothetical scenarios from happening.”

And:

The report released Wednesday was produced two years ago at the behest of a coalition of election integrity advocates who have been embroiled in a yearslong lawsuit against the Georgia secretary of state’s office over concerns related to its reliance on Dominion electronic voting systems.

It's really an issue of competing expert opinions. Halderman (working for the plaintiffs objecting to using Dominion voting machines) claims there's security risks while Mitre, a national security nonprofit, have argued that the vulnerabilities claimed by Halderman are 'operationally infeasible'.

From the SOS press release:

"The risks outlined in the researcher's report are theoretical and imaginary," said Raffensperger. "Our security measures are real and mitigate all of them."

“It should be obvious that with three months of completely unlimited, completely unrestricted access to any system in a laboratory environment, smart people can create hypothetical situations showing theoretical manipulation of those systems,” said Chief Operating Officer Gabriel Sterling. “The procedural safeguards we have in place mitigate these hypothetical scenarios from happening. It’s extremely unlikely that any bad actor would be able to exploit our voting systems in the real world. The system is secure.”

Raffensperger Update to MITRE Report | Georgia Secretary of State

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger released the following statement after the public release of MITRE’s...

sos.ga.gov

And lastly:

Latham was one of nearly a dozen of Georgia’s “fake electors” who sought to quash a subpoena to appear before the Fulton County special grand jury that is hearing evidence in a criminal probe into possible 2020 election interference by former President Donald Trump and his allies.

Surveillance video shows Georgia 'fake elector' escorting operatives into elections office before alleged data breach

Cathy Latham, then the GOP chairwoman for Coffee County, is seen escorting members of the tech firm SullivanStrickler into an elections office the same day as an alleged breach that is under investigation by state authorities.

www.nbcnews.com

She was the GOP chairwoman for Coffee County. She signed a certificate falsely asserting that Trump won Georgia and, along with 15 others, declared themselves the state's 'duly elected and qualified' electors. She's also the one who provided unauthorized access to her county's election equipment. A key reason RICO was used, I believe, is because this is a multiple county criminal conspiracy. I believe in Georgia real electors are typically chosen at the party's state convention or a state party committee.

JMO

 

[Lilibet]

This Cathy Latham?

On Jan. 7, 2021, Hampton and another Coffee County elections official, Cathy Latham, allegedly helped Trump’s operatives access voting systems, according to documents, testimony and surveillance video reviewed by CNN. Security footage showed that Latham, who also served as a fake elector, escorted Sullivan Strickler experts into a Georgia elections office hours ahead of the breach. That evidence is part of a civil lawsuit pertaining to election security in Georgia. When giving a deposition in the suit, Latham had claimed she “didn’t go into the office,” but footage shows she spent four hours in the office that day, including going into and out of the area where Sullivan Strickler forensics experts were working, an area that was not covered by surveillance cameras. Latham even posed for a selfie with one of the operatives.

Texts and Emails Link Trump Allies to Georgia Voting Systems Breach: Report

Text messages and emails connect Rudy Giuliani and other Trump allies to a voting systems breach in Coffee County, Georgia.

www.rollingstone.com

I dunno--doesn't really sound like true belief that something was amiss with the voting machines to me.

Quoting BritsKate:
She was the GOP chairwoman for Coffee County. She signed a certificate falsely asserting that Trump won Georgia and, along with 15 others, declared themselves the state's 'duly elected and qualified' electors. She's also the one who provided unauthorized access to her county's election equipment. A key reason RICO was used, I believe, is because this is a multiple county criminal conspiracy. I believe in Georgia real electors are typically chosen at the party's state convention or a state party committee.
———————

Cathy Latham is up to her eyeballs in this case, especially as a fake elector. Counts 32-37 and five others. She is closely linked with Sydney Powell, Guiliani’s sidekick in giving access to the voting machines to Sullivan-Strickler. This was a HUGE security breach. And she perjured herself in testimony. I don’t know what possesses these ordinary people to risk their reputations and freedom for Donald John Trump.
JMO

https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/1ccdf52e-1ba2-434c-93f8-2a7020293967.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_5

 

[Lilibet]

John Dean should know!

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2023/08/15/john-dean-trump-indictment-georgia-nixon-vpx.cnn

'Much bigger than Watergate': John Dean weighs in on Georgia indictment

Former Nixon White House counsel John Dean speaks with CNN's Kaitlan Collins about the 41-count indictment charging former President Donald Trump and more than a dozen others for their roles in allegedly interfering with the 2020 election in Georgia.

 

[musicaljoke]

All levity aside, I just feel really sad that

1) A former president has now been indicted in FOUR criminal cases, two of which involve attempts to overturn the results of a free and fair election;

and

2) He's still the frontrunner by far for his party in the next presidential election.

I hope that changes. I am seeing rumblings reported from those within the party that it is time to close the books on DT and seriously consider another candidate. Even Fox news has headlines of that nature this morning. Just reading such articles feels so freeing.

This morning, for the first time in several years, I sense that the US may be able to protect its democracy. I feel hopeful, when yesterday I believed that the US democracy was coming to an end.

 

[musicaljoke]

Mandatory minimum for RICO is not probated. Serve it all. --Fani Willis

Can the accused plea deal out of this charge? If they plead guilty, they face a mandatory prison sentence. So it seems to me that a plea deal would be an agreement to plead guilty to the other charges providing this charge was lifted. Do we have a lawyer onboard who can comment?

 

[Inthedetails]

According to the indictment, Rowan instructed an individual associated with the Trump campaign to "distribute information related to the December 14, 2020 meetings of Trump presidential elector nominees in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to other individuals associated with the campaign and co-conspirator 4."

Snipped

So, the conspiracy targeted specific states to gather fake electoral votes... and that's nothing but political.

When they say this is all political, it's the CRIME that was political, not the investigation and prosecution.

jmo

 

[JennieM]

Trump court appearance could be televised​

In his three previous indictments, television cameras were banned due to rules in federal courts, though photojournalists were briefly allowed in the Manhattan court.

This one, however, could potentially be broadcast on television due to local court rules.

The presiding judge has the final say, but the request is often granted, NBC News reports.

Additionally, some legal watchers suspect Trump may have a mugshot taken here, unlike in his other arraignments.
The Fulton County sheriff has pledged the court would "follow our normal practices" if he is indicted.

We don't yet know exactly when Trump will make his appearance, but the head prosecutor said he had until 25 August - next Friday - to surrender.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-66364230

 

[Inthedetails]

"Around midnight, the former president was already sending fundraising appeals, asking supporters to give him $24."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/14/trump-georgia-election-investigation/

Hard-working Americans paying legal bills of a so-called billionaire.

jmo

 

[BritsKate]

"Around midnight, the former president was already sending fundraising appeals, asking supporters to give him $24."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/14/trump-georgia-election-investigation/

Hard-working Americans paying legal bills of a so-called billionaire.

jmo

I think he's burning through cash at a pretty quick rate though.

All told, Trump raised nearly $4 million via WinRed from nearly 80,000 distinct donors April 4, the day he pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan court on charges of falsification of business records related to payouts to *advertiser censored* star Stormy Daniels. It was his best online fundraising day of the year.

By contrast, when Trump appeared in Miami court June 13 to plead not guilty to his second indictment on charges related to classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago, he raised only $1.3 million from just over 35,0000 donors, according to WinRed data.

Trump’s joint fundraising committee is outperforming his rivals among small-dollar donors. But the new data is a warning sign that further legal jeopardy for Trump may not be the fundraising savior it once was as his committees burn through cash.

Trump's indictments are having diminishing returns for his political fundraising

The second indictment was not as powerful as the first.

www.politico.com

 

[Inthedetails]

I just have to say that Fanny Willis is a BOSS! JMO

Re-Watch | Fulton County DA Fani Willis holds press conference after Trump Georgia indictment

She delivered he news conference once the indictments in the Trump grand jury were entered into the Fulton County system.

www.11alive.com

Yes! I was just saying to my husband that not only is she powerful in this moment, but she's powerful for the nation in that young girls see her. Role models are important.

And let's not forget Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who the former President of the United States repeatedly lied about and didn't care if he destroyed them for his own benefit. They stood up to let us know what was happening. Truth-telling, strong women.

Georgia!

jmo