Donald Trump Indicted for Attempting to Overturn 2020 Election Results in Georgia

Donald Trump was indicted in a fourth criminal investigation on Monday night, shortly after Georgia prosecutors presented evidence to a grand jury regarding the former president’s efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election results.

Through a majority vote, the 23-member jury revealed that they were ultimately convinced by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ case against Trump and his allies, signing off on her office’s proposed criminal charges after reviewing evidence and hearing testimony. The result was a 41-count, 98-page indictment covering 19 defendants.

Trump faces 13 felony counts: racketeering (violation of the Georgia RICO Act); three counts of solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer; conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer; two counts conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree; two counts of conspiracy to commit false statements and writings; conspiracy to commit filing false documents; filing false documents; and two counts of false statements and writings.

The Fulton County charges bring him to a total of 91 criminal counts he’s been indicted on this year between the four investigations, several of which come with recommended prison time. If convicted of violating the Georgia RICO Act — classified a step above felony, as a “serious felony” — Trump would face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years.

Georgia’s Criminal Case Against Donald Trump Is the ‘Most Compelling’ One Yet, Ethics Lawyer Says

Rudy Giuliani — now indicted by a Georgia grand jury — gives a press briefing on Nov. 19, 2020, regarding the 2020 election results. Co-defendants Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell are pictured on the left behind him.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty

Eighteen allies were also charged, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows; former Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, Bob Cheeley, Ray Smith III and Kenneth Chesebro; former assistant U.S. attorney general Jeffrey Clark; former Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer; and current Georgia state Sen. Shawn Still.

Additional defendants include a GOP strategist, local elections officials, an Atlanta bail bondsman, a publicist, an Illinois pastor and a onetime congressional candidate.

After the indictment was processed on Monday night, Willis said that she would request a trial date within six months with the goal of trying all 19 defendants together.

18 Trump Allies Indicted in Georgia Election Interference Probe, Including Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
David Walter Banks/Getty

The focus of two separate grand juries convened in the case was on whether Trump or his allies engaged in possible crimes related to their efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss in Georgia, a historically red state where he lost the popular vote to Democrat Joe Biden.

In February, the foreperson of the first grand jury — a special grand jury whose goal was to determine if there’s basis to pursue indictments — told CNN it would be a “good assumption” that a subsequent jury panel would lay charges on Trump and about a dozen others in his orbit.

Georgia Grand Juror Says Investigating Trump’s Possible Election Interference Wasn’t ‘Rocket Science’

Almost immediately after losing the state to Biden in 2020, Trump pinned his loss on fraud, all while pressuring officials in the state to “find” votes in his favor.

Much of the scandal regarding his efforts in Georgia hinged on a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call between the former president and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump told the secretary to “find 11,780 votes” for him.

That phone call — which was leaked to The Washington Post and made public soon after — helped spark the various investigations into Trump’s efforts to overturn the election.

Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Calls Trump’s Request to Overturn Election ‘Just Plain Wrong’

Over the course of its investigation, the grand jury issued subpoenas for testimony from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, Giuliani, and other allies of the former president, including members of his legal team, such as attorneys Eastman, Ellis, Chesebro and Cleta Mitchell.

Willis said earlier that the special grand jury had heard from a total of 75 witnesses, CNN reported.

Every Crime Donald Trump Has Been Charged With So Far

The twice-impeached former president’s post-White House life has been mired in intensifying investigations on various fronts.

In April 2023, Trump faced a Manhattan judge and pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts involving alleged hush money payments to two women, believed to be (though not named by prosecutors) adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal.

In June, Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury for his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House. Days later, the former president was arraigned at a courthouse in Miami, where he faced a judge and pleaded not guilty to all charges.

And in August, Trump was indicted on four criminal counts by a federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and other efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Former President Donald Trump appears in a Manhattan court for a historic arraignment on April 4, 2023.
SETH WENIG/POOL/AFP via Getty

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Earlier this year, he was also found liable for sexually abusing and defaming former Elle advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, with a jury ordering that Trump pay Carroll $2 million for sexual abuse and $3 million for defamation. The former president is now suing Carroll for defamation.

Trump, his family and his supporters have repeatedly and insistently denied wrongdoing in the various criminal, congressional and civil inquiries.

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