Former President Donald Trump and a slew of alleged co-conspirators were indicted late Monday night on racketeering charges, marking a new chapter in Fulton Country District Attorney Fani Willis' election conspiracy investigation.
Trump, who is facing potential legal repercussions for firing off at a number of perceived political adversaries on his social media platform, took to Truth Social on Monday night and early Tuesday morning to bemoan his latest felony charges.
The ex-president's campaign first released a lengthy statement condemning Willis by likening her to three other key legal figures who have pursued indictments against him, probes which Trump referred to as "corrupt Democrat attempts" that will "fail": Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, special counsel Jack Smith, and New York Attorney General Letitia James. The statement also accused Willis of intentionally delaying her investigation in order to "maximally interfere" with Trump's 2024 campaign efforts.
"Like Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, Deranged Jack Smith, and New York AG Letitia James, Fulton County GA's radical democrat District Attorney Fani Willis is a rabid partisan who is campaigning and fundraising on a platform of prosecuting President Trump through these bogus indictments. Ripping a page from Crooked Joe's playbook, Willis has strategically stalled her investigation to try and maximally interfere with the 2024 presidential race and damage the dominant Trump campaign. All of these corrupt Democrat attempts will fail," the statement said.
"These activities by Democrat leaders constitute a great threat to American democracy and are direct attempts to deprive the American people of their rightful choice to cast their vote for president," the statement continued. "They are taking away President Trump's First Amendment right to free speech, and the right to challenge a rigged and stolen election that the Democrats do all the time. The ones who should be prosecuted are the ones who created the corruption."
Statement from the Trump campaign earlier tonight: “The legal double-standard set against President Trump must end” pic.twitter.com/KtvltUsF3f
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) August 15, 2023
Several hours later, after repeatedly doubling down on election falsehoods, Trump responded to the news of his latest indictment, calling it evidence of an ongoing "Witch Hunt."
"So, the Witch Hunt continues!," Trump wrote. "19 people Indicated [sic] tonight, including the former President of the United States, me, by an out of control and very corrupt District Attorney who campaigned and raised money on, 'I will get Trump.' And what about those Indictment Documents put out today, long before the Grand Jury even voted, and then quickly withdrawn? Sounds Rigged to me! Why didn't they Indict 2.5 years ago? Because they wanted to do it right in the middle of my political campaign. Witch Hunt!"
A seething Trump, scared and angry because co-conspirators turned on him, rage tweeted overnight, misspelling indicted as "Indicated." pic.twitter.com/ouL76nqYgb
— Jonathan Sher (@SherOnHealth) August 15, 2023
Included in the 161 violations of Georgia's RICO Act — legislation used to target gangs, mafia, and organized groups more broadly — by Trump and his associates were 12 tweets from the former president's personal Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump. Though Trump may have not composed each post himself, Willis's indictment observes that all of the 12 tweets were "caused to be tweeted" by Trump, as Insider notes.
Each tweet is from December 2020 or early January 2021, in the days leading up to and on the day of the deadly attacks on the Capitol. In the posts, Trump pitched baseless claims of "ballot stuffing by Dems," "corrupt" voting processes, and alleged that "People in Georgia got caught cold bringing in massive numbers of ballots and putting them in 'voting' machines."
The 14 times tweets come up in The State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump https://t.co/nCEVxabfKL pic.twitter.com/25MvJzYfFb
— Matt Laslo (@MattLaslo) August 15, 2023
Following the release of the Georgia indictment, some right-wingers falsely claimed that Trump was being charged for tweeting. Conservative host Charlie Kirk shared a section of the indictment citing a Trump tweet promoting a hearing discussing his baseless election fraud claims on the right-wing network OAN.
"This is not a criminal case," Kirk tweeted on Monday night. "It is a bid to nullify the United States Constitution."
This is an actual line from the Georgia indictment.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 15, 2023
This is not a criminal case. It is a bid to nullify the United States Constitution. pic.twitter.com/D7ZGSC4KMH
On Tuesday morning, Politico legal affairs reporter Kyle Cheney clarified potential confusion about what Trump is actually being charged for, addressing false allegations made by "Folks pretending 'overt acts' like tweets are standalone allegations of crime."
"Overt acts are not standalone allegations of crime and are often perfectly legal activities but can be part of an illegal conspiracy when combined with other evidence," Cheney wrote.
Folks pretending “overt acts” like tweets are standalone allegations of crime:
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 15, 2023
Overt acts are not standalone allegations of crime and are often perfectly legal activities but can be part of an illegal conspiracy when combined with other evidence.
Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance echoed Cheney's explanation.
"RICO predicate acts are crimes off of a list specified by statute," Vance wrote. "Overt acts to further the goals of the conspiracy can be acts that would be perfectly legal-making a phone call-if they weren't in service of a criminal purpose."
This is an important point Willis made last night. RICO predicate acts are crimes off of a list specified by statute. Overt acts to further the goals of the conspiracy can be acts that would be perfectly legal-making a phone call-if they weren't in service of a criminal purpose. https://t.co/QihJObd4oI
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) August 15, 2023
