While grand juries meeting in New York have drawn most of the attention of the national media, a move on the horizon in the state of Georgia could wind up presenting the greatest legal threat to failed, one-term former President Donald Trump, according to the New York Times.
The Times reports that Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis is on the verge of impaneling a special grand jury to investigate Trump on charges of racketeering for his attempts to have the results of the 2020 election in the Peach State overturned:
A special grand jury, which by Georgia statute would include 16 to 23 members, could focus solely on the potential case against Mr. Trump and his allies. Ms. Willis is likely to soon take the step, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deliberations, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the decision is not final. Though such a jury could issue subpoenas, Ms. Willis would need to return to a regular grand jury to seek criminal indictments.
A recording of Trump’s phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (in which Trump asked Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes”) is one of the most compelling pieces of evidence against the former president and proves that Trump’s intent was to ignore the will of Georgia voters so that he could be declared the victor, setting up a pattern that could then be repeated in other states such as Arizona and Pennsylvania, which also went for President Joe Biden.
Willis has already said that she may well prosecute Trump for racketeering:
Ms. Willis has said a racketeering charge is on the table. Such cases are often associated with prosecutions of mob bosses, using the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, and Georgia has its own state version of the law.
“I always tell people when they hear the word racketeering, they think of ‘The Godfather,’” Ms. Willis said earlier this year, explaining that the concept could also extend to otherwise lawful organizations that are used to break the law. “If you have various overt acts for an illegal purpose, I think you can — you may — get there.”
One of her best-known prosecutions came in 2014 when, as an assistant district attorney, she helped lead a racketeering case against a group of educators involved in a cheating scandal in the Atlanta public schools.
Since there is physical evidence in the form of tapes and recordings of Trump and others inside the administration and his inner circle, Willis would appear to have a slam-dunk case against the former president, who has already admitted his voice is indeed on the recording with Georgia’s secretary of state. Other efforts made by the ex-president’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, also point to a larger conspiracy which strengthens Willis’ hand if she goes after Trump on racketeering charges. Such charges also carry enhanced sentences for those convicted under the statute.
For now, Manhattan will continue to explore Trump’s business and finances, but in the end it may well be a black woman in Atlanta who winds up bringing down the nefarious Mr. Trump. How’s that for irony?