Trump charged with racketeering in election subversion case

Donald Trump faced a new raft of felony charges Tuesday after a Georgia grand jury used a law developed to take down organised crime gangs to charge the former US president with trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
The charges, brought late on Monday by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, charge Trump, the front-runner in the race for the 2024 Republican nomination and 18 associates for a scheme intended to reverse his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
The sprawling 98-page indictment listed 19 defendants and 41 criminal counts in all. All the defendants were charged with racketeering, which is used to target members of organised crime groups and carries a minimum penalty of 5 years in prison.
Mark Meadows, Trump's former White House chief of staff, and lawyers Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis and John Eastman were among those charged.
"Rather than abide by Georgia's legal process for election challenges, the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia's presidential election result," Willis said at a press conference just before midnight.
Trump and the other defendants have until noon EDT (1600 GMT) on Friday, Aug. 25, to surrender voluntarily, rather than face arrest, Willis said. She said she intends to try all 19 defendants together within six months.
Court records show the case has been assigned to Judge Scott McAfee, a former prosecutor appointed in February by Republican Governor Brian Kemp. He will seek election next year to retain his position.
Unlike the federal courts where Trump is also awaiting trial, Georgia state courts allow television cameras, meaning the public could have the unprecedented spectacle of watching a former president's trial on live TV as his campaign for a return to the White House goes into high gear.
Echoing his criticism of the many other investigations he faces, Trump called the indictment a political "witch hunt" in a social media post and accused Willis, an elected Democrat, of trying to sabotage his presidential comeback bid.
He said he would release a report on Monday on "Presidential Election Fraud" that would exonerate him. "They never went after those that Rigged the Election. They only went after those that fought to find the RIGGERS!" he said.
Since his defeat in 2020, Trump has repeatedly made false claims that the election was marred by widespread fraud. Those claims have been rejected by dozens of courts, state reviews and members of his own administration.
Outside of Georgia, Trump has pleaded not guilty in three other criminal cases. He could spend much of next year in court, even as he campaigns to retake the White House.
He faces a New York state trial in March 2024 involving a hush money payment to an actress, and a federal trial beginning in May in Florida for allegedly mishandling federal classified documents.
A third indictment, in Washington federal court, accuses him of illegally seeking to overturn his 2020 election defeat. US Special Counsel Jack Smith has requested a January trial, but a date has yet to be set.
Willis' proposed timeline would mean Trump would face trial in Georgia by mid-February 2024.
He also faces civil trials in October and January for fraudulent business practices and defamation.