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Prosecutors in Fulton County, Ga., are apparently prepared to ramp up their case against former President Donald Trump.
According to The Guardian, District Attorney Fani Willis “has weighed several potential statutes under which to charge, including solicitation to commit election fraud and conspiracy to commit election fraud, according to two people briefed on the matter.”
The recent action taken by Willis to compile a list of potential charges represents a significant milestone in the criminal investigation and indicates that prosecutors are moving forward with their plans to seek indictments from a grand jury next month, the outlet continued.
The prosecutors are reportedly examining several state election law charges, including criminal solicitation to commit election fraud and conspiracy to commit election fraud. Additionally, they are investigating charges related to solicitation of a public or political officer to neglect their duties and solicitation to destroy, deface, or remove ballots, according to sources who spoke to The Guardian.
The district attorney is additionally aiming to press charges against certain Trump operatives who were involved in accessing voting machines and copying sensitive election data in Coffee County, Georgia, back in January 2021. These charges are likely to include computer trespass crimes, the sources said.
The outlet added: “The outcome of deliberations, as well as the manner in which the statutes might be enforced, remains unknown. For instance, prosecutors could charge under certain statutes individually, fold them into a wider racketeering case of the kind that the Guardian has previously reported, or do a combination. Prosecutors are expected to bring charges stemming from the Trump investigation at the start of August, a timeline inferred from the district attorney’s instructions to her staff in May to work remotely during that period because of potential security concerns.”
The grand jury responsible for determining whether to issue an indictment against Trump or any other individuals was chosen in mid-July. During the selection process, Willis, along with two prosecutors involved in the Trump case, Deputy District Attorney Will Wooten and Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade, were present.
To establish a criminal solicitation charge, prosecutors would need to demonstrate that Trump repeatedly urged another person to engage in specific illegal actions, which were “likely and imminent” as a result of the solicitation. The fact that the solicited acts were not ultimately executed does not serve as a defense in such cases, The Guardian added.
The statute for soliciting a public officer to fail to perform duties could potentially apply to Trump’s actions when he pressured the Georgia secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to “find 11,780 votes,” as well as his phone calls to chief investigator Frances Watson and the Georgia House speaker, David Ralston.
Prosecutors are also anticipated to file a criminal conspiracy charge, according to the sources. In Georgia, the conspiracy statute is broadly interpreted, and the district attorney’s office would only need to demonstrate that two or more individuals implicitly reached an understanding to advance a criminal act.
Whatever they turn out to be, charges in the case appear to be imminent.
Earlier in the month, Willis “wrote in a letter to the county sheriff that she expects to announce any charging decisions between July 11 and Sept. 1. She advised law enforcement to prepare for heightened security,” noting that the announcement of charges ‘may provoke a significant public reaction,’” Fox 5 Atlanta reported.
“In a separate letter to a county Superior Court judge, she suggested that any indictments would likely come in August. The Democratic district attorney’s investigation began shortly after the release of a recording of a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which the then-president suggested that Raffensperger could ‘find 11,780 votes’ — just enough to overtake Democrat Joe Biden and overturn Trump’s narrow loss in the state,” the local outlet continued.
“But the investigation’s scope broadened considerably after that, and Willis convened a special grand jury to hear testimony from witnesses including high-profile Trump allies, such as attorney Rudy Giuliani and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and high-ranking Georgia officials, such as Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp,” the report said.
