BREAKING: President Trump indicted in Georgia along with Giuliani, Meadows, Eastman and others

The indictement agaisnt President Donald Trump was read live on television on Monday night after a day that saw grand jury deliberations in Fulton County. The grand jury handed a sealed verdict to the judge, who then signed the verdict and filed it with the clerk.
 

The criminal indictment names Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Mark Meadows, Kenneth Chesebro, Jeff Clark, Jenna Ellis, Ray Smith III, Robert Sheeley, Michael Roman, David Shafer, Shawn Still, Stephen Lee, Harrison Floyd, Trevian Kutti, Sidney Powerll, Cathleen Latham, Scott Hall, and Misty Hampton.

The lengthy charges include violation of the Georgia RICO Act, solicitation of violation of oath by public officer, false statements and writings, impersonating a public officer, conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, forgery in the first degree, conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, conspiracy to commit false statements and writings, criminal attempt to commit filing false documents, conspiracy to commit filing false documents, criminal attempt to commit influencing witnesses, influencing witnesses, conspiracy to commit election fraud, conspiracy to commit computer theft, conspiracy to commit computer trespass, conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy, conspiracy to defraud the state, and perjury.

The indictment reads "At all times relevant to this Count of the Indictment, the Defendants, as well as others not named as defendants, unlawfully conspired and endeavored to conduct and participate in a criminal enterprise in Fulton County, Georgia, and elsewhere."

It was reported by MSNBC that Trump was indicted on 10 counts, though specifics were not yet forthcoming. The outlet showed a photo of the cover page of the indictments. That cover page reads: "I hereby certify that on August 14, 2023, after the indictment(s) has been presented to the Grand Jury and the session had been adkourned for the day, said indictment(s) were returned in open court as required by law."
 

When the verdict was given to Judge Robert McBurney, he joked with those in the court room "is that all you hoped it would be?" 

Earlier on Monday, a document outlining charges against the GOP frontrunner was posted online, reported out by Reuters, then suddenly deleted. The document showed the filing of 13 charges against Trump, despite the grand jury not yet having been presented with evidence or voting on whether or not the former president would be indicted. It was reported that it was fake, but the charges are the same as the original "leak."

That document showed 12 felonies, a total of 13 alleged crimes. Those counts included violation of the Georgia RICO Act, otherwise known as raketeering, a crime usually committed by members of the mafia; solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, conspiracy to commit false statements and writings, conspiracy to commit filing false documents, and filing false documents.

After the 2020 election, the Georgia results were contested by Trump and his campaign. The final reported results showed Biden with 2,473,633 votes to Trump's 2,461,854, or 49.47 percent to 49.24 percent. These were incredibly close results, with a difference of a mere 11,779 votes in a state of nearly 11 million people.

In 2020, there was a great deal of speculation and concern about the validity of the tabulations of the Georgia ballots. Questions about the chain of custody of ballots were prominent, resulting in Georgia Secretary of State making remarks that there was no voter fraud in the state. Trump called Raffensperger to dicuss a recount, noting that he only needed 11,780 votes to be found. This phone call was used against Trump, with many pundits and Democrats claiming that he was instructing Raffensperger to go fabricate those votes in some way.

The Georgia indictment marks the 4th against Trump, and were brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis He has been indicted on 31 counts of felony falsification of business documents stemming from having recorded fees paid to his attorney as legal fees, which Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg claims were actually funds paid to a porn star with whom Trump is alleged to have had a dalliance.

Trump has been indicted also by Biden's DOJ in Florida and DC for additional alleged crimes. In Florida, the DOJ has alleged that Trump obstructed justice by retaining documents after leaving office that are alleged to be classified. In DC, Trump was indicted by the DOJ on conspiracy charges stemming from the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.

The indictments against Trump, a former president and the top GOP contender for the 2024 election, is unprecedented. This has never even remotely happened before. Many legal scholars have remarked that this is a political prosectution as President Joe Biden's Department of Justice has appointed a special counsel with the specific intent to go after Trump.

That special counsel, Jack Smith, is responsible to prosecute both federal cases against Trump. The court dates for these four trials will be sprinkled throughout the election season as Trump continues his run for president. Trump's poll numbers have not waned but have only increased the more he is persecuted by his political opponents.

There have been calls for the DOJ to be defunded under the current circumstances, and for the budget of the special counselor to be cut entirely.

The full indictment can be read here:
 

Fulton County indictment against Trump, others by Libby Emmons on Scribd