Last Monday, former US President Donald Trump and 18 other people were accused of trying to change the results of the 2020 election, for which they have until August 25 to appear in Georgia court, as reported by the district attorney of the district. Fani Willis.

It is the fourth charge against the former president, currently the favorite for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged the 19 defendants under an existing organized gang crime law in Georgia, which is commonly used against gangs, and carries penalties of 5 to 20 years in prison.

Georgia Grand Jury indicts Donald Trump for attempted falsification of 2020 election results

At a press conference in Atlanta, the capital of this southeastern state, the prosecutor announced that she was giving them until August 25 to “surrender voluntarily” to the Georgian justice system.

The prosecutor said she wanted to try all 19 defendants, including former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, in one trial “within six months,” but recalled that it is the judge who sets the date .

“Georgia, like all states, has laws that allow those who believe the results of an election are wrong (…) to challenge those results in our state courts,” the prosecutor said.

“The indictment alleges that instead of adhering to Georgia’s election challenge legal process, the defendants engaged in an organized crime enterprise to overturn the results of Georgia’s presidential election,” it added.

The indictment contains a total of 41 charges, including false statements, usurpation of public office, document forgery and use of false documents, pressure on witnesses, a series of computer crimes or even perjury.

The investigation began as a result of a January 2021 phone call — the recording of which has been made public — in which Trump asked a local official, Brad Raffensperger, to “find” about 12,000 ballots in his name that he needed to elect Georgia’s 16 voters. .

A grand jury meeting in Atlanta approved the indictment after witnesses called by the prosecution testified all day.

Prosecutor Willis was the one who created this panel of authorized citizens to investigate whether there was enough evidence to indict Trump, particularly for election fraud and interference.

This Monday night, Trump attacked the prosecution again in a statement describing her as a “rabid partisan” in the service of Democratic President Joe Biden’s interests.

“Willis has strategically delayed his inquiry to try to interfere as much as possible in the 2024 presidential race and hurt Trump’s dominant campaign” in the polls, the text said, which does not explicitly confirm his accusation.

To avoid any potential pressure or violence, security barriers were erected in front of the downtown Atlanta courthouse where the investigation took place.

Unlike federal trials, the Georgia trials are televised, but the mogul, who owes much of his fame to a reality show, could ask a lawyer to represent him.

Even if he won the 2024 presidential election, if convicted, he would not be able to get a pardon or have the prosecution drop the charges because this is a matter for Georgia’s state courts, over which the federal state has no say.

Trump is indicted on three other counts: for allegedly attempting to alter the outcome of the 2020 election (in a Washington case), for negligence in the management of confidential documents (in a Florida court), and for alleged payments which are hidden from a former porn actress to buy her silence (in a New York court).