Fani Willis, a Georgia district attorney, opened her investigation into Donald Trump based on the release of a recording of a January 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Trump suggested during the call that Raffensperger, a Republican and the state’s top elections official, could help “find” the votes needed to overturn his narrow loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
#Trumpindictment #Donaldtrumpgeorgiaindictment #Georgiaelections2020 #RICOLaw #FaniWillis #WhatIsRICO #RICOTrumpIndictment
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#Trumpindictment #Donaldtrumpgeorgiaindictment #Georgiaelections2020 #RICOLaw #FaniWillis #WhatIsRICO #RICOTrumpIndictment
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00:00 I am giving the defendants the opportunity to voluntarily surrender no later than noon
00:07 on Friday, the 25th day of August, 2023.
00:12 Fannie Willis, a Georgia district attorney, opened her investigation into Donald Trump
00:17 based on the release of a recording of a January 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia's
00:23 Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger.
00:26 Trump suggested during the call that Raffensperger, a Republican and the state's top elections
00:31 official, could help find the votes needed to overturn his narrow loss to Democrat Joe
00:36 Biden.
00:37 More than two years later, the indictment brought on Monday by a grand jury went far
00:41 beyond that phone call, alleging a web of crimes committed by Trump and others.
00:46 In charging former President Donald Trump and his allies, Willis is relying on a particular
00:51 aspect of Georgia state law, RICO.
00:54 So what is RICO law and how does it apply to Trump?
01:00 The Federal Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act originated in 1970 as a
01:06 tool to fight organized crime.
01:08 The law enabled prosecutors to target people in positions of authority within a criminal
01:12 organization, not just lower-level people doing the dirty work.
01:17 The federal act was established to target organized crime activities like money laundering,
01:21 bribery, drug trafficking, and other serious offenses.
01:25 But its use was never meant to be limited exclusively to organized crime.
01:30 Within a few years of the federal law taking effect, states began passing their own RICO
01:34 laws.
01:35 Generally speaking, RICO laws allow prosecutors to charge multiple people who commit separate
01:40 crimes while working towards a common goal.
01:43 Georgia's version of RICO law says that attempting or soliciting any of the mentioned
01:48 crimes can count as a predicate act.
01:51 Georgia's RICO Act, adopted in 1980, makes it a crime to participate in, acquire, or
01:57 maintain control of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity or to conspire
02:02 to do so.
02:03 An enterprise can be a single person or a group of associated individuals with a common
02:07 goal.
02:08 Racketeering activity means to commit, attempt to commit, or to solicit, coerce, or intimidate
02:14 someone else to commit one of more than three dozen state crimes listed in the law.
02:19 The U.S. Supreme Court has said that federal RICO allegations must show continuity, that
02:24 is to say, a series of related, underlying acts over an extended period, not just a few
02:31 weeks or months.
02:32 But the Georgia Supreme Court has made clear that there is no such requirement in the state
02:37 law.
02:38 The Trump indictment names an additional 18 co-defendants, including Trump's one-time
02:43 lawyer Rudy Giuliani, his former chief of staff Mark Meadows, and lawyer John Eastman.
02:51 Prosecutors will need to prove that Trump and his co-defendants worked together towards
02:55 a common criminal purpose, which is not always as straightforward as proving an underlying
03:01 RICO crime.
03:03 But each additional co-defendant is another that prosecutors could coax into testifying
03:08 against the other.
03:09 Willis was the lead prosecutor in a RICO case against a group of Atlanta public school educators
03:15 in a cheating scandal.
03:16 After a months-long trial, a jury in April 2015 convicted 11 former educators for racketeering
03:22 for their roles in a scheme to inflate students' scores on standardized exams.
03:26 Since becoming district attorney in January 2021, she has brought several RICO indictments
03:31 against alleged gang members, including several high-profile rap artists.
03:37 Attorney John Floyd, a nationally known RICO expert in Atlanta, helped Willis with the
03:41 school cheating case.
03:42 Soon after opening the investigation into potential illegal meddling in the 2020 election
03:47 in Georgia, she engaged him to serve as a special assistant district attorney to help
03:51 with any racketeering cases her office might pursue.
03:54 "I'm not going to let you do this."
03:55 "I'm not going to let you do this."
03:56 "I'm not going to let you do this."
03:56 (upbeat music)
03:59 (whooshing)