What might Trump be charged with in Georgia?
- Published
Watch: Donald Trump tells Raffensperger to "find" more votes
Once again, the US state of Georgia is at the centre of a political firestorm.
Prosecutor Fani Willis will present evidence this week to a grand jury, as part of a years-long investigation into Donald Trump.
In the clearest sign of a looming indictment, she has called witnesses to testify before the panel on Monday and Tuesday, and the grand jury may vote on an indictment this week.
She has focused on his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the state.
Ahead of a possible announcement, officials have already erected barricades outside the Fulton County courthouse in Atlanta.
Mr Trump has denied any wrongdoing, attacking the investigations as politically motivated. He remains the favourite to win the Republican nomination for president in 2024.
Here's a guide to what may happen this week.
What charges could Trump face in Georgia?
Mr Trump may face fraud and conspiracy-related charges, including voter fraud and election fraud, said former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani. And possibly obstruction of justice.
Georgia legal experts also expect Ms Willis to charge the former president with racketeering. The law is famous for its use against organised crime. But Ms Willis has developed a reputation for using it in other sprawling cases.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis
The state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, also known as RICO, allows prosecutors to charge at a variety of crimes that are linked by a common goal or purpose. It also allows them to point a finger at a suspected ringleader.
"Racketeering is defined as committing certain acts that are outlawed either under state law or federal law or both. Doing not just one crime, but a series of connected interrelated activities," said Morgan Cloud, a law professor at Emory University.
In this case, the specific common purpose is to overturn the election results in the state of Georgia, Mr Cloud said.
It would not be the first time Mr Trump is charged over this.
Two weeks ago, the Department of Justice indicted him over election interference at multiple levels and the charging document devoted significant time to his actions in Georgia.
What happens if Mr Trump is indicted?
Should a grand jury vote to indict Mr Trump, he could appear within days at the Fulton County courthouse for his arraignment proceedings.
In some ways, this process has become routine - this would be Mr Trump's fourth criminal indictment in addition to the federal charges over 2020 election interference, a case over alleged fraudulent hush money payments, and hoarding classified government files in Florida.
But an Atlanta indictment could stand out in a few important ways.
In his three previous indictments, television cameras were banned due to rules in federal courts, though photojournalists were briefly allowed in the Manhattan court.
This one, however, could potentially be broadcast on TV due to local court rules. The presiding judge has the final say, but the request is often granted, NBC News reports., external
Additionally, some legal watchers suspect Mr Trump may have a mugshot taken here, unlike in his other arraignments. The Fulton County sheriff has pledged the court would "follow our normal practices" if he is indicted.
Security barriers go up outside courthouse
What did Trump and his allies do in Georgia?
After votes were tallied during the November 2020 presidential election, it was clear Mr Trump had lost the state of Georgia, and therefore the US presidency.
According to federal prosecutors led by special counsel Jack Smith, Mr Trump and his allies launched efforts to undermine the vote in six other battleground states, but Georgia stands out in the indictment.
Mr Trump went all out to reverse the results there, even as state officials, aides, and campaign staff warned that his claims of widespread election fraud had no basis in fact, the court document says.
There are four key incidents that appear in the federal indictment against Mr Trump, and are under investigation by the Atlanta office of Ms Willis, a Democrat.
1) 'Find the votes' phone call
On 2 January 2021, Mr Trump called Georgia's secretary of state, a Republican named Brad Raffensperger, and said he just needed to "find 11,780 votes", the number he would have required to beat Mr Biden.
Amid a national uproar when the audio was published, Mr Trump denied he was pressuring Mr Raffensperger to fraudulently find enough votes for him to win and called it a "perfect phone call".
This call will probably be the "crown jewel" of any forthcoming indictment, said Patrick Cotter, a former federal prosecutor.
News of the conversation prompted Ms Willis to begin her inquiry in February 2021.
The federal indictment says Mr Trump also pressed other top Republican officials in the state, including the attorney general and Governor Brian Kemp, to help him. They refused.
2) A presentation to lawmakers
Mr Trump's associates - most notably, his lawyer Rudy Giuliani - also spread false claims of voter fraud, and other conspiracy theories in Georgia.
Rudy Giuliani was a Trump lawyer
According to the federal indictment, this included a presentation Mr Giuliani gave to Georgia state lawmakers in which he made a number of baseless assertions.
These included claims that thousands of dead people voted in the state; that Georgia poll workers meddled with votes and that lawmakers had the power to decertify the state's legitimate electoral college results. Mr Trump amplified these claims on social media.
Mr Giuliani has also revealed he is a target of the Fulton County investigation.
3) A fake elector scheme
The former president's allies also allegedly co-ordinated a scheme to have fake members of the Electoral College - the system that technically elects a US president - cast their votes for Mr Trump in Georgia, rather than Mr Biden, who won the state and so received its Electoral College votes. This scheme failed.
Both special counsel Jack Smith and Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor, have focused on the fake elector scheme in their investigations.
4) An election data breach
Finally, Trump campaign lawyers reportedly worked with a data firm to copy sensitive data from election systems in Coffee County, Georgia.
The incident was part of a multi-state attempt by Mr Trump's lawyers to access voting equipment, according to a Washington Post investigation. Ms Willis is said to be focusing on this incident.
How might Trump defend himself?
The former president has denied all wrongdoing.
His lawyers will probably argue he never explicitly asked Georgia officials to tamper with the votes.
In April he said the phone call to Mr Raffensperger was "absolutely perfect" and none of his lawyers who were on the call flagged anything inappropriate.
"Nothing was said wrong. In fact, at the end of the call, we agreed to continue our conversation about election fraud, specifically in Georgia."
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