By Steve Wilson, The Center Square
Atlanta – Former President Donald Trump was indicted for the fourth time Monday night, this time on charges related to the 2020 election in Georgia.
A Fulton County grand jury indicted the former president on 13 counts of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, which narrowly went to President Joe Biden.
Eighteen others also were indicted, including Trump’s former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (a former congressman representing Cherokee and surrounding counties), former Trump attorney and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and several former Trump attorneys.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat who pledged after being elected in 2020 that she would investigate election-interference charges in a letter to state officials, started the investigation in February 2021 that resulted in the 10-count indictment.
The campaign of Trump, the frontrunner for the GOP nomination for president in 2024, called the indictment “bogus.”
“Fulton County, GA’s radical Democrat DA Fani Willis is a rabid partisan who is campaigning and fundraising on a platform of prosecuting President Trump through these bogus indictments,” the statement read. “Ripping a page from Crooked Joe Biden’s playbook, Willis has strategically stalled her investigation to try and maximally interfere with the 2024 presidential race and damage the dominant Trump campaign.”
Reuters reported earlier Monday that Fulton County officials posted and later removed information detailing charges in the case, including conspiracy to commit impersonation of a public officer, solicitation of violation of oath by public office and false statements and writings.
Trump’s attorneys blasted the Fulton County district attorney’s office for the reported leak, which occurred before the grand jury proceedings had finished. They maintained the incident suggested the case was mired in constitutional errors.
Trump has also been indicted in New York, Florida and Washington.
The New York case involves allegations Trump paid former porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet ahead of the 2016 presidential election about an alleged affair that Trump denies. The Florida charges stem from his handling and retention of classified documents after his time as president. The Washington indictment is related to his contesting the 2020 election and connection to the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol building.
Meadows and Sidney Powell are the North Carolina ties among the 18 allies of Trump facing indictments in Georgia related to the 2020 election. Meadows led Trump’s staff from March 31, 2020 to Jan. 20, 202, after having been the state’s representative for the 11th Congressional District from 2013-20. Powell is a Durham native, with undergrad and law degrees from UNC Chapel Hill.