While former U.S. President Donald Trump is in New York court on charges of silenced sexual misconduct, other charges, including “interference in election results” currently under investigation by the Georgia state government, will act as a greater risk to his next presidential election, the Financial Times (FT) reported on the 3rd. (local time) reported.
Currently, among the criminal cases involving former President Trump, the most imminent prosecution process is the charge of trying to interfere with the results of the 2020 presidential election. Former President Trump is suspected of pressuring and conciliating Georgia State Secretary Brad Rappensperger to call Georgia Secretary of State Brad Rappensperger to “get back 11,780 votes in Georgia” after losing in Georgia, where a close race took place in the presidential election at the time. .
Georgia state prosecutors launched an investigation into the case in 2021. Fanny Willis, Attorney General of Fulton County, Atlanta, Georgia, set up a special 26-member grand jury with court approval in May of last year. Unlike ordinary grand juries, special grand juries have the power to question and subpoena witnesses. The grand jury dissolved in January of this year after submitting its report to Judge McBurney in December of last year.
According to a special grand jury report partially released on the 16th of last month, “during the 2020 presidential election, there was no widespread fraud in Georgia that could overturn the election results,” but recommended prosecution for perjury by some witnesses.
In response, former President Trump destroyed the report, saying that the composition of the grand jury in the case was unconstitutional, and demanded that the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office deprive Prosecutor Willis of his investigative authority for responding to media interviews.
Clark Cunningham, professor of law at Georgia State University, predicted that Prosecutor Willis could decide to prosecute before May 1, the deadline for responding to former President Trump’s request (destroying the report and depriving the prosecutor of the right to investigate).
Professor Cunningham analyzed that Prosecutor Willis could apply the RICO Act, which punishes organized crime groups such as the mafia, business-political collusion with conglomerates or corporations, entertainment for public officials, and corruption. The minimum penalty for violating the Ricoh Act is 5 to 20 years in prison.
Unlike federal cases, defendants who have been convicted in state courts, including prison terms, can start jail time even if they are pending appeal. However, some experts are estimating that despite the seriousness of the charges former President Trump receives, it will not lead to an actual prison sentence because of his response strategy and his status as a former president.
In addition, there is also a suspicion that former President Trump instigated the ‘invasion of the US Capitol’ on January 6, 2021 from behind. The U.S. House Congressional Intrusion Investigations Committee recommended the Justice Department to prosecute former President Trump on four charges, including incitement to rebellion and obstruction of the will, and conspiracy to deceive the United States and make a wrong decision.
Not only this. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is under investigation after the discovery of classified documents from the White House at former President Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. According to CNN, on the 16th of last month, at least 24 people, from Mar-a-Lago home employees to key aides, were subpoenaed as witnesses before a federal grand jury.
The grand jury questioning of the leaked confidential documents was conducted by special prosecutor Jack Smith, who is investigating the 1/6 invasion of Congress and the leaked confidential documents of former President Trump.
Special Prosecutor Smith, who was appointed in November last year, has been investigating former President Trump’s charges of leaking classified documents and obstruction of justice (interfering with the government’s efforts to recover documents) for more than a year. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized and searched his home in August last year and recovered more than 100 classified documents.
The FT’s diagnosis is that Trump’s judicial risks, such as the possibility of prosecution by prosecutors in Georgia following New York and the investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, are literally piled up.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.