Georgia’s Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) presented her case regarding efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state to a grand jury on Monday and it was unsealed late Monday night.
Trump and over a dozen co-conspirators were indicted by the grand jury.
Following along here for updates.
Schumer, Jeffries say indictment shows ‘repeated pattern of criminal activity’
The two top Democrats on Capitol Hill said Monday night’s indictment by a Georgia grand jury “portrays a repeated pattern of criminal activity” by former President Trump.”
“The fourth indictment of Donald Trump, just like the three which came before it, portrays a repeated pattern of criminal activity by the former president,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) wrote in a statement shortly after the indictment was unsealed.
“This latest indictment details how Mr. Trump led a months-long plot pushing the Big Lie to steal an election, undermine our democracy, and overturn the will of the people of Georgia,” they added.
The pair said the actions by the Fulton County district attorney and other prosecutors on the state and federal levels “reaffirms the shared belief that in America no one, not even the president, is above the law.”
“As a nation built on the rule of law, we urge Mr. Trump, his supporters and his critics to allow the legal process to proceed without outside interference,” the lawmakers added.
— Mychael Schnell
Prosecutors charge one defendant with lying to special grand jury
Prosecutors accused one defendant of lying to the special purpose grand jury that previously investigated the case.
The special purpose grand jury had recommended charges for individuals earlier this year, but a separate group of jurors voted Monday to return the indictment.
The charging document accuses attorney Bob Cheeley of perjury during a Sept. 15, 2022, appearance before the earlier grand jury.
Cheeley is alleged to have lied about his involvement in a scheme to send a false slate of pro-Trump electors.
— Zach Schonfeld
McCarthy slams ‘radical’ Georgia DA following Trump indictment
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) slammed “radical” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) in his first comments after a Georgia grand jury indicted former President Trump and several other co-conspirators on charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
“Justice should be blind, but Biden has weaponized government against his leading political opponent to interfere in the 2024 election. Now a radical DA in Georgia is following Biden’s lead by attacking President Trump and using it to fundraise her political career. Americans see through this desperate sham,” McCarthy wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
McCarthy’s initial reaction to the Georgia charges is in line with his comments following the earlier indictments against Trump — the Speaker has remained by the former president’s side throughout his legal troubles this year.
— Mychael Schnell
What is timeline for trial?
Willis said she hopes to begin a trial on these charges within the next sixth months.
Asked whether she plans to try 19 defendants at together, she said, “Yes.”
— Ella Lee
Fani Willis announces indictment
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) announced felony charges against former President Donald Trump late Monday night, urging the public to remember that he and 18 co-defendants are innocent until proven guilty.
“I’m here with the prosecutors and investigators who have worked diligently on the investigation of criminal attempts to interfere in the administration of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election,” Willis said. “Today, based on information developed by that investigation, A Fulton County grand jury returned a true bill of indictment charging 19 individuals with violations of Georgia Law arising from a criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in this state.”
The far-reaching indictment against Trump and 18 allies are a result of Willis’ years-long investigation into Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election results.
The defendants must voluntarily surrender by Aug. 25 at noon, Willis said.
— Ella Lee
Trump fundraises off latest indictment
The Trump campaign quickly blasted out a fundraising email seeking to capitalize on the Georgia indictment.
The email includes allegations of political bias against District Attorney Fani Willis, and it cites comments from a grand jury foreperson who went on a media blitz earlier this year.
“Please make a contribution to show that you will NEVER SURRENDER our country to tyranny as the Deep State thugs try to JAIL me for life – for 1,500% impact,” the email reads.
— Brett Samuels
Giuliani faces 13 charges
Former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani were among the co-defendants charged Monday in the investigation into efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results.
Giuliani faces 13 charges total, including false statements and writing, racketeering, conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree and conspiracy to commit filing false documents, among others.
The indictment cites Giuliani’s efforts to get Georgia state officials to unlawfully appoint presidential electors from the state in violation of the terms of their oath of office.
— Brett Samuels
Who was charged?
Here’s a look at who was charged in Monday’s indictment in Fulton County.
Former President Donald Trump faces 13 charges.
Rudy Giuliani The former Trump lawyer who pushed unproven claims of election fraud and pressured state officials, faces 13 charges.
Mark Meadows Trump’s former White House chief of staff, faces two charges.
John Eastman A lawyer who pushed false claims of election fraud and presented Trump with the idea that the vice president could reject the results faces, nine charges.
Kenneth Chesebro A pro-Trump lawyer who was involved in arranging alternative electors who would back Trump in states he lost, faces seven charges.
Jeffrey Clark A former top Trump administration Justice Department official, faces two charges.
Jenna Ellis A Trump campaign lawyer, faces two charges
Robert Cheeley A Georgia lawyer who pushed claims of fraud in the state, faces 10 charges.
Mike Roman A Trump campaign official, faces seven charges.
David Shafer Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, faces eight charges.
Shawn Still A fake elector, faces seven charges.
Stephen Lee A pastor who is accused of intimidating election workers, faces five charges.
Harrison Floyd Leader of the group Black Voices for Trump, faces three charges.
Trevian Kutti A publicist connected to efforts to intimidate election workers, faces three charges.
Sidney Powell A lawyer who led efforts to push election fraud claims and drew backlash from White House lawyers, faces seven charges.
Cathy Latham A fake GOP elector from Coffee County, Ga., faces 11 charges.
Scott Hall faces six charges
Misty Hampton An elections supervisor in Coffee County, faces six charges.
Ray Smith An attorney
— Brett Samuels
Here are the charges Trump faces
Trump faces 13 counts in the indictment. Here is the full list:
- One count in violation of the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
- Three counts of solicitation of violation of oath by public officer
- One count of conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer
- Two counts of conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree
- Two counts of conspiracy to commit false statements and writings
- One count of conspiracy to commit filing false documents
- One count of filing a false document
- Two counts of false statements and writings
— Zach Schonfeld
Charging documents list 30 unindicted co-conspirators
Beyond the 19 people facing formal criminal charges, the charging documents also list 30 unindicted co-conspirators.
Prosecutors did not name the individuals but claim they aided various members of Trump’s orbit in their efforts to overturn the election results.
— Zach Schonfeld
Mark Meadows, ex-chief of staff, faces 2 charges
Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is charged alongside former President Trump in a sweeping indictment stemming from the Georgia 2020 election probe.
Meadows faces two charges – solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer and racketeering, a charge usually reserved for organized crime. Trump, Meadows and the other 17 indicted individuals face racketeering charges under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
Last year, Meadows was ordered by a judge to speak before the Georgia special grand jury. Ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack, he joked about false claims of voter fraud via votes cast by dead people, according to the Washington Post.
But after Jan. 6, the former chief of staff went largely off the grid, causing some to speculate he has played a role in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s federal investigation into Trump’s actions after losing the 2020 election.
— Ella Lee
Willis expected to speak shortly
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to address the indictment in a press conference from the county courthouse shortly.
The charges are a result of Willis’ yearslong investigation into Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election results.
Breaking news: Read the full Trump indictment from Georgia
Former President Trump faces new charges in his fourth indictment this year, this time in Georgia, where prosecutors say he participated in a plot to overturn the state’s 2020 election results to stay in power.
The co-conspirators include Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Ken Chesebro and Jeffrey Clark. Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows is also charged.
The charges range from making false statements and impersonating a public officer to racketeering, a charge usually reserved for organized crime.
Super PAC says public will rally around Trump
A super PAC aligned with the former president’s 2024 White House bid blasted Fani Willis after the charges against Trump and others were unsealed, saying she joined the “Deranged Democrat Prosecutor Club.”
“President Trump will continue to power through this unprecedented abuse of power, as the American public continues to rally around him harder, stronger, and more enthusiastically than ever before.” Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Make America Great Again Inc. super PAC, said in a statement.
— Brett Samuels
Giuliani, Meadows charged as co-conspirators
The co-conspirators charged in the indictment just unsealed include Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Ken Chesebro and Jeffrey Clark.
Former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is also charged.
— Ella Lee
Graham: Trump’s fate ‘should be decided at the ballot box’
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Monday that former President Trump’s fate should be left up to voters instead of “liberal jurisdictions trying to put the man in jail.”
Graham said on Fox News’s “Jesse Watters Primetime” that the numerous legal battles Trump is facing is “very unfair,” adding that they will do “a lot of damage to the presidency” over time. The senator’s comments come as a Georgia grand jury hearing evidence about former President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election returned an indictment Monday night.
— Lauren Sforza
Trump, 18 others indicted
The indictment has been unsealed.
Former President Trump and 18 co-defendants have been charged altogether with more than 41 counts in Georgia’s 2020 election probe
— Ella Lee
Ex-Trump lawyer suggests jurisdiction issue
Former Trump attorney Tim Parlatore told CNN on Monday night, while waiting for an indictment to be released publicly, that Fulton County DA Fani Willis might have a jurisdiction issue.
“She does not have jurisdiction in the statehouse. She does not have jurisdiction and other counties. So ultimately, if the allegations here are things that happened within the state… calls to the Secretary of State, things like that,” he said. “That’s something that the Attorney General of the State of Georgia is the one who has the sole jurisdiction over and if he didn’t specifically, delegate that down to her, she may run into a problem jurisdiction only right from the beginning of whether she exceeded her authority as a county district attorney.”
Hillary Clinton tells Rachel Maddow: Trump indictments mean ‘the system is working’
Former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the indictments handed to former president Trump this year is evidence of the American judicial system at work.
“I don’t know that anybody should be satisfied. This is a terrible moment for our country to have a former president accused of these terribly important crimes,” Clinton said during an appearance on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC program Monday. “The only satisfaction is that the system is working. That all of the efforts by Trump and his allies and enablers to try and silence the truth and undermine democracy have been brought into the light. And justice is being pursued.”
— Dominick Mastrangelo
Trump campaign fires back
An hour after a Fulton County, Ga., grand jury returned an indictment in the probe of former President Trump’s efforts to interfere in the 2020 election, his campaign blasted Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
“Like Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, Deranged Jack Smith, and New York AG Letitia James, Fulton County, GA’s radical Democrat District Attorney Fani Willis is a rabid partisan who is campaigning and fundraising on a platform of prosecuting President Trump through these bogus indictments,” a statement issued late Monday night said.
The campaign said she “strategically stalled her investigation to try and maximally interfere with the 2024 presidential race and damage the dominant Trump campaign.”
“The legal double-standard set against President Trump must end,” it concluded.
Ramaswamy calls Georgia indictments against Trump ‘politicized persecutions’
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy reacted to news that former President Trump was indicted by a grand jury in Fulton County Georgia on Monday, calling it a politicized persecution.
“These are politicized persecutions through prosecution,” Ramaswamy told Leland Vittert during a NewsNation Town Hall.
—Julia Manchester
Former Trump aide says he’s ‘most afraid’ of Georgia case
Former Trump White House aide Alyssa Farah Griffin said Monday she believes the Georgia case is the one Trump is “most afraid of.
“I’ve long said that I think this is the investigation that Donald Trump is most afraid of,” she said on CNN.
She noted that the Georgia investigation is a state case, meaning Trump or another Republican would not be able to pardon him if he is convicted, nor could Trump pressure prosecutors to wrap up the case if he wins reelection next November.
“So he’s been very afraid of it,” Farah Griffin said, adding that the facts in the case are “clear as day,” such as the phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to find additional votes.
Farah Griffin served as Trump’s communications director in the White House before resigning in the weeks after the 2020 election.
— Brett Samuels
Former Georgia Lt. Gov: ‘This one feels different’
Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) said late Monday he believes an indictment against Trump over his efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election results would strike a blow greater than previous charges against the former president.
“This one feels different,” Duncan said on CNN hours after he appeared before the grand jury in the case.
“Donald Trump did his most damage in Georgia,” he added. “He sucked the soul out of the Republican Party here. He sucked the morality out of the republican party… He sucked our winning percentage out of the Republican Party. He’s taken everything from us. And it’s our turn to take it back.”
Trump early Monday attacked Duncan on social media, discouraging him from testifying before the grand jury.
Asked if he viewed that as witness tampering or having a chilling effect on other witnesses, Duncan demurred.
“I don’t know what Donald Trump’s game is. I’ve stopped guessing what is game is. It certainly was uncalled for,” Duncan said on CNN, where he is a contributor. “If I was one of his attorneys I can’t imagine they would have enjoyed waking up to watching him send what he sent in my direction today.”
— Brett Samuels
PHOTOS: County Clerk Che Alexander, right speaks with Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, Monday, Aug. 14, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Wait begins for indictments to go public
“That’s it,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney joked as the brief proceeding wrapped up inside the Atlanta courtroom.
After indictments are handed up, the clerk’s office ultimately place them on the court’s public docket. It remains unclear how long the process will take.
No indictment of Trump or any other Trump official has surfaced yet.
— Zach Schonfeld
Judge appears to accept indictment
A Fulton County grand jury has appeared to hand up at least one indictment.
A camera inside the courtroom showed Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney receiving a stack of papers just before 9 p.m. shortly after reports emerged that the Trump grand jury was voting.
No details about the stack of papers were given. McBurney handed the stack of papers to clerk Che Alexander.
— Zach Schonfeld
Grand jury still meeting, hours past closing time
The grand jury meeting in Fulton County Courthouse is still hearing testimony from witnesses, according to multiple media reports.
The courthouse typically closes at 5 p.m.
According to reporters in the courtroom for other news organizations, as of about 7:20 p.m., the judge in the case, Fulton County Superior Court Robert McBurney, has been asked to stick around another hour.
Georgia court clerk dubs mystery document in Trump case ‘fictitious’
The Fulton County, Georgia court clerks office on Monday addressed what it called a “fictitious” document that Reuters reported had been briefly posted on the court’s website indicating charges against former President Trump for his attempts at overturning his 2020 election loss in the state.
But the clerk’s office failed to provide any information on how the document in the high-profile case ended up on its court website, which Reuters reported had been taken down “without explanation.”
In a statement, the court said it is aware of a “fictitious document that has been circulated online and reported by various media outlets related the The Fulton County Special Purpose Grand Jury.” The statement never addresses Trump specifically, but a special purpose grand jury was put in place to investigate the case expected to be brought by Willis.
– Ella Lee
Trump lawyers blast DA’s office over document mystery
Attorneys Donald Trump on Monday seized on a report that a document listing criminal charges against the former president was briefly posted earlier in the day, arguing it reflects flaws in the investigation into Trump’s attempts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results.
“The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office has once again shown that they have no respect for the integrity of the grand jury process,” attorneys Drew Findling and Jennifer Little said in a statement issued by the Trump campaign.
“This was not a simple administrative mistake,” the attorneys added. “A proposed indictment should only be in the hands of the District Attorney’s Office, yet it somehow made its way to the clerk’s office and was assigned a case number and a judge before the grand jury even deliberated. This is emblematic of the pervasive and glaring constitutional violations which have plagued this case from its very inception.”
The statement is the latest instance of Trump and his allies arguing the document posted by the court undermines the credibility of the case against the former president.
Reuters reported earlier Monday on a legal filing against Trump posted to the court docket. But the news outlet later clarified that the court’s website had briefly posted a document Monday listing several criminal charges against Trump, “before taking the document down without explanation.”
A spokesperson for the Fulton County Clerk issued a statement late Monday afternoon referencing a “fictitious document” circulating on social media, but offering no further explanation about the document that was posted.
– Brett Samuels
Who is Judge Robert McBurney?
A Fulton County Superior Court judge finds himself at the center of the Georgia investigation looking into former President Trump’s efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election results as a potential fourth indictment looms over the former president.
Judge Robert C.I. McBurney oversaw the special grand jury tasked with reviewing election interference in 2020 that released a partial report about its findings earlier this year and is now overseeing the grand jury where District Attorney Fani Willis (D) is presenting her case ahead of possible charges in connection to the investigation.