Court Battles

Fani Willis says Trump, 18 co-defendants to voluntarily surrender in Georgia by Aug. 25

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis poses for a portrait, Wednesday, April 19, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis (D) late Monday gave former President Trump and 18 co-defendants until noon on Aug. 25 to voluntarily surrender following an indictment that unveiled multiple charges in connection to their attempts to interfere in the 2020 election.

Willis during a press conference also indicated her desire to try all of the defendants, hoping to begin a trial within the next six months.

Trump and the other defendants are each charged with one count of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, a law typically reserved for organized crime. 

Willis said the charge alleges the defendants participated in a “criminal enterprise in Fulton County, Ga., and elsewhere, to accomplish the illegal goal” of keeping Trump in office. 

The far-reaching indictment is a result of Willis’s years-long investigation into Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election results. She denied that the investigation is politically motivated.

“I make decisions in this office based on the facts in the law,” Willis said. “The law is completely nonpartisan. That’s how decisions are made in every case to date.”

Updated at 12:20 a.m.