涉嫌推翻2020年大选结果,特朗普又双叒叕被刑事起诉!“懂王”回应:虚假指控,干扰大选!(附视频&解说稿)
当地时间8月14日,美国前总统特朗普和另外18名被告人在佐治亚州遭刑事起诉。起诉书显示,特朗普等人被控在2020年总统选举期间试图推翻佐治亚州的选举结果。这是特朗普今年第四次遭刑事起诉。
媒体评论称,美国前总统遭刑事起诉已经从“前所未有”变为“稀松平常”。特朗普则回应称将通过赢得下一次大选来“解决问题”。
据《纽约时报》报道,在过去两年半的时间里,美国佐治亚州富尔顿县地区检察官法妮·威利斯一直在对特朗普及其盟友涉嫌干预2020年总统选举进行调查,这项调查始于特朗普向佐治亚州最高选举官员拉芬斯佩格施压的录音被媒体曝光。录音中有一段内容,是特朗普要求拉芬斯佩格“找到”足够多不存在的选票,以超越当时的竞争对手拜登。
据外媒报道,当地时间14日,佐治亚州大陪审团发布起诉书。这份长达98页的起诉书列出了包括特朗普在内的19名被告和41项指控。其中针对特朗普的指控有13项,包括唆使公职人员违反誓言、作出虚假陈述、伪造书面材料、共谋实施计算机盗窃等。
据报道,这是针对特朗普提出的第四次、也是迄今为止最广泛的一次刑事指控。特朗普在其创立的社交媒体平台“真相社交”(Truth Social)上对起诉做出了回应,并抨击了相关人员。特朗普称法妮·威利斯是“一个狂热的党派分子”,认为她的竞选和筹款纲领就是通过这些虚假的指控起诉自己。特朗普进一步表示,威利斯试图最大限度地干扰2024年总统竞选,破坏占据主导地位的特朗普竞选团队。
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GEOFF BENNETT: And for more on the indictment and what comes next, we're joined now by Stephen Fowler, who covers politics for Georgia Public Broadcasting, and Gwen Keyes Fleming, who previously served as district attorney in DeKalb County, Georgia.
Thank you both for being with us.
And, Gwen, this sweeping indictment captures the breathtaking number of ways in which Donald Trump and his associates allegedly tried to overturn the election results. And, as we heard in Lisa's reporting, they are charged with engaging in a criminal enterprise under a Georgia racketeering law.
This RICO law was initially designed to prosecute mob bosses. Help us understand why a RICO charge is an appropriate charge in this case.
GWEN KEYES FLEMING, Former Georgia District Attorney: Certainly.
So, Georgia RICO statute is one of the greatest tools that a prosecutor has to be able to tell the whole story when you have a long list of defendants, each of whom were operating in concert towards some sort of common goal, whether it's maintaining or obtaining a part of an enterprise.
And so, in this case, what the DA has done is identified several predicate acts. Those are acts or crimes that are listed in the RICO statutes, such as things like false statements, false swearing, influencing witnesses, solicitation to commit forgery.
She only needs to successfully prosecute two of them, but she's listed several. And then she has added several overt acts that are noncrimes, that are not criminal, but describe the ways in which the various defendants furthered the conspiracy.
And so, by doing so, these 161 enlisted -- or listed acts enables her to tell the whole story of what happened, so that a jury can understand it.
GEOFF BENNETT: Stephen Fowler, one of the lesser known aspects of this alleged conspiracy is the breach of a voting system in rural Coffee County, Georgia, that took place well after the 2020 election.
And we should say these images were taken from surveillance video on January 7, 2021, showing a woman who was posing as a fake elector escorting a team of Trump operatives to the county elections office the same day that voting system had been breached.
Tell us more about what transpired.
STEPHEN FOWLER, Georgia Public Broadcasting: Right.
So, Coffee County, Georgia, is one of 159 counties in Georgia, and it's a reliably Republican county. So the results were not in question there.
But the woman you mentioned, Cathy Latham, who was the Republican county chairwoman down there and also one of Georgia's alternate electors, who falsely claimed that they were an official elector, was working with the elections supervisor to bring down a team of people to access voting data, and machines and equipment, because they felt that there was evidence in there that the machines were not counting things accurately, that they were manipulated, and they were somehow taking votes away from Donald Trump and giving them to Joe Biden.
None of that is true. But what happened and what we see in this indictment is, this sweeping act was part of the larger scheme to keep Trump in office, and the data breach violated several parts of Georgia's computer trespass laws, and got the people that actually copied the data and were involved in accessing that data as well.
GEOFF BENNETT: Gwen, how do the special counsel case and this Georgia case intersect and potentially conflict, especially given that some of the 18 co-defendants overlap with the unindicted co-conspirators in Jack Smith's case? GWEN KEYES FLEMING: So, there actually is no conflict.
The way that our judicial system is set up, you have various federal charges, each that have specific elements of the crimes that need to be charged, and then you have state charges also with their own separate elements.
And so while there may be some similarities in the individuals named, the burdens of proof and the requirements for each element of the crimes listed under the state statutes and under the federal statutes are very different. And so, very often, you may see cases where a particular stream of conduct could qualify for a federal charge, but it also qualifies for the state charge.
And that's exactly what you see here. And the district attorney was elected by the citizens and residents of Fulton County to protect them. So she is going forward with the authority that she has under the Georgia laws.
GEOFF BENNETT: The DA said last night that she intends to try all 19 defendants together, and she hopes to do it within six months.
Is that even possible, given that she's going to have to deal with potentially 19 individual defense attorneys? GWEN KEYES FLEMING: Well, I think it's early in the process to give that an honest assessment.
Let's see if some of the defendants listed may decide upon looking at evidence either after discovery or after various rulings on motions that they do not want to go to trial. They may decide that it's more advantageous to take a plea deal. There may be some rulings that cut against the district attorney, such that perhaps some counts are lost and some defendants are lost.
So it's really early to tell whether all 19 would be sitting at a table, but it's also possible. Remember, this is a district attorney who has considerable experience handling complex multidefendant RICO cases. And so, where there's a will, there's a way.
I'm sure the judge will help -- along with the sheriff, help find a suitable arena to be able to do whatever needs to be done with the defendants that are remaining at the time the trial is ready to go.
GEOFF BENNETT: Stephen Fowler, Georgia is a problem for Donald Trump legally, and you could argue politically too.
Brian Kemp, the popular Republican governor there who already defeated a Trump-backed primary challenger, is calling out Donald Trump's election lies.
Here's what he tweeted today: "The 2020 election in Georgia was not stolen. For nearly three years now, anyone with evidence of fraud has failed to come forward under oath and prove anything in a court of law. Our elections in Georgia are secure, accessible and fair and will continue to be as long as I am governor. The future of our country is at stake in 2024. And that must be our focus." Republicans, as you well know, they lost the Georgia Senate run-off. They lost the state in the last presidential election. Donald Trump, if he's the Republican nominee, he's going to need Georgia to win back the White House.
How steep a challenge is that politically, given Georgia politics? STEPHEN FOWLER: Well, sure, Geoff.
Well, the main problem right now is that Donald Trump is facing an uphill battle both in the courts and court of public opinion in Georgia, because, as you mentioned, he narrowly lost the state in 2020. He proposed a bunch of primary challengers against popular Republicans in Georgia that got blown out of the water.
And then in the key Senate race against with Raphael Warnock running against Herschel Walker, the Trump-backed opponent, Warnock won and Democrats maintained control of the Senate. So there's already a track record of Georgia voters willing to move on from Donald Trump. And Brian Kemp is a case in point.
He's been beating the drum: Anybody who focuses on 2024, instead of 2024, is not going to have a good time.
And so with this trial, you have the potential for not just, in Georgia, but other states where Trump and his allies tried to overturn the election, looking at this televised trial of rehashing what happened when Trump tried to overturn the election heading before the 2024 election. So you might see these other swing states not buying what Trump is selling based on a little bit of PTSD from the last election.
GEOFF BENNETT: Gwen, we have about 20 seconds left. And I want to ask you about a late-breaking development here where Mark Meadows, the former White House, chief of staff, has filed a request to move this case to federal court.
What are the merits of that request, as you see it? GWEN KEYES FLEMING: So, as I understand it, that is an argument where you have a former federal official who is attempting to say that their actions were done in accordance with their federal job or their federal role.
And so we were not surprised to see that that motion was filed. We will wait and see what and if a federal judge decides. But having looked at the issue very closely, there are no issues of immunity, arguably. There also is sufficient evidence that these are purely state crimes involving actions that would have been outside that color of law or color of federal responsibility, and, therefore, the case should stay in Fulton state court.
GEOFF BENNETT: Gwen Keyes Fleming and Stephen Fowler, thank you both for your time this evening. We appreciate it.
GWEN KEYES FLEMING: Thank you.
STEPHEN FOWLER: Thank you.
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-Thank you for joining us.
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.
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 indictment includes 41 felony counts and is 97 pages long.
Please remember that everyone charged in this bill of indictment is presumed innocent.
Specifically, the indictment brings felony charges against Donald John Trump, Rudolph William Louis Giuliani, John Charles Eastman, Mark Randall Meadows, John Chesebro, Jeffrey Clark, Jenna Lynn Ellis, Ray Stallings Smith III, Robert David Cheeley, Michael A. Roman, David James Shafer, Shawn Micah Tresher Still, Stephen Cliffgard Lee, Harrison William Prescott Floyd, Trevian C. Kutti, Sidney Katherine Powell, Cathleen Alston Latham, Scott Graham Hall, and Misty Hampton, also known as Emily Misty Hayes.
Every individual charged in the indictment is charged with one count of violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act through participation in a criminal enterprise in Fulton County, Georgia, and elsewhere to accomplish the illegal goal of allowing Donald J. Trump to seize the presidential term of office beginning on January 20, '21.
Specifically, the participants in association took various actions in Georgia and elsewhere to block the counting of the votes of the presidential electors who were certified as the winners of Georgia's 2020 general election.
As you examine the indictment, you will see acts that are identified as overt acts and those that are identified as predicate acts, sometimes called acts of racketeering activity.
Overt acts are not necessarily crimes under Georgia law in isolation, but are alleged to be acts taken in furtherance of the conspiracy.
Many occurred in Georgia and some occurred in other jurisdictions and are included because the grand jury believes they were part of the illegal effort to overturn the results of Georgia's 2020 presidential election.
The acts identified as predicate acts or acts of racketeering activity are crimes that are alleged to have been committed in furtherance of the criminal enterprise.
Acts of racketeering activity are also charged as separate counts in the indictment against those who are alleged to have committed them.
All elections in our nation are administered by the states, which are given the responsibility of ensuring a fair process and an accurate counting of the votes.
That includes elections for presidential electors, Congress, state officials, and local offices.
The state's role in this process is essential to the functioning of our democracy.
Georgia, like every state, has laws that allow those who believe that results of an election are wrong, whether because of intentional wrongdoing or unintentional error, to challenge those results in our state courts.
The indictment alleges that rather than by -- abide by Georgia's legal process for election challenges, the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia's presidential election result.
Subsequent to the indictment, as is the normal process in Georgia law, the grand jury issued arrest warrants for those who are charged.
I am giving the defendants the opportunity to voluntarily surrender no later than noon on Friday, the 25th day of August 2023.
I'll remind everyone here that an indictment is only a series of allegations based on a grand jury's determination of probable cause to support the charges.
It is now the duty of my office to prove these charges in the indictment beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
I would like to take a moment to thank the Superior Court clerk, Ché Alexander, and her staff for staying late and making sure that this indictment was processed.
I would also like to thank the men and women of Sheriff Labat's office for keeping the courthouse open, but most importantly, for keeping us safe over the weeks and months that have led up to this indictment and for what I know they will continue to do to keep us safe.
We also want to thank the Atlanta Police Department and other law enforcement partners who have worked with the sheriff to keep us safe.
I will now take a very limited number of questions prior to going to sleep.
[reporters speaking] -Quick question -- Can you clarify in Georgia, the mandatory minimum when it comes to RICO charges, whether it's servable by probation or how that might play out? -The RICO charges has time that you have to serve.
So it is not a probated sentence.
-Madam District Attorney, What's the timetable? -What is the timetable for the trial? -Yes. -As you know, in this jurisdiction, trials are set by the judges.
And so it will be the judge that sets the date of the trial.
This office will be submitting a proposed scheduling order within this week.
However, that will totally be at the discretion of the judge.
-You're the fourth jurisdiction now to indict Donald Trump.
Do you want to be the fourth one to try him or could you move it up? Do you want to be the first to try him? -I don't have any desire to be first or last.
I want to try him and be respectful for our sovereign states.
We do want to move this case along.
And so we will be asking for a proposed order that occurs a trial date within the next six months.
-Madam District Attorney, earlier today there was a fictitious document, according to the Fulton County clerk's office, that was circulated online with charges against former president Donald Trump.
Those -- That fictitious document matched exactly the charges that we now see in this indictment.
Can you tell us more about that document leak? Because now you have the former president's lawyers who are saying that this is emblematic of a serious problem with your office.
-No, I can't tell you anything about what you refer to.
What I can tell you is that we had a grand jury here in Fulton County.
They deliberated till almost 8:00, if not right after 8:00, an indictment was returned.
It was true bill and you now have an indictment.
I am not an expert on clerks' duties or even administrative duties.
I wouldn't know how to work that system.
And so I'm not going to speculate. Next question.
-Have you had any contact with the special counsel about overlap between these cases? And do you intend to try all of these defendants together? -Do I intend to try the 19 defendants in this indictment together? Yes.
-And have you had any contact with the special counsel about the overlap between this indictment and...
-I'm not going to discuss our investigation at this time. I'm going to take -- -What do you make of the arguments made by former president Trump that this is a politically motivated indictment? -I make decisions in this office based on the facts and the law.
The law is completely nonpartisan.
That's how decisions are made in every case.
To date, this office has indicted, since I've been sitting as the district attorney, over 12,000 cases.
This is the 11th RICO indictment.
We followed the same process.
We look at the facts, we look at the law, and we bring charges.
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