Trump hit with RICO charge in Georgia?
May 16, 2023
Accusations that former United States president Donald Trump attempted to manipulate the results of the 2020 election, Trump might be subject to charges under the Rico Act. The RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act was implemented in 1970 to establish prohibition when dealing with unlawful activities and those engaged in organized crime. Donald Trump, a Republican, defeated Hillary Clinton to become the 45th president of the United States on November 9, 2016. After serving a four-year term, Trump lost the 2020 election to Democratic Joe Biden. The votes were very close between the two candidates, and it seemed that America was leaning towards democratic ideas, and things weren’t looking great for Trump. According to sources, Trump called Georgia Secretary Raffensperger and pleaded with him to “find” the additional 12,000 votes he would need to win and annul the election against Joe Biden. Fani Willis initiated an investigation into Trump’s attempt to tamper with the election results, and she is currently putting together a case against him. Fani is well-known for her cases involving Rico charges, which specifically target accounts for organized crime, which has caused this case to gain lots of attention from many news outlets. Trump’s infamous call to Raffensperger, which discussed what would allow him to win the state of Georgia- with fraudulent votes; this being the main evidence point in this case. However, Trump’s response to the charges seems that he is confident nothing will come from these allegations, even going as far as to say, “This Georgia case is ridiculous.” For the past seven months, many people, such as Raffensperger, Trump’s attorney, Georgia governor Brian Kemp, and Senator Lindsey Graham, have given several testimonies. However, to prove a RICO charge, prosecutors need a member of the organization to agree that some form of crime was committed- this includes but is not limited to bribery, counterfeiting, wire fraud, and mail fraud. This could imply that if any other people are found to have been involved in the charges, not only would Trump face charges, but if the case is strengthened, an entire organization’s conspiracy could be exposed. Trump was arrested on Tuesday, April 4, and entered a not-guilty plea in response to 34 counts of falsified business records. Although this case has sparked national news, the jury has decided not to release any new information associated with the matter