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Authorities in northwest Mexico rescue 42 people after mass kidnappings by criminal groups
MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities said they rescued 42 hostages, including 18 children, from criminal groups Saturday after a wave of kidnappings in Sinaloa state, where more than 600 special force troops were sent to beef up security.
Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha said an intensive operation by police and military forces was still trying to find 24 more people who were kidnapped.
Kidnappings en masse took place Friday in different areas of the La Noria region, outside Sinaloa’s capital city of Culiacan. Members of criminal groups made hostages of at least three families, local public security chief Gerardo Mérida said.
Federal authorities sent special forces troops to Sinaloa to search for the missing people. An additional 300 soldiers and a National Guard battalion are also operating in the area.
Local authorities have not said who was behind the mass kidnappings, which took place one day after three people were killed in the state’s Badiraguato region.
Culiacan and other cities in the state have been the scenes of violent incidents in recent years, with killings by members of the powerful Sinaloa cartel.
42 people rescued in northwest Mexico after mass kidnappings by criminal groups
MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities said they rescued 42 hostages, including 18 children, from criminal groups Saturday after a wave of kidnappings in Sinaloa state, where more than 600 special force troops were sent to beef up security.
Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha said an intensive operation by police and military forces was still trying to find 24 more people who were kidnapped.
Kidnappings en masse took place Friday in different areas of the La Noria region, outside Sinaloa’s capital city of Culiacan. Members of criminal groups made hostages of at least three families, local public security chief Gerardo Mérida said.
Federal authorities sent special forces troops to Sinaloa to search for the missing people. An additional 300 soldiers and a National Guard battalion are also operating in the area.
Local authorities have not said who was behind the mass kidnappings, which took place one day after three people were killed in the state’s Badiraguato region.
Culiacan and other cities in the state have been the scenes of violent incidents in recent years, with killings by members of the powerful Sinaloa cartel.
Black man’s 10-year sentence vacated in case where white judge said he ‘looks like a criminal’ at trial
An appellate court ruled that a Black man had a right to a new trial and vacated his 10-year sentence on drug charges after a white judge said the man “looks like a criminal” during a pre-trial hearing.
Leron Liggins conviction on two drug charges was vacated last week after a three-judge panel unanimously agreed the judge’s comment violated Liggins’ right to due process, according to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion. Liggins was sentenced in 2022 to more than 10 years in prison.
A Michigan grand jury indicted Liggins on a charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute heroin February 2018, but the case didn’t go to trial until years later.
A superseding indictment was also filed in 2019 that added one count of aiding and abetting possession with intent to distribute heroin. Although Liggins initially indicated he’d enter a guilty plea, he changed his mind and decided to go trial.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Murphy III voiced his frustration during a January 2020 hearing after Liggins changed his attorney for a second time, delaying trial once again. He said he was “tired of this case.”
“What do you want me to do? This guy looks like a criminal to me,” Murphy said, according to the opinion. “This is what criminals do. This isn’t what innocent people, who want a fair trial do.”
Liggins filed a motion for Murphy to be recused the day before his trial, which Murphy denied. He did apologize for his remarks, saying he “lost his head” but that he could be still be fair to Liggins.
“I give Mr. Liggins the same rights and opportunities here to demonstrate his innocence or lack of guilt as any other litigant, and I believe that my conduct at the final pretrial conference… and in today’s hearing do not evidence any bias,” Murphy said.
The three-judge panel disagreed, ruling Thursday that Murphy should have recused himself after the comments he made. Prosecutors argued that Murphy made the comments regarding Liggins’ actions and not his race.
But the panel noted that any reasonable person could interpret the remarks differently and that the court must protect against the appearance of bias.
“Even if one were to assume a lack of racial bias on the part of the district judge, the remark nevertheless raises the specter of such bias…Beyond this remark, the district judge’s other remarks could be understood to demonstrate clear prejudgment of Liggins’ guilt,” the opinion said.
Murphy’s decision not recuse himself was a violation of Liggins’ Fifth Amendment rights, which ensure the right to a fair trial.
The panel did not rule on evidentiary issues presented by Liggins, meaning federal prosecutors could still file for a new trial.
A representative for the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Michigan did not immediately return a request for comment Sunday.
Historian on Trump indictment: “The most important criminal trial in American history”
Our commentary comes from Princeton University history professor Julian Zelizer, editor of the book, “The Presidency of Donald J. Trump: A First Historical Assessment.”
The new indictment of former President Donald Trump constitutes a historic turning point. This promises to be the most important criminal trial in American history.
Under special counsel Jack Smith, the Department of Justice has boldly declared that accountability is essential to our democracy.
Smith’s damning indictment has charged Trump with four counts of attempting to overturn the 2020 election. Trump’s actions threatened the peaceful transfer of power, a process that separates us from non-democratic countries.
Department of Justice
Through a concerted effort that culminated with a violent mob storming Capitol Hill, Trump rejected the integral norm undergirding a stable democratic system, namely that losers must accept legitimate defeats. Even President Richard Nixon, who resigned in disgrace as a result of the Watergate scandal, understood this to be true.
With this indictment, the Department of Justice has broken with the controversial precedent established by President Gerald Ford in 1974, when he pardoned Nixon for any crimes that he might have committed. The impeachment process offered the possibility of holding Nixon accountable; Ford let the opportunity pass by.
After almost a decade of Americans fighting over race, war and Watergate, Ford concluded it was more important to “heal” the nation by pardoning Nixon than allowing a lengthy legal trial to proceed. Looking directly into the cameras, Ford warned Americans that if a trial took place, “Ugly passions would again be aroused, and our people would again be polarized in their opinions, and the credibility of our free institutions of government would again be challenged at home and abroad.”
But the pardon did not heal the nation. We grew more divided. Many furious Americans claimed that Ford had been part of a corrupt deal. When Ford traveled to North Carolina, he arrived to see placards that asked: “Is Nixon Above the Law??”
His approval ratings plummeted.
More pertinent, Ford entrenched a damaging norm that became part of our nostalgia, pushing leaders away from taking legal action against elected officials who abused their power.
Presidents have continued to feel imperial.
Trump tested Ford’s proposition more than any president since Nixon – and Biden’s Department of Justice has responded that Ford was wrong.
We must preserve key guardrails that prevent the abuse of presidential power. If our leaders violate sacrosanct democratic principles, they will be held accountable regardless of the political fallout.
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Story produced by Jay Kernis. Editor: Maria Barrow.
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House Democrats call for live broadcasts of court proceedings in Trump criminal cases
WASHINGTON — More than three dozen House Democrats are calling on the policymaking body for federal courts to permit live broadcasting of court proceedings in the Justice Department’s cases charging former President Donald Trump with federal crimes.
In a letter led by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who served on the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, Democrats asked that the Judicial Conference “explicitly authorize the broadcasting of court proceedings in the cases of United States of America v. Donald J. Trump.”
“It is imperative the Conference ensures timely access to accurate and reliable information surrounding these cases and all of their proceedings, given the extraordinary national importance to our democratic institutions and the need for transparency,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter, sent Thursday to Judge Roslynn R. Mauskopf, the secretary of the Judicial Conference.
The letter, whose signatories also included other members who served on the former Jan. 6 committee, noted that the Judicial Conference has “historically supported increased transparency and public access to the courts’ activities.”
“Given the historic nature of the charges brought forth in these cases, it is hard to imagine a more powerful circumstance for televised proceedings,” the letter said. “If the public is to fully accept the outcome, it will be vitally important for it to witness, as directly as possible, how the trials are conducted, the strength of the evidence adduced and the credibility of witnesses.”
The letter was sent on the same day that Trump was arraigned at the federal courthouse in Washington during a proceeding that was not televised or livestreamed. He pleaded not guilty to four federal counts over his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which led to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Federal prosecutors filed the grand jury indictment Tuesday.
Trump’s next court hearing in the case is set for Aug. 28. A trial date has not yet been set.
The former president, meanwhile, is set to go on trial in May in the Justice Department’s case that charged him in a 37-count indictment in June over his alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left the White House. That trial will be held in Florida. He also pleaded not guilty to those charges. Trump was charged with additional counts in the case last week.
Recapping Trump’s third criminal arraignment, inside the courtroom and out
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After federal judge says Black man “looks like a criminal to me,” appeals court tosses man’s conviction
Detroit — An appeals court on Thursday overturned the drug conviction of a Black man, saying his rights were violated by a Detroit federal judge who was upset over delays in the case and declared, “This guy looks like a criminal to me.”
“Such remarks are wholly incompatible with the fair administration of justice,” the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Murphy III, who is White, apologized nearly two years later when the case against Leron Liggins finally was ready for trial. He explained that he was mad at the time “and I regret it.”
Nonetheless, the appeals court said Murphy should have removed himself, as Liggins’ attorney had requested. The court threw out a heroin distribution conviction and 10-year prison sentence and ordered a new trial with a different judge.
Allowing the conviction to stand “would substantially undermine the public’s confidence in the judicial process,” 6th Circuit Judge Eric Clay said in a 3-0 opinion.
Prosecutors said the remark was a reference to Liggins’ alleged conduct, not his appearance. But the appeals court said a “reasonable observer” could interpret it differently.
Murphy said he lost his composure in 2020 after Liggins repeatedly had switched between wanting to plead guilty and choosing a trial and also failed to get along with his second lawyer. He ended up with four.
“I’m tired of this case. I’m tired of this defendant. I’m tired of getting the runaround. This has been going on since February 6, 2018,” Murphy said in court.
“This guy looks like a criminal to me. This is what criminals do,” Murphy said. “This isn’t what innocent people who want a fair trial do. He’s indicted in Kentucky. He’s indicted here. He’s alleged to be dealing heroin, which addicts, hurts and kills people, and he’s playing games with the court.”
At trial in 2021, Murphy, a judge for 15 years, apologized and said he could be fair to Liggins.
“I lost my head,” he said.
For the 3rd time, Donald Trump to appear in a courtroom as a criminal defendant. Follow live updates
WASHINGTON (AP) — Follow along for live updates on the Justice Department’s indictment of former President Donald Trump over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The charges focus on schemes by Trump and his allies to subvert the transfer of power and keep him in office despite his loss to Joe Biden.
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WHAT TO KNOW
— Trump has now been indicted for the third time. Here’s where all the investigations stand
— Trump also was indicted in June on charges that he illegally hoarded classified documents
— Mar-a-Lago’s property manager is the latest Trump staffer ensnared in his legal turmoil
— Special counsel Jack Smith has a long career of confronting corruption
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Trump to make third court appearance as a criminal defendant on Thursday
For the third time, Donald Trump is scheduled to appear in a courtroom as a criminal defendant.
Trump is due in court Thursday before U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington for the charges he faces related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Trump faces four counts of conspiracy in the indictment released Tuesday, including “conspiracy to defraud” the United States.
In April, Trump appeared in a New York state courtroom to plead not guilty to 34 charges in a hush money scheme stemming from the 2016 election.
In June, he appeared in federal court in Florida to plead not guilty to 37 charges that he illegally hoarded classified documents. Last week, prosecutors filed additional charges in that case, alleging that he asked a staffer to delete camera footage at his Florida home to obstruct a federal probe into the records. He now faces 40 counts in that case.
Trump is the first former president to face an indictment and the first former U.S. president to be prosecuted by the government he once ran.
Jan. 6 attack on U.S. Capitol “fueled by lies” from Trump, special counsel says
Justice Department Special counsel Jack Smith, whose team of prosecutors questioned senior Trump administration officials before a grand jury in Washington, said that the Jan, 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol was “fueled by lies” from Donald Trump.
Smith made a brief statement in Washington shortly after the indictment against the former president was released Tuesday.
“The attack on our nation’s capital on January 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy,” Smith said, adding that the law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol that day were heroes.
Smith said he’d seek a speedy trial for the former president.
Trump is due in court Thursday before U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.
TRUMP SOUGHT TO CREATE “ATMOSPHERE OF MISTRUST AND ANGER,” INDICTMENT SAYS
The indictment filed against Donald Trump lays out how again and again, Republican state officials, Justice Department officials and the president’s own campaign staff refuted his false claims about the 2020 election — including those “on whom he relied for candid advice on important matters.”
For example, Trump claimed more than 10,000 dead people voted in Georgia four days after that state’s top elections official told him that was not true. He contended that there were 205,000 more votes than voters in Pennsylvania after his own Acting Attorney General told him that was not true. He alleged more than 30,000 non-citizens voted in Arizona even though his own campaign manager said that was false.
Prosecutors also described a Jan. 3, 2021, meeting between Trump and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley on an overseas national security issue.
Milley and another adviser recommended that Trump not take action on the issue because inauguration day was only 17 days away. “Yeah, you’re right, it’s too late for us,” Trump said, according to the indictment. “We’re going to give that to the next guy.”
Trump knew his election lies were false, but pushed them anyway to create an “intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger” and “erode public faith in the administration of the election,” the indictment alleges.
MONTHSLONG EFFORT TO CHANGE RESULTS BECAME CRIMINAL, INDICTMENT SAYS
Federal prosecutors said in their indictment of Trump that he had the right to formally challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election but his behavior became criminal over a monthslong effort that attempted to discount legitimate voters and subvert the results.
Trump had a right, like every American, “to speak publicly about the election and even to claim, falsely, that there had been outcome-determinative fraud during the election and that he had won” prosecutors said in the court documents filed Tuesday.
“He was also entitled to formally challenge the results of the election, and to file lawsuits — which he did. But shortly after the election, Trump also broke the law by pursuing illegal ways to overturn the election,” the indictment said.
The indictment describes a monthslong plan, from Nov. 14, 2020 to Jan. 20, 2021, as Trump and the others conspired to defraud the United States.
“The purpose of the conspiracy was to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election,” the indictment said.
PROSECUTORS: FAKE ELECTOR RECRUITMENT WAS ATTEMPT TO OBSTRUCT THE VOTE
Federal prosecutors allege that the efforts by Trump and his allies to recruit fake electors after his loss in the 2020 presidential election attempted “to obstruct the electoral vote through deceit of state officials.”
In the indictment filed Tuesday, prosecutors said Trump and his unnamed co-conspirators knowingly made false claims of election fraud to convince officials in seven battleground states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — to submit fraudulent slates of electors.
Electors are people appointed by state parties to certify the winner of the popular vote in their state.
Prosecutors said that after Trump’s attempts to deceive state officials “met with repeated failure,” he began in early December 2020 to “marshal individuals who would have served” as his electors in those states and to send false certifications stating that they were legitimate presidential electors.
On Dec. 14, 2020, the day that the legitimate electors met in all 50 states, prosecutors said Trump and an unnamed co-conspirator directed “sham proceedings” of fraudulent electors in the seven targeted states.
The indictment alleges that some fake electors were tricked and falsely led to believe that their votes would be used only if Trump was successful in his legal challenges in their state. It also alleges that Trump attempted to use the Justice Department to conduct “sham election crime investigations” and send a letter to certain states that falsely claimed investigators had identified concerns about the election.
TRUMP LIED EVEN AFTER BEING WARNED BY TOP OFFICIALS, INDICTMENT SAYS
Trump repeatedly lied about the election even after being warned off his false statements by top government officials, according to the indictment filed against him Tuesday.
Prosecutors cited an example in Georgia, where Trump claimed more than 10,000 dead people voted in four days after that state’s top elections official told him that was not true. Trump lost Georgia to Democrat Joe Biden.
The Republican contended that there were 205,000 more votes than voters in Pennsylvania after his own acting attorney general told him that was not true. He alleged more than 30,000 noncitizens voted in Arizona even though his own campaign manager said that was false.
TRUMP CAMPAIGN CALLS LATEST INDICTMENT PART OF ‘WITCH HUNT’
Trump’s campaign issued a statement calling the third indictment of the former president “nothing more than the latest corrupt chapter” in what the campaign characterized as a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
In a lengthy statement issued as the indictment was released Tuesday, Trump’s campaign complained about the timing, asking why it had taken prosecutors two-and-a-half years to bring the charges, in the middle the campaign and as Republicans ramp up their investigations into President Joe Biden.
“The answer is, election interference!” the statement said.
The campaign stated that “President Trump has always followed the law and the Constitution, with advice from many highly accomplished attorneys.”
PROSECUTORS SAY TRUMP KNEW HIS LIES ABOUT ELECTION WERE FALSE
Federal prosecutors said in the indictment filed Tuesday that Trump knew his lies about his loss in the 2020 presidential election were false but pushed them anyway.
Prosecutors said that for two months after his loss on Nov. 3, 2020, the Republican spread lies to create an “intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger” and “erode public faith in the administration of the election.”
Trump has been charged with four counts: conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to obstruct Congress’ certification of Biden’s electoral victory on Jan. 6, obstruction and conspiracy against the right to vote.
Trump is the only defendant charged in the indictment, but it cites six unnamed co-conspirators, including an attorney “who was willing to spread knowingly false claims and pursue strategies” that Trump’s 2020 campaign attorneys would not.
Another co-conspirator is an attorney whose “unfounded claims of election fraud” Trump privately acknowledged to others sounded “crazy,” the indictment said.
TRUMP CHARGED ON FOUR COUNTS, INCLUDING CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD
Trump has been charged by the Justice Department on four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
The indictment filed Tuesday night is the third criminal case filed against the former president and current frontrunner in the 2024 GOP presidential race.
The 45-page indictment said Trump after his 2020 loss was “determined to remain in power” and perpetrated conspiracies that targeted a “bedrock function of the United States federal government: the nation’s process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election.”
A Trump spokesperson likened the new indictment to “Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes,” calling them “un-American.”
TRUMP INDICTED FOR EFFORTS TO OVERTURN 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Trump has been charged by the Justice Department for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The indictment focuses on schemes by Trump and his allies to subvert the transfer of power and keep him in office despite his loss to Joe Biden. It’s the third criminal case brought against the former president as he seeks to reclaim the White House.
The criminal case comes as Trump leads the field of Republicans seeking their party’s 2024 presidential nomination. It centers on the turbulent two months between Trump’s November 2020 election loss and the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot. Trump denies doing anything wrong.
Shortly before the indictment was unsealed, Trump accused Smith’s team of trying to interfere with the election with what he called “yet another Fake Indictment.”
“Why didn’t they do this 2.5 years ago? Why did they wait so long?” he asked on his Truth Social site. “Because they wanted to put it right in the middle of my campaign. Prosecutorial Misconduct!”
Trump’s 3 indictments, 4 criminal investigations: What to know about the cases
As former President Donald Trump pushes forward with his 2024 campaign, incidents from before, during and after his term in office are under intense legal scrutiny. He has now been indicted in three cases and remains under investigation in another criminal probe.
Here’s where the four investigations, led by two state prosecutors and a federal special counsel, stand:
Indicted: Manhattan “hush money” probe
A New York grand jury investigating the circumstances surrounding a “hush money” payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 voted to indict Donald Trump in March, making him the first former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges.
He was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, and pleaded not guilty to all charges on April 4. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg defended the decision to charge Trump in a press conference.
“Under New York state law, it is a felony to falsify business records with intent to defraud and intent to conceal another crime,” Bragg told reporters. “That is exactly what this case is about: 34 false statements made to cover up other crimes.”
The case stems from a payment made just days before Trump was elected president in 2016. His former attorney, Michael Cohen, arranged a wire transfer of $130,000 to Daniels in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair. Prosecutors were investigating potential falsification of business records related to reimbursements made to Cohen. Trump has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels, and vehemently denied wrongdoing in this case.
In the weeks before the grand jury decision, a steady stream of former Trump employees and White House staffers were seen entering Bragg’s offices, including Trump’s former White House counselor and campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, former director of strategic communications Hope Hicks, and his former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen.
Cohen, who went to prison on federal charges related to the $130,000 payment to Daniels, has met repeatedly with prosecutors this year — more than a half-dozen times since mid-January.
He appeared before the grand jury twice.
In his memoir “Disloyal,” Cohen described an intense effort in October 2016 — just before the presidential election — to prevent the actress from speaking publicly about an alleged affair with Trump. Ultimately, Cohen wired the money through a newly created limited liability company, and both Cohen and Daniels have claimed she and Trump signed a non-disclosure agreement using the aliases David Dennison and Peggy Peterson.
Trump, a Republican who is running once again for president, has repeatedly denied allegations of wrongdoing, and lashed out at Bragg, a Democrat, calling the case a “political persecution.”
In ruling against an effort by Trump to have the case moved from state to federal jurisdiction Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein addressed Trump’s accusation that the indictment was politically motivated.
“Trump argues that a ‘politically motivated’ district attorney who ‘disfavored [Trump’s] acts and policies as president’ caused the grand jury to indict. Trump fails to show, however, that the grand jury lacked a rational basis for the indictment,” Hellerstein wrote.
Hellerstein also faulted another argument made on Trump’s behalf, that he is immune from prosecution because the payments were made while he was president.
“Reimbursing Cohen for advancing hush money to Stephanie Clifford cannot be considered the performance of a constitutional duty,” Hellerstein wrote. “Falsifying business records to hide such reimbursement, and to transform the reimbursement into a business expense for Trump and income to Cohen, likewise does not relate to a presidential duty.”
The case is scheduled to go on trial in March 2024.
Indicted: Special counsel’s Mar-a-Lago documents case
Trump became the first former president charged with federal crimes in June, and entered a not guilty plea to 37 felony counts related to alleged “willful retention” of national security information after leaving the White House. An aide to Trump, Waltine Nauta, was also charged in the case and has entered a not guilty plea.
Three additional charges against Trump, and two more charges against Nauta, were filed in late July, when prosecutors also introduced charges against Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira.
The case was brought by special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed in November to oversee two Justice Department’s criminal investigations into Trump.
The indictment accuses Trump of storing boxes containing classified documents “in various locations at The Mar-a-Lago Club including in a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, his bedroom, and a storage room.” Trump lives at Mar-a-Lago, a private Palm Beach, Florida country club owned by his company.
Trump has defended his handling of classified information, and accused Smith of pursuing the case out of political bias, calling Smith a “radical.”
The judge in the case, Aileen Cannon, has scheduled the trial for May 2024, which would place it toward the end of the Republican presidential primary season.
Indicted: Special counsel’s Jan. 6 investigation
Smith’s office has also been investigating alleged efforts to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power after Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, including the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The grand jury hearing evidence in this case indicted Trump on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023.
Trump faces four charges in this indictment: conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.
The indictment lists six unnamed co-conspirators. Prosecutors allege they were “enlisted” to assist Trump in “his criminal efforts to overturn” the election “and retain power.”
“The attack on our nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy,” Smith said in a brief remarks after the release of the 45-page indictment outlining the charges. “As described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies. Lies by the defendant targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the U.S. government: the nation’s process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election.”
Trump has vehemently denied allegations of wrongdoing related to his efforts to overturn the election results, and accused the special counsel of political bias.
“Why didn’t they bring this ridiculous case 2.5 years ago? They wanted it right in the middle of my campaign, that’s why!” Trump said in a post on his social media site, Truth Social.
Under investigation: Post-election conduct in Fulton County, Georgia
The Fulton County district attorney’s investigation into Trump’s conduct following the 2020 election began in February 2021 — spurred by an infamous recorded Jan. 2, 2021, phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump pressed him “to find 11,780 votes.”
The probe grew in size and scope over the next two years, ultimately leading to the creation of a special purpose grand jury — tasked with investigating not only Trump, but alleged efforts of dozens of his allies to thwart Georgia’s election, which President Joe Biden won.
The special purpose grand jury had subpoena power, but could not issue indictments. The panel of 23 Georgians interviewed 75 witnesses in 2022, and completed a report in January, which was provided to Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis — who has not said publicly if she plans to file charges in the case.
Among those interviewed by the special purpose grand jury were many Trump allies, including his former attorney, Rudy Giuliani; South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham; and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. It also interviewed Georgia officials who are among Trump’s political critics, such as Raffensperger and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
Willis’ office sent letters in 2022 to multiple Trump allies warning that they could face charges, including so-called “fake electors” — who planned to reverse the state’s electoral college vote — and Giuliani.
In February, a judge ordered a small portion of the report to be made public. In the introduction, the grand jurors wrote that they refuted a claim often made by Trump and his allies.
“We find by a unanimous vote that no widespread fraud took place in the Georgia 2020 presidential election that could result in overturning that election,” the report said.
The report also said that a “majority of the Grand Jury believes that perjury may have been committed by one or more witnesses testifying before it” and recommended that the district attorney seek “appropriate indictments” for crimes where the “evidence is compelling.”
The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an effort by Trump’s attorneys to quash the report and remove Willis from the case. Trump’s legal team has filed two similar motions in Fulton County court, and decisions on those filings have not yet been issued.
Willis has indicated in letters to county officials that potential indictments in the case could come between July 31 and Aug. 18.