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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger made his feelings clear in a brief comment following the most recent indictment of former President Donald Trump.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Monday night announced that the former president and 18 of his allies are facing 41 charges in regard to their alleged efforts to overturn 2020 election results. Each defendant is accused of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which makes it a crime to participate in a "pattern of racketeering activity" or conspiring to do so. Trump is facing 13 counts in the indictment.
It is the fourth indictment for Trump, who continues to deny any wrongdoing. Running his third presidential campaign as the top GOP contender, Trump claims that the investigations against him are a politically motivated witch hunt."
The investigation into Trump was launched after he made a call to Raffensperger's office following the 2020 election, urging him to help find the votes needed for Trump to be declared the state's winner.
"The most basic principles of a strong democracy are accountability and respect for the Constitution and rule of law," Raffensperger said Tuesday morning. "You either have it, or you don't."
Trump's campaign maintains that the criminal investigations are a play by Democrats to derail his chances in the 2024 election.
"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 from Trump's campaign team said on Monday. "Ripping a page from Crooked Joe Biden's playbook, Willis has strategically stalled her investigation to try and maximally interfere with the 2024 presidential race and damage the dominant Trump campaign."
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign by email for additional comment.
The phone call between Trump and Raffensperger served as a central part of the Willis' investigation. It occurred after President Joe Biden won the state and Trump urged Raffensperger, a Republican, to "find me 11,780 votes" so he could be declared the winner in Georgia.
Raffensperger insisted that Biden won the state fairly. Trump has claimed that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, but dozens of lawsuits have failed to prove that was the case.
According to the indictment, which was unsealed Monday night, Trump and 18 other defendants allegedly participated in a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in the favor of Trump between November 4, 2020, and September 15, 2022.
Defendants include well-known Trump allies such as Rudy Giuliani, the former president's ex-lawyer who admitted last month that he made false statements regarding 2020 election workers in Georgia. Former Trump attorney John Eastman also is named in the indictment, as well as former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
It is unclear what impact the indictment will have on Trump's campaign. During a press briefing on Monday, Willis said that she will seek a trial date within the next six months.
Trump's legal team has attempted to delay all criminal trials until after the election. Despite the efforts, trial dates have already been set for the spring for some of the charges against Trump, including a trial regarding his alleged involvement in a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels and for Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents that were seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate.
About the writer
Anna Skinner is a Newsweek senior reporter based in Indianapolis. Her focus is reporting on the climate, environment and weather ... Read more