A little while ago a Georgia grand jury indictment was unsealed, revealing that Donald Trump and 18 other people have been charged with criminal conspiracy for their efforts to overturn the legitimate 2020 election victory of Joe Biden in Georgia.
Aug 14 (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump was hit with a sweeping fourth set of criminal charges on Monday when a Georgia grand jury issued an indictment accusing him of efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
The charges, brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, add to the legal woes facing Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election.
The sprawling 98-page indictment listed 19 defendants and 41 criminal counts in all. All of the defendants were charged with racketeering, which is used to target members of organized crime groups and carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
Among the other defendants were Mark Meadows, Trump's former White House chief of staff, and lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman.
"Trump and the other defendants charged in this indictment refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump," the indictment said.
Download Trump indictment Georgia
This is Trump's fourth criminal indictment. Despite his oft-repeated claims of witch hunt, actually what's going on in a hunt for justice. The only reason Trump is being accused of criminal behavior is that a whole lot of evidence shows that he's behaved criminally.
Not long ago, one criminal accusation would have been more than enough to completely derail the candidacy of someone who wanted to be president. Or in the case of Richard Nixon, remain president.
Back in 1974, Republicans joined with Democrats in condemning Nixon's criminality, which forced him to resign. Here's some of what Nixon said in his resignation speech.
This is the 37th time I have spoken to you from this office, where so many decisions have been made that shaped the history of this Nation. Each time I have done so to discuss with you some matter that I believe affected the national interest.
In all the decisions I have made in my public life, I have always tried to do what was best for the Nation. Throughout the long and difficult period of Watergate, I have felt it was my duty to persevere, to make every possible effort to complete the term of office to which you elected me.
In the past few days, however, it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress to justify continuing that effort. As long as there was such a base, I felt strongly that it was necessary to see the constitutional process through to its conclusion, that to do otherwise would be unfaithful to the spirit of that deliberately difficult process and a dangerously destabilizing precedent for the future.
But with the disappearance of that base, I now believe that the constitutional purpose has been served, and there is no longer a need for the process to be prolonged.
Yes, Democrats controlled both the House and Senate in 1974. However, Nixon had lost the support of his fellow Republicans in Congress also, which led Nixon to say in his speech that he no longer had a strong political base.
Things sure have changed in the Republican Party.
Now Trump is able to say that if he is indicted a fourth time this would guarantee his election in 2024. I doubt that, but it does seem true that Trump's newest criminal indictment will further endear him to Republican primary voters -- who already have given him a massive lead over Ron DeSantis and Trump's other primary opponents.
I find this really disturbing. It boggles my mind that one of our two major political parties is so obsessed with a lying, egotistical, morally bankrupt candidate, Trump, that a majority of GOP voters is willing to ignore solid accusations of criminality and support him anyway.
This is how our nation could turn into an autocracy, when otherwise decent people decide that maintaining power is more important than preserving our democracy. I just hope that Republican voters wake up to the danger that Donald Trump represents.
Trump doesn't care about anybody but himself. He likes to say that if prosecutors can indict him, they can indict anybody. That's utterly false. Republican voters only have to worry about being indicted if they do something criminal, like attempting to overturn the outcome of an election.
Trump isn't on your side, GOP faithful. He's always only on one side, his own. Wake up to this fact before it's too late.
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