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An Atlanta-based grand jury on Monday indicted former President Donald Trump on state charges stemming from his efforts to overturn his 2020 electoral defeat in the Peach State.

A Georgia grand jury has returned indictments against former president Donald Trump and a wide swath of his confidantes and allies who prosecutors allege to have participated in a criminal enterprise with the goal of overturning the disgraced ex-president’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. Grand jurors returned indictments against against Mr Trump and 18 other defendants late Monday after hearing from a number of key witnesses in the long-running Georgia election probe, including Gabe Sterling, who served as a top manager in the Georgia Secretary of State’s office in late 2020, and Geoff Duncan, the state’s former Republican lieutenant governor. Although the courthouse closes normally around 5.00 pm ET, authorities reportedly asked grand jurors to stay until approximately 9.00 pm to finish voting on what a cover sheet delivered to Judge Robert McBurney indicated to be 10 separate indictments. But the 98-page document unsealed later Monday evening was the only set of charges pertaining to Mr Trump and his co-defendants, a group which includes his former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, ex-New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani, attorneys Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell, ex-law professor John Eastman, Trump campaign lawyer Ken Cheseboro, and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had been understood to be considering seeking charges against the ex-president under the state’s wide-ranging Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations statute, which is itself patterned after a Nixon-era federal law passed to combat the Italian-American Mafia crime syndicates. The former president is charged with violating Georgia’s Rico law, Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer, Conspiracy To Commit Impersonating a Public Officer, Conspiracy To Commit Forgery in the First Degree, Conspiracy To Commit False Statements and Writings, Filing False Documents and other charges stemming from his efforts to pressure Georgia officials into fraudulently reversing his loss and his role in a scheme which purported to submit what were forged electoral college certificates to the National Archives. Other charges referenced in the charging document include Impersonating a Public Officer and Criminal Attempt to Commit Influencing Witnesses. The grand jury which returned the indictments against Mr Trump and his co-defendants was the second to hear evidence against the ex-president as part of a long-running probe which Ms Willis first announced in early 2021, not long after a recording emerged of Mr Trump pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough non-existent votes in his favour to justify decertifying the state’s presidential election results. She subsequently asked the Fulton County District Court to empanel a special grand jury to investigate Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the election. That investigation, which wrapped up late last year, saw witnesses from all over the country summoned to give evidence behind closed doors in the Fulton County courthouse. Because special grand juries are not permitted to issue indictments under Georgia law, Ms Willis had to present that grand jury’s findings to a second, regular grand jury which began to meet in July. Mr Trump, who is also facing criminal charges from a local district attorney in his former home state of New York and set to be tried on Espionage Act and obstruction of justice charges in a Florida federal court next May, had unsuccessfully sought to have Ms Willis blocked from prosecuting him and has asked two Georgia courts to throw out the entire special grand jury proceeding, citing alleged deficiencies in the law providing for special grand juries and Ms Willis’ attendance at Democratic political fundraisers. Judge McBurney, the Fulton County Superior Court jurist who has been overseeing the proceedings for the last two years, wrote in a ruling issued last month that Mr Trump and a co-plaintiff who was one of the fake electors under investigation had lacked any standing to challenge the investigation in a pre-indictment phase. “The movants’ asserted ‘injuries’ that would open the doors of the courthouse to their claims are either insufficient or else speculative and unrealized,” he said. “They are insufficient because, while being subject (or even target) of a highly publicized criminal investigation is likely an unwelcome and unpleasant experience, no court ever has held that that status alone provides a basis for the courts to interfere with or halt the investigation.” Judge McBurney also called Mr Trump and his co-plantiff’s “professed injuries” from being targets of the investigation “speculative and unrealized” because neither has been indicted as of yet, and the mere possibility of an indictment “not enough to create a controversy, cause an injury, or confer standing”. Now, with charges against him having been officially approved by a grand jury, Mr Trump could seek to renew the litigation. But unlike in the two federal cases pending against him, the former president cannot count on regaining the power of the presidency or help from a Republican ally in the Georgia governor’s mansion to protect him. Unlike many US states, the Peach State does not grand its’ chief executive the authority to issue pardons for crimes committed against the state. Instead, pardon power is delegated to a nonpartisan board, and it can only be invoked to grant a pardon after a criminal has completed his or her sentence. Read More Trump campaign launches sprawling attack as Georgia grand jury hands down indictments Republicans decry Trump’s Georgia indictment before details are released Hillary Clinton reveals one ‘satisfaction’ she gets from Trump’s indictment All the lawsuits and criminal charges involving Trump and where they stand Trump legal team tries again to block Georgia election interference grand jury probe Trump probe ‘subpoenaed CCTV from Georgia 2020 ballot counting centre’ Georgia Supreme Court tosses Trump attempt to challenge 2020 election investigation over vote call

Donald Trump’s campaign launched a sprawling attack against the various legal authorities prosecuting his wide range of alleged criminal activity Monday evening after it was reported that a grand jury had voted to hand down multiple indictments. A lengthy statement from the Trump campaign underscored the anger the former president has shown for weeks as he continues to see the myriad legal problems surrounding him as nothing more than political attacks launched by his enemies. Reporters in the courtroom in Fulton County, Georgia indicated Monday evening that the grand jury hearing evidence in Mr Trump’s latest case had voted to hand down 10 indictments; however, it was unclear how many (if any at all) related to the ex-president. “Combined with the intentionally slow-walked investigations by the Biden-Smith goon squads and the false charges in New York, the timing of this latest coordinated strike by a biased prosecutor in an overwhelmingly Democrat jurisdiction not only betrays the trust of the American people, but also exposes true motivation driving their fabricated accusations,” the Trump campaign’s statement complained. “These activities by Democrat leaders constitute a grave threat to American democracy and are direct attempts to deprive the American people of their rightful choice to cast their vote for President. Call it election interference or election manipulation—it is a dangerous effort by the ruling class to suppress the choice of the people. It is un-American and wrong.” More follows... Read More Republicans decry Trump’s Georgia indictment before details are released Hillary Clinton reveals one ‘satisfaction’ she gets from Trump’s indictment Giuliani says he feels ‘sorry for me’ if he’s included in latest Trump indictment

An Atlanta grand jury handed up indictments amid a local prosecutor’s probe over former President Donald Trump’s efforts

A court clerk says the grand jury has returned 10 indictments, without specifying who has been charged.

Republicans blasted former president Donald Trump’s supposed indictment in Fulton County, Georgia, despite the fact details of the indictment haven’t been released. Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX), who led efforts to try and challenge the 2020 presidential election results, appeared on Sean Hannity’s Fox News programme decrying the indictment, before the release of any details. “I’m pissed at these over and over and over again, if they’re indictments, it’ll be the fourth indictment of Donald Trump” Mr Cruz, who lost the Republican nomination for president to Mr Trump in 2016, said. “This is disgraceful. Our country’s over 200 years old. We’ve never once indicted a former president, or a candidate or a leading candidate for president and this is Joe Biden and this is the Democrats weaponizing the justice system because they're afraid of the voters.” Similarly, Sen Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told Fox News how Mr Trump spent more on legal fees than he did on campaigning for president. “The American people can decide whether they want him to be president or not,” he said. “This should be decided at the ballot box and not in a bunch of liberal jurisdictions trying to put the man in jail. They’re weaponizing the law in this country. They’re trying to take Donald Trump down.” Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), one of Mr Trump’s biggest defenders in Congress, tweeted that voters did not care about the indictment and just wanted lower gas prices. “The media and elite Democrats need to stop pearl clutching in their Trump Derangement support groups and go out in the real world where seniors and working folks can’t afford food, bills, and gas,” she tweeted. “How to lose an election 101 is on display by the Get Trump Democrat Party.” Read More Trump campaign launches sprawling attack as Georgia grand jury hands down indictments Hillary Clinton reveals one ‘satisfaction’ she gets from Trump’s indictment Giuliani says he feels ‘sorry for me’ if he’s included in latest Trump indictment

Hillary Clinton responded in real-time to the news of Donald Trump’s likely fourth indictment in Georgia, revealing the one “satisfaction” she feels. “I don’t know that anybody should be satisfied,” Ms Clinton told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow late Monday. “This is a terrible moment for our country, to have a former president accused of these terribly important crimes. The only satisfaction may be that the system is working. Justice is being pursued.” A grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, has returned an indictment in the investigation into Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. News of the indictments broke around 9pm ET on Monday. The indictment has not yet been unsealed, meaning no defendants – including Mr Trump – have been named thus far. Mr Trump faces two federal indictments over his mishandling of classified documents and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. He is also under indictment in New York City for his hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, when Mr Trump faced Ms Clinton as the Democratic nominee for president. Ms Clinton reflected on the seriousness of the criminal cases against Mr Trump. “I feel great profound sadness that we have a former president who has been indicted for so many charges that went right to the heart of whether or not our democracy will survive,” Ms Clinton said, speaking of the former president’s various criminal charges generally as the world waits to see the details of the Georgia case. Mr Trump has railed against the criminal cases against him, voted on by a grand jury of his peers in multiple jurisdictions. The former president has baselessly complained that the cases amount to “election interference” against him and has accused President Joe Biden of prosecuting a political opponent. Despite his mounting legal trouble, Mr Trump remains the clear frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination. He leads all other candidates in the polls, and his GOP rivals have largely been unable to capitalise on the legal peril facing the former president. Read More EXPLAINER: What are special counsels and what do they do? Bill Clinton's presidential center expanding, will add Hillary Clinton's personal archives Winfrey, Maddow and Schwarzenegger among those helping NYC's 92nd Street Y mark 150th anniversary

A grand jury investigating Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the US state of Georgia on Monday returned multiple indictments in what is...

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Geoff Duncan, former lieutenant governor of Georgia, had harsh words for Donald Trump on Monday after offering his testimony in the Fulton County grand jury investigation into the former president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. The former official argued it was time for the Republican party to move on from Mr Trump. “Politically speaking, this is a pivot point for this country to do something more than just stew on the 2020 election cycle,” he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’re either going to, as Republicans, take our medicine and realise the election wasn’t rigged and Donald Trump was the worst candidate ever, in the history of our party, even worse than [US Senate candidate] Herschel Walker.” “We want to win an election in 2024,” he added. “It’s going to have to be somebody other than Donald Trump.” Mr Trump railed against the Georgia official on Monday. "I am reading reports that failed former Lt. Governor of Georgia, Jeff Duncan, will be testifying before the Fulton County Grand Jury," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "He shouldn’t,” the former president added. “I barely know him but he was, right from the beginning of this Witch Hunt, a nasty disaster for those looking into the Election Fraud that took place in Georgia." Mr Duncan was one of the rare Republican officials to affirm the results of the 2020 election, and he condemned Mr Trump in 2021 for a call to Georgia officials pressuring them to “find” enough votes for Mr Trump to win the state. “I am 100 per cent certified to tell you that it was inappropriate. And it certainly did not help the situation,” he told CNN. “It was based on misinformation, it was based on, you know, all types of theories that have been debunked and disproved over the course of the last 10 weeks.” Read More Live updates: Trump rails against Georgia charges ‘leak’ as court claims document is fake Was Fulton County Court hacked? How a ‘fictitious’ Trump charge sheet brought chaos to Georgia grand jury Judge in Donald Trump’s hush-money case denies bias claim, won’t step aside

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