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Georgia criminal probe poses greatest threat to Trump

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Frankie Taggart, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Former President Donald Trump speaks in Wellington, Ohio, on June 26, 2021 in his first big campaign-style rally since leaving the White House. Stephen Zenner, AFP/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/afp/06/28/20210626-us-trump-ohio-afp.jpg"/><figcaption>Former President Donald Trump speaks in Wellington, Ohio, on June 26, 2021 in his first big campaign-style rally since leaving the White House. <em>Stephen Zenner, AFP/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>WASHINGTON, United States - Prime-time congressional hearings and an unprecedented FBI raid on his home have ramped up legal pressures on Donald Trump, but analysts say a slow-moving, lower key investigation in Georgia could be the case that finally brings him down.</p><p>Scrutiny of the former president&#x27;s effort to overturn the 2020 election in the state he lost to Joe Biden by fewer than 12,000 votes is intensifying as he eyes a third run for the White House in 2024.</p><p>The 76-year-old former reality TV star immediately cried foul after becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to lose Georgia in almost three decades.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/08/13/22/fbi-seizes-top-secret-documents-from-trumps-home">FBI seizes &#x27;top secret&#x27; documents from Trump&#x27;s home</a></li></ul><p>But after three presidential ballot counts and the failure of numerous lawsuits, no evidence of significant voter fraud surfaced in the critical swing state.</p><p>Trump nevertheless meddled repeatedly in Georgia politics, pushing for secretary of state Brad Raffensperger in a now-infamous taped phone call to &quot;find&quot; enough votes to overturn Biden&#x27;s victory.</p><p>A group of Brookings Institution legal experts wrote in October last year that Trump&#x27;s post-election conduct in the state &quot;leaves him at substantial risk of possible state charges predicated on multiple crimes.&quot; </p><p>In May, Fulton County&#x27;s top prosecutor Fani Willis assembled a special grand jury to investigate attempts by Trump and his allies to overturn Georgia&#x27;s election results.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MLlWiPkfAFU?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div><strong>&#x27;Legal exposure&#x27;</strong></div><p>A potentially year-long process, the probe could end in Trump facing a raft of solicitation and conspiracy charges connected to election fraud and interference, according to legal experts.</p><p>The former president -- who denies all wrongdoing -- could also face prosecution under Georgia&#x27;s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute, which is usually used to nail down mob figures.</p><p>Willis has already amassed significant testimony from Trump&#x27;s inner circle, including his former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who has been informed he is the target of criminal investigators.</p><p>Georgia Governor Brian Kemp -- whom Trump berated repeatedly for certifying the 2020 election results, his duty under the law -- was ordered by a judge Monday to testify after November&#x27;s midterm elections.</p><p>Raffensperger and Georgia attorney general Chris Carr, who was also pushed by Trump to contest the state&#x27;s vote count, have already appeared before the grand jury. </p><p>Meanwhile Trump&#x27;s ex-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows is fighting his own summons, as is the former president&#x27;s Senate ally Lindsey Graham, who denies accusations that he improperly suggested that Georgia toss out lawful mail-in ballots. </p><p>&quot;Willis seeking testimony from additional Donald Trump allies, including Mark Meadows, is a sign of how serious this investigation is -- and how concerned Trump should be about his own legal exposure,&quot; Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, posted on Twitter on Friday.</p><p>Former assistant US attorney Kevin O&#x27;Brien, a seasoned trial lawyer specializing in white-collar criminal defense, cautioned that a high-profile witness list does not necessarily equate to a nailed-on prosecution. </p><div><strong>&#x27;Big freaking deal&#x27;</strong></div><p>State prosecutors generally have less expertise for white-collar investigations than the federal justice department, O&#x27;Brien told AFP, advocating for a &quot;wait-and-see attitude&quot; to the potential for charges. </p><p>&quot;(The) proof will be in the pudding,&quot; he added. &quot;Trump has thus far escaped all accountability for his actions, whether in Georgia or elsewhere.&quot;</p><p>Other experts say, however, that the Georgia investigation differs from the federal probes in key ways that may make prosecution more likely than an indictment from the federal justice department.</p><p>David French, a former attorney turned conservative commentator, believes Trump faces criminal exposure over the 2021 insurrection, but has long held the view that Trump&#x27;s primary risk was in Georgia.</p><p>&quot;You can take some criminal statutes -- both Georgia and federal -- and just pretty much match it up with his conduct,&quot; he said on a recent episode of current affairs podcast The Fifth Column. </p><p>&quot;Let me put it this way: if he was a small-town sheriff, and he had called a local county election commissioner and said, &#x27;I need 50 more votes or, you know, you might find yourself arrested,&#x27; he&#x27;d probably already be indicted.</p><p>&quot;But he&#x27;s the former president of the United States. That&#x27;s a big, big freaking deal to indict him. And I don&#x27;t know if that will happen, but Georgia to me has always been a greater risk for him.&quot;</p><p>ft/md</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

Prime-time congressional hearings and an unprecedented FBI raid on his home have ramped up legal pressures on Donald Trump.

Georgia criminal probe poses greatest threat to Trump

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Georgia criminal probe poses greatest threat to Trump

Frankie Taggart,

Agence France-Presse

Published Aug 30, 2022 10:43 AM PHT

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