The 41-count indictment delivered by a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia on Tuesday is the fourth criminal indictment of former President Donald Trump. The indictment alleges that Trump and 18 others engaged in an organized conspiracy to overturn the results of that state’s presidential election in 2020.
Georgia was a critical state in the 2020 election. It flipped from Republican to Democrat and helped deliver President Joe Biden to victory. In the weeks after the election, the state was one of the main focuses of the Trump team’s efforts to challenge the election result. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said at a press conference following delivery of the indictment that she intends to try all 19 defendants together, and she will request that the trial begin within the next six months.
That could be “incredibly difficult, especially to pull off in six months because every defendant is going to be entitled to discovery,” said Chris Gramiccioni, former Monmouth County prosecutor and former assistant U.S. attorney for New Jersey, who added, “And then when you overlay that with the other three prosecutions that in time occurred before this one, I just don’t know how it sorts out within six months, but it’s going to be a challenge.”
The key in the Georgia case, Gramiccioni said, is “proving criminal intent.”
“We’re watching history be made here,” he said.
