Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger responded to the information {that a} Georgia grand jury indicted former president Donald Trump and his associates on fees associated to their makes an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election within the state.
The secretary launched a quick assertion.
“The most basic principles of a strong democracy are accountability and respect for the Constitution and rule of law. You either have it, or you don’t,” he stated.
Mr Trump known as Mr Raffensperger within the days after the election and requested for Mr Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” The Washington Post reported on the time.
But Mr Raffensperger, a Republican, rebuffed Mr Trump’s overtures. He later testified earlier than the January 6 choose committee about Mr Trump’s efforts to have him overturn the election outcomes and the threats he skilled.
In response, Mr Trump supported a major problem in opposition to Mr Raffensperger in final yr’s Republican major. But Mr Raffensperger triumphed and later received re-election in November.
The 98-page indictment unsealed on Monday night charged Mr Trump, in addition to his former chief of employees Mark Meadows, who joined the cellphone name with Mr Raffensperger; together with former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani; attorneys Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell; former regulation professor John Eastman; Trump marketing campaign lawyer Ken Cheseboro; and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark.
The twice-impeached four-times indicted former president faces 13 fees, together with a violation of Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) regulation, which fees individuals who interact within the service of a prison enterprise.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis stated defendants’ RICO fees accused them of “participation in a criminal enterprise in Fulton County, Georgia, and elsewhere, to accomplish the illegal goal of allowing Donald J. Trump to seize the presidential term of office, beginning on January 20, 2021”.
-Andrew Feinberg contributed reporting