Trump appears at ‘substantial risk’ of prosecution in Georgia: think tank

by Julia Shapero - 11/15/22 12:19 PM ET

Former President Trump appears to be at “substantial risk” of criminal prosecution over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution.

The think tank suggested that based on the publicly available evidence, Trump and his allies could face several election-related and other criminal charges in Fulton County’s investigation.

“I don’t see how he does not get criminally charged together with others who were involved in both of those schemes,” Norm Eisen, one the report’s authors, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis launched a probe into potential election interference in May 2021, which has since drawn in some of the biggest names in the GOP. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have both unsuccessfully fought subpoenas from Willis.

The Brookings report suggested that Trump and his allies — such as attorney Rudy Giuliani and a fake slate of 16 GOP electors — could face charges for solicitation to commit election fraud, intentional interference with the performance of election duties, interference with primaries and elections and conspiracy to commit election fraud.

The former president and the others could also face charges for making false statements, false swearing, influencing witnesses, forgery, solicitation of other crimes and racketeering, according to the report.

Brookings touted the House Jan. 6 committee in its report for supplying concrete evidence and public testimony during its summer hearings, which confirmed previously reported details and revealed new information about potential violations of Georgia law.

While the Brookings report examined several anticipated defenses from Trump, it found that they would be “meritless.”

“When you have behavior that is as far out as this, there is no protection for it,” Eisen said, per the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

The report comes as Trump is expected to announce a 2024 White House bid on Tuesday evening.