Georgia charges against 5 Trump enablers, explained

The indictment unveiled in Georgia late Monday night charged former President Trump with 13 crimes.

But unlike the other three indictments Trump faces, Georgia’s case sees a plethora of aides, lawyers and supporters charged, as well.

In addition to Trump, 18 people have been indicted as a result of the probe spearheaded by Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis (D).

In aggregate, prosecutors paint a picture of a concerted effort to thwart the will of Georgia voters. The alleged quest encompassed several component parts and a number of big names, all seeking to aid Trump and his desire to stay in power. Here are five of the best-known people enabling Trump and a summary of the charges against them.

No arraignments have taken place yet, but it is widely assumed — based in part on previous public statements — the defendants will plead not guilty to all charges.

Rudy Giuliani: 13 counts

The former New York City mayor and Trump lawyer is charged with racketeering under Georgia’s anti-racketeering and corruption statutes, as are all the other defendants.

But Giuliani faces numerous other charges. Among them are soliciting a public officer to violate their oath, several offenses relating to false statements and two counts of conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree. His 13 counts are the same number as Trump’s and more than any other co-defendant.

The indictment outlines a number of acts that prosecutors allege constitute crimes.

For example, it posits that Giuliani’s presentation to members of the Georgia Senate, while Trump and his allies were seeking to overturn the 2020 election result in the state, amounted to soliciting those members to violate their oaths of office.

It further contends Giuliani “knowingly” and “willfully” made false statements and representations at that meeting — such as that a voting machine in Michigan recorded 6,000 votes for President Biden that had actually been cast for Trump.

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A separate count alludes to a meeting later the same month — December 2020 — with members of the Georgia House. 

The indictment lists even more false statements allegedly made by Giuliani then, including untrue allegations of fraud by named election workers at the vote count in an Atlanta arena.

The forgery charges pertain to an apparent effort to put forward unauthorized pro-Trump electors in Georgia, in effect overturning the election’s outcome.

John Eastman: 9 counts

Eastman, an attorney, only came to widespread public attention because of his pro-Trump efforts.

He is charged with many of the same offenses as Giuliani, including racketeering and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer.

Eastman was also party to the December 2020 meeting with Georgia state senators.

One intriguing detail in the indictment is the mention of a phone call in December 2020 by Trump and Eastman to Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. 

According to the indictment, the call was made “to request her assistance” in finding people willing to serve as pro-Trump electors in contravention of the official election results. The indictment considers this call “an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.” 

McDaniel has not been charged with any crime.

The indictment also refers to a New Year’s Eve 2020 court filing from Eastman and Trump, suing for “injunctive relief” regarding the Georgia results. Prosecutors allege the duo had “reason to know” the filing contained “materially false statements.”

Prosecutors further allege Eastman “sent an e-mail to attorneys associated with the Trump Campaign admitting his knowledge that at least some of the allegations in the verified complaint were not accurate.”

Sidney Powell: 7 counts

Powell was a controversial lawyer even inside Trump World, where some loyalists considered her claims outlandish.

The charges against Powell, beyond racketeering, are different from many of the other co-defendants.

Powell is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud; three counts related to computer theft, computer trespass, and computer invasion of privacy; and an additional charge of conspiracy to defraud the state.

The computer-related charges pertain to Powell’s apparent efforts to prove claims of fraud by delving into how the election was conducted in a strongly pro-Trump county, Coffee County.

The indictment includes the allegation that Powell and other allies “unlawfully conspired to use a computer with knowledge that such use was without authority and with the intention of removing voter data and Dominion Voting Systems Corporation data from said computer.”

It contends the same group — Powell and three others — also conspired by roughly the same means “with the intention of examining personal voter data with knowledge that such examination was without authority.”

Mark Meadows: 2 counts

Meadows was Trump’s chief of staff in the last year of his White House tenure, having served in Congress representing a North Carolina district and leading the House Freedom Caucus.

In addition to the racketeering charge, Meadows is charged — jointly with Trump — with soliciting a violation of oath from a public officer.

The charge seemingly refers to the infamous phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) on Jan. 2, 2021. On the call, which was recorded, Trump urged Raffensperger to “find” exactly enough votes to overtake President Biden’s narrow margin of victory in the state.

Meadows was also on that hourlong call and spoke up on occasion.

Jeffrey Clark: 2 counts

Clark has been a deeply contentious figure since dramatic developments at the Department of Justice were revealed by The New York Times in late January 2021.

According to the Times, Clark, a department official at the time, secretly met with Trump, who was still president, without the knowledge of his superiors. 

As characterized by the Times, Clark and Trump devised a “plot” that would have seen the acting attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, ousted and Clark replace him. 

Clark would also have sent a letter to Georgia officials contending the Department of Justice found “significant concerns” with voting in 2020 that “may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple states.”

This was untrue. Rosen’s predecessor William Barr told Trump — and had said publicly in an Associated Press interview — there was no evidence of voting irregularities on a scale that could have changed the election’s outcome.

The Trump-Clark plan faded after senior leaders at the Justice Department threatened to resign in protest.

Clark is now charged with racketeering and with a criminal attempt to commit false statements and writings.