Georgia Criminal Investigation of Trump Heats Up; District Attorney Issued Demand for Records; Subpoenas In May
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The Criminal Investigation Of Donald Trump And Lindsey Graham Heats Up
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 26, 2021) - The criminal investigation of former president Donald Trump and U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham is heating up, with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis issuing an open records demand for all audio recordings and other communications between Trump and the office of the Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, reports public interest law professor John Banzhaf.
This comes as her criminal investigators have reportedly grown frustrated with the alleged lack of full cooperation by Raffensperger's office; a refusal to cooperate which might even rise to the level of a criminal obstruction of justice sufficient to require the issuance of subpoenas to force some of the Secretary's staff members to provide testimony under oath and to share other important information, says Banzhaf, whose criminal complaint against Trump triggered the investigation.
In any event, it appears the her office will begin issuing formal subpoenas to many involved in the matter early in May.
After receiving Banzhaf's complaint, Willis announced an investigation which includes "but is not limited to, potential violations of Georgia election law prohibiting the solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local government bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office, and any involvement in violence of threats related to the election’s administration.”
Willis' decision to investigate whether the former president might be guilty of a criminal conspiracy came as a surprise to many, but not to those familiar with her record.
A RICO Case Against Trump
Indeed, she recently hired one of the country's leading experts on state racketeering cases to help conduct the investigation; a further signal that the DA in hoping to bring a RICO case against him, says Banzhaf.
Although Willis is already very familiar with Georgia's far reaching RICO statute as a result of winning an unusual RICO case against some teachers who had cheated, she has nevertheless engaged the lawyer who literally wrote the book on state RICO prosecutions - “RICO State by State: A Guide to Litigation Under the State Racketeering Statutes” - to help her carry out a wide ranging investigation which she had earlier said would include possible racketeering activity.
Prof. Banzhaf, who is familiar with the federal RICO statute since he produced the memo which led to the federal government's successful RICO prosecution against the major tobacco companies, points out that the Georgia RICO statute is even more powerful and far reaching than the federal one.
Among other things, it defines racketeering more broadly than the federal law does, takes less to prove a pattern of racketeering activity, and does not always require the existence of an enterprise - especially an illegal or criminal enterprise - to constitute racketeering. For example, the "enterprise" used in the RICO teacher-cheating case was a school.
Also, notes Banzhaf, although RICO requires at least two independent illegal racketeering activities - "predicate acts" - to prove a pattern of corruption by Trump and his alleged co-conspirators, making false statements such as Trump and some of his allies are alleged to have made would satisfy Georgia's RICO law.
The Penalty Of Racketeering
Racketeering, which is a felony in Georgia, can carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison, a hefty fine, and disgorgements of ill-gotten gains. Most felons in Georgia convicted of racketeering offenses do serve time in prison, Banzhaf notes.
This RICO probe is probably the most serious legal threat Trump faces now that he no longer enjoys any protection as president, notes Banzhaf.
It is a very far ranging statute which permits wide disclosure and has a very heavy penalty.
It is also in the hands of a prosecutor who is a Democrat in a heavily Democratic county. Therefore, most members of a grand jury, and of any criminal trial juries in this county, are likely to be very unfriendly to Trump, Banzhaf suggests.
