You may recall how Fani Willis recently asked judges to clear their schedules during the first half of August and sent a letter to 21 Fulton County officials announcing plans to have 70 percent of her staff work completely remote during the first three weeks of August. She also spoke to local law enforcement agencies alerting them of impending indictments coming out of her office between July 11 and September 1, and asked them for “heightened security and preparedness” which would be needed at that time.
Everybody said, “Whoa. What’s she got planned?” Maybe it’s this.
The state’s RICO statute is among the most expansive in the nation, allowing prosecutors to build racketeering cases around violations of both state and federal laws — and even activities in other states. If Willis does allege a multistate racketeering scheme with Trump at its center, the case could test the bounds of the controversial law and make history in the process. The statute calls for penalties of up to 20 years in prison.
“Georgia’s RICO statute is basically two specified criminal acts that have to be part of a pattern of behavior done with the same intent or to achieve a common result or that have distinguishing characteristics,” said John Malcolm, a former Atlanta-based federal prosecutor who is now a constitutional scholar at the conservative Heritage Foundation. “That’s it. It’s very broad. That doesn’t mean it’s appropriate to charge a former president, but that also doesn’t mean she can’t do it or won’t do it.”
Among Willis’s latest areas of scrutiny is the Trump campaign’s expenditure of more than $1 million on two firms to study whether electoral fraud occurred in the 2020 election, the two individuals said. The Post first reported earlier this year that the work was carried out in the final weeks of 2020, and the campaign never released the findings because the firms, Simpatico Software Systems and Berkeley Research Group, disputed many of Trump’s theories and could not offer any proof that he was the rightful winner of the election.
In recent days, Willis’s office has asked both firms for information — not only about Georgia, but about other states as well. Trump contested the 2020 election result in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
This could be epic. If what is speculated here actually comes to fruition and an expansive RICO investigation involving many states takes place, this could be epic.
What’s particularly interesting is that Willis has expanded her investigation outside Georgia, which takes her firmly into Smith’s territory. The two consulting firms mentioned in the Post story don’t appear to have done anything wrong. Their significance is that they provided trump with hard evidence that the election wasn’t rigged, which he then ignored and went on to attempt a coup. I think the charges Willis will bring forward under Georgia’s RICO legislation will involve the attempted substitution of fake electors in several states, including Georgia. She will probably make the case that the ring leader behind this plot was the big cheese himself, using his call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to ‘find’ 11,780 votes as evidence, along with several other recorded calls she has reportedly obtained. If Fani is coordinating her investigation with Jack Smith, we could see a veritable host of individuals charged, with the figure at the top of this thickly-iced, prosecutor mouth-watering cake being our favorite and soon-to-be indicted mob boss.
‘That doesn’t mean it’s appropriate to charge a former president’
When the hell did this stupid idea take hold?
It is absolutely and completely appropriate to charge anyone and everyone if there is evidence of crimes committed, former and current presidents included. No-one is above the law or it’s enforcement.
Indeed, it is completely inappropriate to not charge anyone when there is clear and unambiguous evidence of serious crimes committed when the reason given for not charging is anyone’s societal status.
Justice delayed is justice denied is a phrase that cuts both ways.
You have to understand that this ‘scholar’ is with a fascist organization that pumps out fascist judges and lawyers. In their world most laws don’t apply to Republican fascists. By the same token, if it is Liberals or just the American people in general that need hurtin’ the judge can just twist the laws and Constitution around to provide the desired hurt. I wish my cat would puke in his lap and my dog piss on his feet. If I had a parakeet I would wish it would poop on his head. Then I wish his wife would divorce him and take everything he has and that he ended up living at the YMCA.
The one beautiful thing about the Georgia investigation that if (or when) he’s sentenced – he CAN’T pardon himself
Yes, but that scumbag Kemp could.
Um, sorry, but not correct. From the Wiki article on the “Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles”:
The Board is the primary authority in Georgia assigned the power to grant pardons, paroles, and other forms of clemency. Parole is the discretionary decision of the Board to release a certain offender from confinement after the offender has served an appropriate portion of a prison sentence. Persons on parole remain under state supervision and control according to conditions that, if violated, allow for re-imprisonment.
Georgia is one of nine (9) states in the United States with a Board of Pardons and Paroles that exclusively grants all state pardons.
Also:
Georgia is one of the three states whose governor does not have the authority to grant clemency, although the governor retains indirect influence by virtue of his power to appoint board members. Prior to the board’s establishment (in 1943), Georgian governors did have this power . . . .
And, from the Board’s webpage:
To qualify for a Pardon for offenses other than sex offenses which require you to be listed on Georgia’s Sex Offender Registry:
● You must have completed all sentence(s) at least five (5) years prior to applying.
● You must have lived a law-abiding life during the five (5) years prior to applying.
● You cannot have any pending charges.
● All fines must be paid in full.
(On top of all that, the pardon must be applied for with an actual paper application that’s filled out.)