The Georgia grand jury indictment of former President Donald Trump and 18 of his allies on an array of 41 counts related to their alleged criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the Peach State clocked in at 98 pages.
Between and beyond the legalese, however, are a number of claims made about the facts of the case that prosecutors led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis say constitute "overt acts in the furtherance of the conspiracy" they allege took place. But are they really as conspiratorial as the indictment says? We'll let our readers decide.
A handful of acts included in the indictment outlined seemingly innocuous activities that have raised eyebrows and gotten called out as criticism mounts after the indictment was unsealed:
Act 6. On or about the 21st day of November 2020, MARK RANDALL MEADOWS sent a text message to United States Representative Scott Perry from Pennsylvania and stated, "Can you send me the number for the speaker and the leader of PA Legislature. POTUS wants to chat with them." This was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.
Act 22. On or about the 3rd day of December 2020, DONALD JOHN TRUMP caused to be tweeted from the Twitter account @RealDonaldTrump, "Georgia hearings now on @OANN. Amazing!" This was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.
Act 26. On or about the 3rd day of December 2020, DONALD JOHN TRUMP caused to be tweeted from the Twitter account @RealDonaldTrump, "Wow! Blockbuster testimony taking place right now in Georgia. Ballot stuffing by Dems when Republicans were forced to leave the large counting room. Plenty more coming, but this alone leads to an easy win of the State!" This was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.
Act 27. On or about the 3rd day of December 2020, DONALD JOHN TRUMP caused to be tweeted from the Twitter account @RealDonaldTrump, "People in Georgia got caught cold bringing in massive numbers of ballots and putting them in 'voting' machines. Great job @BrianKempGA!" This was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.
Act 45. On or about the 8th day of December 2020, MICHAEL A. ROMAN sent a text message to unindicted co-conspirator individual 4, whose identity is known to the Grand Jury, stated that he had spoken to MISTY HAMPTON, and asked unindicted co-conspirator Individual 4 to "get" MISTY HAMPTON to attend the hearing before the Georgia House of Representatives Governmental Affairs Committee on December 10, 2020. This was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.
Act 57. On or about the, 11th day of December 2020, DAVID JAMES SHAFER reserved Room 216 at the Georgia State Capitol in Fulton County, Georgia, for the December 14, 2020, meeting of Trump presidential elector nominees in Fulton County, Georgia. This was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.
By burying more serious counts (such as for allegedly lying under oath to investigators) among seemingly normal actions (such as Trump's well-established practice of tweeting about what he was watching on TV or his aides reaching out to Republican members of Congress for meetings) seriously undermines the seriousness D.A. Willis insists lies with her case.
The state of Georgia criminally indicted the former president of the United States for tweeting that people should turn on the television.
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) August 15, 2023
They criminally indicted the White House chief of staff for asking for a phone number.
And they criminally indicted the former GOP state…
Should this confounding pile of charges, counts, and defendants have ever been filed? That was up to the Fulton County grand jury. Is Fani Willis' case a strong one? The scrambling kitchen sink-level indictment suggests otherwise. But now, it's up to Trump's legal team to defend the former president who remains entitled to a presumption of innocence on all counts and charges.
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