Ex-US president, Donald Trump has labeled the latest indictment charges against him as a “witch hunt”, while his lawyers have described the situation as “shocking and absurd.”
Writing on his Truth Social network, Donald Trump condemns a “witch hunt” against him.
Trump writes: “What about those indictment documents put out today, long before the grand jury even voted, and then quickly withdrawn? Sounds rigged to me!”
He suggested the charges against him are politically motivated, adding: “Why didn’t they indict 2.5 years ago? Because they wanted to do it right in the middle of my political campaign.”
Trump was hit with 13 criminal counts out of 41 in the new indictment.
The former president has been charged alongside 18 other people in a 41-count indictment, under Georgia’s Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
The investigation into the group was launched after a leaked recording of a phone call in which Trump asked Georgia’s top election official to “find 11,780 votes”
The law created in 1970 initially targeted mob activity but has since been applied to pursue other acts, such as white-collar fraud and official corruption.
RICO allows legislators the authority to group together a number of seemingly unrelated actions by many individuals if they are thought to achieve the same goal.
Trump is also accused of conspiring to commit impersonating a public official, soliciting a breach of the oath of a public officer, forging documents, making false claims, and writing and filing false documents.
Trump’s lawyers have released a statement calling the developments on Monday “shocking and absurd”.
This latest indictment relates to his alleged attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election in the key state of Georgia.
Other key players charged alongside him include his former lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and former justice department official Jeffrey Clark.
Fulton County attorney general Fani Willis, the head prosecutor, said all 19 defendants will be charged together and have been given until 25 August to surrender.
Willis said Trump’s alleged accomplices took part in an “illegal effort” to “seize the presidential term of office”
Trump has been charged with criminal offenses for the fourth time in as many months.
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