On August 14, Donald Trump and eighteen others were indicted by a Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury. It will be known by some as “the night the indictment went down in Georgia,” or by others, “the night they drove old Trumpy down.” All of the defendants will have Georgia on their mind, since they will be waiting a long time for a trial; I doubt this case will be tried before the election, and I expect that it will be the last of the four cases tried. The unknown is whether the defendants will band together or some of them will try to cooperate as part of a plea deal.
It is not unusual for there to be coordination between Federal United States Attorneys and State District Attorneys. I figure that there was coordination between Fulton County DA Fani Willis and Special Prosecutor Jack Smith. The Georgia special grand jury had made its decision months ago; I think Willis was waiting for Jack Smith to file his charges. Also, she wanted to see how broad his indictment would be. Smith only charged Trump because he wanted the case to go quickly. That gave Willis the chance to go after the others involved. Another advantage of charging many individuals is that it gives more people an incentive to cooperate in Smith’s case.
What has been a troubling trend is the continued intimidation by Trump and his supporters of individuals in the legal system. Trump has gone after the judge in the New York State case and the DC federal case and all of the prosecutors. One of his followers was arrested for threatening the judge in the DC case. Personal information about the grand jurors who indicted Trump in Georgia was plastered over the internet with the intention of intimidating them and others who may want to be on a panel. Trump told a witness who was subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury not to show up. The day after Trump pled not guilty to the federal 2020 election interference charges, he said, “If you go after me, I’m coming after you!” Why isn’t there any outcry from those who like to call themselves “the law-and-order party”? Many of you have been jurors or grand jurors. How would you like it if your personal information and your photograph were widely disseminated with instructions to harass you?
Trump also tried to play his game of stating that he has evidence to show that the Georgia election was tainted and that he won Georgia. He promised to disclose it on Monday, August 21. He then backed out, blaming his lawyers. It wasn’t his lawyers. Right after Trump made his claim, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp came out with a statement that “the 2020 election in Georgia was not stolen. For nearly three years now, anyone with evidence of fraud has failed to come forward – under oath – and prove anything in a court of law.” “Our elections in Georgia are secure, accessible, and fair, and will continue to be as long as I am governor.”
Likewise, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in response to the indictment, stated: “The most basic principles of a strong democracy are accountability and respect for the Constitution and rule of law.” “You either have it, or you don’t.” Trump, like the bully he is, backed down when confronted.
The Republican Party’s backbone in Georgia is why an indictment was filed in Georgia alleging criminal conduct by Trump among others concerning the 2020 election although some of the factual allegations relate to conduct that occurred in other states.
Since the 2020 election, the governor, secretary of state, and other election officials have repeatedly defended Georgia from the false claims by Trump and his allies about irregularities and that Trump won the state.
It has not only been the elected officials who have stood up to Trump. Trump put up candidates in the Republican primary against the incumbent governor and the secretary of state. Trump’s candidates were resoundingly defeated. Also, some Republicans joined Independents and Democrats to defeat Trump’s handpicked candidate Herschel Walker and the sitting Republican member of the Senate. They didn’t like Trump attacking the results of the election. Georgia doesn’t like sore losers like Trump or Stacy Abrams, the Democratic Party candidate for governor who refused to concede her loss in 2018. Ms. Abrams did much worse the second time.
Of course, with every state, there are outliers like Representative Majorie Taylor Greene, who is floating the idea that she should be Trump’s running mate. For Democrats, that would be a dream team. Some Republican members of the Georgia legislature suggested the idea of impeaching the district attorney because of the indictment and change the procedure for pardons. The governor’s spokesperson mockingly responded: “Where have I heard special session, changing decades-old law, and overturning constitutional precedent before? ...Oh right, prior to Republicans losing two Senate runoffs in January of 2021.”
Georgia has shown the way to sanity and the rule of law. Let’s hope the rest of the county, especially the red states, get the message. It’s time to speak truth to power and not let Trump get a free ride.
Warren S. Hecht is a local attorney. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
