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Trump indictment: Here’s what’s next for the case in Georgia

Kevin Breuninger
Dan Mangan
Amanda Macias
Spencer Kimball

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis presented a Georgia grand jury Monday with the election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his allies.

Trump faces 13-count indictment from Georgia grand jury for alleged 2020 election interference
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Trump faces 13-count indictment from Georgia grand jury for alleged 2020 election interference
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Former President Donald Trump was indicted Monday night by a grand jury in Atlanta, Georgia, on charges he and his supporters attempted to interfere with the state's 2020 presidential election.

Trump allies charged in the Georgia indictment include:

  • Rudy Giuliani, attorney, former U.S. attorney, ex-New York mayor
  • John Eastman, attorney
  • Mark Meadows, former White House chief of staff
  • Jeffrey Clark, former Justice Department official
  • Sidney Powell, attorney
  • Jenna Ellis, attorney

The sweeping charges stem from a long-running criminal investigation into the efforts made by Trump and his allies to overturn President Joe Biden's victory in Georgia's 2020 presidential election.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis opened the probe in February 2021, just weeks after it was revealed that Trump had urged Georgia's secretary of state to "find" enough votes to reverse his loss in the Peach State.

Willis noted from the outset that she was investigating potential violations of state laws barring election fraud and lying to government entities, as well as conspiracy, racketeering and "any involvement in violence or threats" related to the administration of the 2020 election.

Trump and his co-defendants are due to surrender to Georgia authorities by Aug. 25. Warrants have been issued for their arrest, and Willis said she wants the case to go to trial within the next six months.

Follow our live coverage of Donald Trump's arrest in the Georgia election case.

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John Eastman calls Georgia indictment a 'legal cluster-bomb'

John Eastman, former lawyer to Donald Trump, speaks to members of the media after leaving the State Bar Court of California in Los Angeles, California, US, on Tuesday, June 20, 2023.
Eric Thayer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

John Eastman, the pro-Trump attorney and a co-defendant in the Georgia criminal case, argued that the indictment targets "activity that is political, but not criminal."

Eastman's attorney, Harvey Silverglate, released a statement saying the indictment "goes hand-in-glove with the recent effort to criminalize lawful political speech and legal advice" in violation of multiple constitutional rights.

"Lawyers everywhere should be sleepless over this latest stunt to criminalize their advocacy," the statement said. "This is a legal cluster-bomb that leaves unexploded ordinances for lawyers to navigate in perpetuity."

"Dr. Eastman will challenge this indictment in any and all forums available to him," the statement added.

Eastman faces nine counts in the indictment. A key player in Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, Eastman is perhaps best known for authoring a memo proposing the legal theory that then-Vice President Mike Pence had the authority to reject electoral votes while presiding over Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.

— Kevin Breuninger

Early release of sample Trump docket was a 'mishap,' Georgia court says

A Fulton County court clerk mistakenly posted an early "test sample" of a docket sheet that appeared to show charges being filed against former President Donald Trump hours before a grand jury voted on an indictment, the clerk explained Tuesday.

The "mishap" on Monday caused confusion that was quickly seized upon by Trump and his allies, who claimed the error demonstrated wrongdoing by the prosecutor.

Reuters first reported Monday afternoon that a docket report had been posted on, and then deleted from, the Fulton County court's website. The Fulton County clerk responded by calling the document "fictitious,"