Donald Trump made history by becoming the first former U.S. President to be convicted of a felony. In New York, Trump was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records prior to the 2016 election. Prosecutors proved that Trump was involved in an illegal conspiracy to undermine the 2016 election in connection with concealing hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Following the verdict, Trump spoke to media outside of the New York courtroom and said, “This was a great disgraceful trial, We didn’t do anything wrong. I’m a very innocent man. I’m fighting for our country. I’m fighting for our Constitution. Our whole country is being rigged right now. This was done by the Biden Administration. I think it’s a just a disgrace, and we’ll keep fighting until the end.”
Trump’s legal woes are far from over as he continues to run for President. A potentially more damaging case is the election interference case that he’s facing in Georgia. Led by D.A. Fani Willis, the Georgia case centers arounds Trump and his co-defendant’s attempt to steal the 2020 election.
But while the New York conviction has no direct correlation with the RICO case in Georgia, it could provide a legal roadmap for Willis and her team.
During trial, Willis could illustrate a pattern of election corruption that began before Trump won the presidency in 2016. The New York case reveals that Trump was willing to falsify documents in order to mislead the public during his run to the White House. In turn, a case can be made of a pattern of corruption that started before he was elected in 2016, and continued after he loss to Joe Biden in 2022.
The Georgia RICO case centers around the 2020 election probe when Trump asked former Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger during a phone call to help him secure over 11,000 votes, the amount in which he trailed Joe Biden in Georgia.
During a recorded call that took place on Jan. 2, 2021, Trump told Raffensperger, “All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”
However, Willis’ case in Georgia has been stalled multiple times after defense lawyers argued over her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
After a months-long hearing over the relationship, Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Willis and Wade’s relationship did not impact the defendants and called for Wade or Willis to step down from the case. Wade eventually stepped down from his position.
Weeks later, the Georgia Court of Appeals decided to consider a challenge to McAfee’s ruling to allow Willis to remain on the case.
It’s unlikely that Trump will face a trial in Georgia before the November election. But if President Biden is re-elected, Trump could face years behind bars if convicted in Georgia in 2025.
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