![]() She is not only well-versed in what it takes to get results through the state’s vast Rico Act, but as a prosecutor and now district attorney, Willis “cut her teeth” on major, politically divisive cases using the statute. In 2021, she hired Rico expert John Floyd to serve as a special assistant district attorney to work with lawyers in her office on any cases involving racketeering.Īccording to Cunningham, Willis’ use of the Rico Act to prosecute Trump would be a “stroke of genius”. While the tools she would use if she chose to prosecute Trump are still unknown, she has reportedly said she is considering using the state’s Rico law. Willis’ office declined the Guardian’s request for an interview, saying she would not speak to the media in the days before the 24 January hearing. “I have right now more Rico indictments in the last 18 months, 20 months, than were probably done in the last 10 years out of this office,” she said. In a recent interview with the Washington Post, Willis praised the utility of Georgia’s law. ![]() Prosecutors can bring charges under many different state and federal laws to allege a pattern of misconduct, and convictions carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. ![]() Georgia’s Rico Act, which dates back to 1980, can be used more broadly than the more strict federal Rico statute, Cunningham said. If you attempt to do that, if you solicit someone else to do it or you coerce someone else to do it – it’s all considered racketeering under Georgia law.” ![]() “If you do that, you’ve committed a racketeering activity. “Among the things that are considered racketeering activity in the state of Georgia is knowingly and willfully making a false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation in any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of state government,” said Clark D Cunningham, a professor of law at Georgia State University. Though no official charges have been brought in the Trump investigation, experts believe that Rico charges are a very real possibility for the former president. The first two cases fall under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or Rico Act. Though the cases of teachers forging test scores and the alleged crimes of a local gang may, on their face, seem to have nothing to do with the alleged election interference of a former president, Willis is alleging that all of these cases illustrate a pattern of organized crime. More recently, Willis brought a case against a supposed Georgia gang known as YSL, including charges against rappers Yung Thug and Gunna. Willis was a lead prosecutor in the 2013 prosecution of educators in Atlanta accused of inflating students’ scores on standardized tests. Willis, who has not shied away from high-profile cases, has made headlines for her aggressive style of prosecution. Now, in a hearing on Tuesday, the special purpose grand jury and the presiding judge will decide whether to release to the public the final report and findings of the grand jury that was seated to investigate Trump and his allies. The following month, Willis launched an investigation into Trump’s interference in the state’s general election. The next day, according to reports, Trump called rad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, urging him to “find” the nearly 12,000 votes he needed to secure a victory and overturn the election results. Willis assumed office on 1 January 2021, becoming the first Black woman in the position. But as she celebrated her promotion, Trump and his allies set in motion a flurry of unfounded claims of voter fraud in Georgia, the state long hailed as a Republican stronghold for local and national elections. Fani Willis was elected Fulton county district attorney just days before the conclusion of the 2020 presidential election. ![]()
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