Trump files motions to dismiss charges in Georgia election case
NBCSep 01, 2023
The Facts
According to court documents, former president Donald Trump's White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former Trump US Dept. of Justice (DOJ) official Jeffrey Clark, Trump's personal attorney John Eastman, and 19 others have pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges in the Georgia election interference case.
Meadows, who is trying to have his case moved out of Georgia and into federal court by arguing his actions at the time fell under federal law, pled not guilty to two felonies — one for violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law and one for soliciting a public official to violate their oath.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
While being a bad lawyer isn't a crime, breaking laws in an effort to help your client certainly is, and there is plenty of legal precedent to prove it. Defending Trump through legal means would be one thing, but helping a sitting president to line up fake electors — as it appears both Eastman and Giuliani did — is engaging in a criminal scheme not protected by attorney-client privilege. These defendants are guilty of the same things Trump did, which is why the justice system is doing its job and leaving no stone unturned.
Pro-Trump narrative
Besides the obvious political nature of this case — a partisan Democrat District Attorney (DA) prosecuting a Republican presidential candidate — Fulton County DA Fanni Willis is wrongly charging these defendants as a "criminal organization." This is nonsense, as these individuals were never part of the same organization. If Willis couldn't find solid evidence of an overarching conspiracy — and her definition of an "organization" is slippery — it seems this case can't go very far if conducted in a fair and balanced manner.
