Democratic leaders and Never Trump influencers today are cheering the vast Georgia indictment of former President Donald Trump for his efforts to change the outcome of the 2020 election, and hope it leads to a larger case that takes down any Republican who questioned the election of President Joe Biden.
As the late-night indictment announced by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is digested in Washington, some believe that it could be used as the model to bring charges against the 136 House Republicans who backed Trump’s election fraud case, key senators including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and top GOP officials including party Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
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In notes to supporters and online blog posts, they are arguing that the racketeering case Willis brought to her grand jury is a more fulfilling representation of how Democrats see the 2020 election and Jan. 6, 2021, riots than the laser-focused indictment brought by federal special counsel Jack Smith.
“We are now coming to understand that the vast conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election was a party-wide Republican effort, involving hundreds of prominent Republicans across the U.S., including the RNC chair. We need to be calling it now ‘The Republican Party’s effort to overturn the election’ and not just limit it to Trump, or ‘Trump and his allies,’” Democratic adviser Simon Rosenberg wrote in his daily memo to top officials.
This is basically a Rico indictment of the Republican Party. As it should be. Every Republican elected official who refused to acknowledge the winner of the 2020 election is an unindicted co-conspirator.
— Stuart Stevens (@stuartpstevens) August 15, 2023
Republican Never Trump leader Stuart Stevens posted a similar thought. “This is basically a Rico indictment of the Republican Party. As it should be. Every Republican elected official who refused to acknowledge the winner of the 2020 election is an unindicted co-conspirator.”
For some, the new indictment is the natural follow-up to the FBI’s investigation and charging of some 1,000 people in the Capitol riots. The agency has plans to double that number.
Rosenberg touched on that after Smith filed his Jan. 6 indictment against Trump.
“We know the DOJ has already successfully prosecuted over 1,000 people for their role in the effort to overturn the election. The next 100-200 charged could be prominent Republicans across the US and in battleground states. For the effort to overturn the election was backed by the Republican Party itself, and Republican leaders in Washington (Lindsay Graham, etc) and across the US. This is serious stuff,” he said.
The special prosecutor established this was a vast conspiracy to overturn the election. It was.
It was a Republican Party-wide conspiracy involving hundreds of prominent Republicans across the US.
GA law mandates jail time for those convicted. pic.twitter.com/GPXjnAZH79
— Simon Rosenberg (@SimonWDC) August 15, 2023
Today he wrote, “While the special prosecutor only charged Trump, he is attempting to establish that Trump helped lead a vast conspiracy to overturn the election, one that involved hundreds of prominent Republicans across the U.S.”
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He added:
“These crimes against our democracy are the most serious political crimes in American history, and all efforts to downplay, minimize, wish them away – ‘locker room talk’ – are a betrayal of our democracy and democracies all across the world. Our collective understanding now of what it means to be a ‘Republican’ will soon be:
- Lincoln – freed the slaves, saved the Union.
- Reagan – helped end Communism, ensured freedom and democracy prevailed.
- Trump/GOP Leaders Across the US – tried, unsuccessfully for now, to end American democracy and establish a fascist dictatorship.”
