The Democrats are frothing at the mouth to take down Donald Trump.
He’s being peppered with indictments from around the country.
But Trump’s RICO charges blindsided everyone.
The Democrats and their media allies want Donald Trump to be tied up in criminal court at least through the 2024 election cycle.
Unlike civil court proceedings, criminal defendants must be present in court every day, so Trump would presumably be forced to waste time in court instead of campaigning.
But one charge that could land Trump in hot water stems from Georgia.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is toying with the idea of using the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act to prosecute Trump.
The RICO Act was created to go after mob bosses whose organizations committed many crimes that would seem disconnected on the surface but were actually part of a criminal conspiracy.
A RICO case against Trump would give Willis broad powers to roll up multiple cases against Trump into one.
If mob charges are next, Americans have to wonder where it ends
Georgia State University law professor Anthony Michael Kries said, “Signs are certainly pointing in that direction.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that “Georgia’s RICO law is a powerful tool for Willis, who has skillfully applied it in the past, legal experts say. The state code is modeled after the federal statute, enacted in 1970 to help take down the mafia. Before RICO, it was difficult for prosecutors to connect mob bosses with their underlings who carried out crimes. More than 30 states have adopted RICO statutes based on the federal law.”
If RICO is applied, Trump could be punished for crimes that “his” underlings committed.
For example, Trump could potentially be charged based on what the January 6th protesters and rioters did.
Atlanta defense attorney Andrew Fleischman explained that RICO “gives prosecutors lots of choices as far as venue goes, and it leads to very long complicated trials that wear down defense attorneys.”
Mentioning anything political at the workplace watercooler could end careers if RICO is used against Trump
A long and complicated trial would serve the Democrats well in the 2024 Presidential campaign.
After a 2022 street gang case where RICO was invoked, Willis said, “I think jurors are very, very intelligent. They want to know what happened. They want to make an accurate decision about someone’s life. And so RICO is a tool that allows a prosecutor’s office and law enforcement to tell the whole story.”
A RICO case against Trump would open an entirely new can of worms.
Kreis added, “A lot of folks in Georgia have been critical of its use…It’s ripe for abuse given how open-ended it is relative to the federal law.”
That’s the last thing Trump’s legal team wanted to hear.
Stay tuned to Unmuzzled News for any updates to this ongoing story.
