(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has “basically moved on” from his conflict with The Walt Disney Co., he told CNBC on Monday, contending that Disney should “drop the lawsuit” it filed claiming a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” by DeSantis’ administration, which DeSantis denies.
Asked what he would tell Disney’s CEO Bob Iger, DeSantis said, “I would just say, ‘Go back to what you did well.’ I think it’s going to be the right business decision and all that.”
“But where we are today, you know, we’ve basically moved on,” he added. They’re suing the state of Florida, they’re going to lose that lawsuit. So what I would say is: Drop the lawsuit.”
DeSantis said he has not talked to Iger about the legal battle but would be willing to.
The comments mark a shift in tone for the governor, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and who has seemingly relished his fight with the corporate giant, which is the largest private employer in the state (and the parent company of ABC News).
DeSantis has regularly brought up Disney while on the campaign trail.
While the company claimed in its lawsuit, filed in April, that DeSantis “orchestrated … punishment for Disney’s protected speech” because Disney publicly opposed a state law restricting discussion of LGBTQ issues in the classroom, DeSantis has pushed back on that, arguing he is standing up to corporate overreach.
“There was a company in Central Florida that some of you may have heard of that wasn’t too happy with us called Disney. And at the end of the day, in Florida, usually whatever Disney wanted would be done … until I arrived on the scene,” he told a crowd in Oskaloosa, Iowa, last week.
At the same time, DeSantis has tied the clash with Disney to his larger criticism of so-called “woke” values, which is a key part of his presidential bid.
Iger has said Disney’s goal “is to continue to tell wonderful stories and have a positive, positive impact on the world.”
The bad blood dates to last year when Disney, under then-CEO Bob Chapek, opposed a new piece of legislation, titled the Parental Rights in Education Act, which sought to eliminate discussions of sexuality or gender identity in some K-12 classrooms. Critics denounced the legislation as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which its supporters oppose.
The state Legislature went on to pass a law, signed by DeSantis, to revoke Disney’s long-held special tax district in Florida.
DeSantis has maintained that he just wants a fair playing field for companies and that Disney’s special status, which allowed it to essentially self-govern the area around its Orlando theme parks, gave it unfair advantages. Florida has numerous other special districts, but DeSantis has insisted Disney didn’t need theirs.
“All we want to do is treat everybody the same and let’s move forward. I’m totally fine with that,” he said in the CNBC interview.
Some of his rivals for the Republican nomination have criticized DeSantis for butting heads with Disney.
“I don’t think Ron DeSantis is a conservative, based on his actions toward Disney,” former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said this spring.
Former President Donald Trump called it “so unnecessary.”
(WASHINGTON) — Congressional leaders in both parties are signaling an increased willingness to punt the deadline to fund the government to later this year, possibly delaying a looming government shutdown until the winter and buying lawmakers more time to hash out government funding bills.
During a closed call with the Republican conference last night focused on the upcoming government funding bills, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told his conference that he’s increasingly open to passing a stop-gap funding bill to keep the government funded past the current Sept. 30 deadline, a source familiar with the call told ABC News.
It’s a slight change in position for McCarthy, who was previously hesitant to endorse a short-term measure, called a continuing resolution, or “CR.”
“I do expect a short-term CR will be needed to finish all the work that we set out to do,” McCarthy told members during the closed call. “But I don’t want the Senate to jam us against the holidays.”
Congress returns after Labor Day, leaving them with just weeks to work out a path forward.
The arrangement McCarthy is proposing could see Congress voting in the coming weeks to keep the government funded at current levels possibly through early December. During a press call Tuesday morning, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was supportive of McCarthy’s proposal.
“I thought it was a good thing that he recognized that we need a CR in September. I am supportive of that,” Schumer said. “A CR until early December provides time for consideration of these bipartisan bills.”
Schumer said he and McCarthy discussed the need for a short-term funding measure during a meeting in late July, just before lawmakers departed for their month-long recess. An early December deadline “makes sense,” Schumer said.
It’s relatively rare to see McCarthy and Schumer in lockstep, especially on issues such as government funding. But just because McCarthy is prepared to embrace a short-term government funding bill doesn’t mean his far-right flank is.
Rep. Chip Roy, a member of the House Freedom Caucus — a conservative faction within the House GOP, said on Twitter Spaces Monday night that conservatives have to “hold the line” after McCarthy told members to expect a short-term CR.
“I don’t believe we should agree to a CR on Sept. 30,” Roy said.
Roy’s opposition is reflective of sentiments of the Freedom Caucus. At a press conference at the Capitol before breaking for August, some members of the Freedom Caucus said it was time for House Republicans to use every tool available to get the spending cuts they want.
For McCarthy, it will be a difficult a maneuver passing even a short-term funding bill: he will be fighting to remain in his position atop the conference while simultaneously looking to divert a shutdown.
McCarthy could pass a short-term bill without some of his Republican colleagues signing on, but will likely require the support of some House Democrats to get it over the finish line.
That’s why Schumer called on the House to “emulate” the Senate as negotiations continue. The Senate has so far handled its funding bills in a largely bipartisan matter, passing the bills out of committee with overwhelming support from both parties.
“If we do this in a bipartisan way, we can avoid a government shutdown,” Schumer said.
That may be easier said than done for McCarthy and House Republicans.
If lawmakers do manage to successfully avert a shutdown in September, there’s still a mountain of work between them and successful passage of all 12 government-funding bills. McCarthy’s Monday night call did little to ease concerns from some moderates about the larger process.
“I just got off a member call — it’s clear President Biden and Speaker McCarthy want a government shutdown, so that’s what Congress will do after we return in September,” Rep. Tony Gonzalez, moderate Republican from Texas, tweeted. “Everyone should plan accordingly.”
(ATLANTA) — With former President Donald Trump indicted on criminal charges for the fourth time, the pardoning process in Georgia has come into focus.
Trump and 18 other people were charged late Monday in a sweeping indictment under Georgia’s racketeering, or RICO, law for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
The indictment, which follows a yearslong probe by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, alleges that Trump, who faces 13 charges, made 13 false statements in his effort to overturn the election results.
Because RICO is a state charge, it cannot be pardoned by any president.
ABC News legal contributor Dan Abrams called the Fulton County indictment “more dangerous” for Trump compared to the federal charges he’s facing.
“It’s effectively pardon-proof, in the sense that with a federal case, if he wins the election, he can kind of make it go away,” Abrams said on “Good Morning America” on Tuesday. “This case, he can’t do that.”
Georgia’s RICO charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison if convicted.
In Georgia, a pardon is an “order of official forgiveness” only granted to those who have completed their sentence, according to the State Board of Pardons and Paroles’ website.
A pardon “does not expunge, remove or erase the crime from your record,” the website states. “It may serve as a means for a petitioner to advance in employment or education.”
A pardon will also restore civil and political rights.
In Georgia, pardon power does not rest with the governor (aka Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican) but with the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, a board within the state’s executive branch.
The State Board of Pardons and Paroles is made up of five members who are appointed by the governor and then confirmed by the state Senate for a seven-year term.
“Once confirmed, members would be insulated from political pressures by the fact that no one official could remove them from office until they completed their terms,” the State Board of Pardons and Paroles’ website states.
To qualify for a pardon in Georgia, according to the State Board of Pardons and Paroles’ website, you must have completed your sentence at least five years before applying. You must not have committed any crimes in those five years or have any pending charges, among other qualifications.
After the Fulton County grand jury indicted Trump, the former president announced he will hold a press briefing on Monday to present a “Large, Complex, Detailed but Irrefutable REPORT” on alleged election fraud that took place in Georgia.
In response, Kemp refuted Trump’s claims of election fraud.
“The 2020 election in Georgia was not stolen,” he said on social media. “For nearly three years now, anyone with evidence of fraud has failed to come forward — under oath — and prove anything in a court of law. Our elections in Georgia are secure, accessible, and fair and will continue to be as long as I am governor.”
ABC News’ Olivia Rubin and Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.
(ATLANTA) — For the fourth time in five months, former President Donald Trump has been indicted on criminal charges.
Trump and 18 other people were charged in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia, over more than a year.
The defendants allegedly solicited state leaders throughout the country, harassed and misled a Georgia election worker and pushed phony claims that the election was stolen, all in an effort for Trump to remain in power despite his election loss.
According to the indictment, the alleged scheme involved prominent individuals such as Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and attorney John Eastman.
Trump’s campaign called the indictment “un-American and wrong” in a statement early Tuesday. The former president contends his actions were not illegal and the investigation is politically motivated. He has pleaded not guilty to his three other indictment cases, which are in New York criminal court, Florida federal court, and Washington D.C. federal court.
Guiliani released a statement early Tuesday morning echoing Trump’s campaign statement and contended the allegations are false.
“The real criminals here are the people who have brought this case forward both directly and indirectly,” he said in a statement.
Trump and the co-defendants were given a deadline of Aug. 25 to turn themselves in for arraignment on the charges.
Here are some of the major allegations in the 41-count indictment.
False statements to state leaders
The indictment alleges that members of the conspiracy made several false statements to the Georgia state legislature, falsely claiming there was election fraud and that they could appoint their own electors.
For example, co-defendant and Trump staff member Michael Roman instructed an individual associated with the Trump campaign to “distribute information related to the December 14, 2020 meetings of Trump presidential elector nominees in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to other individuals associated with the campaign,” the indictment alleges.
The indictment specifically says that members of the conspiracy “corruptly solicited Georgia officials, including” former Georgia House Speaker John Ralston, “to violate their oaths to the Georgia Constitution and to the United State Constitution by unlawfully changing the outcome of the November 3, 2020, presidential election in favor of Donald Trump.”
On Dec. 7, 2020, Trump specifically tried to solicit Ralston to violate his oath by calling a special session of the Georgia General Assembly for the purpose of unlawfully appointing presidential electors from Georgia, according to the indictment.
The Georgia indictment also highlights efforts by Trump and Meadows to allegedly interfere with the election counting process and push their false claims.
On Dec. 22, 2020, Meadows traveled to Cobb County Center and “attempted to observe the signature match audit being performed by law enforcement officers and officials from the Georgia Secretary of State despite the fact that the process was not open to the public.”
The officials, including the Georgia Deputy Secretary of State, prevented Meadows from entering the space where the audit was being conducted.
A day later, it is alleged that Trump placed a call to the office of the Georgia Secretary of State Chief Investigator Frances Watson that had been arranged by Meadows. During the call, Trump falsely stated he had won the 2020 election by “hundreds of thousands of votes.”
Meadows texted Watson on Dec. 27 asking if she could “speed up Fulton County signature verification in order to have results before Jan. 6,” the indictment said.
Creation of false election documents
The defendants allegedly created false Electoral College documents and recruited individuals to convene and cast false Electoral College votes at the Georgia State Capitol, in Fulton County, on December 14, 2020, according to the indictment.
“The false documents were intended to disrupt and delay the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021,” the indictment states.
The indictment contends the defendants allegedly tried to conduct similar acts in key battleground states: Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Harassment and intimidation of Ruby Freeman
The indictment detailed alleged efforts to harass Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman to convince her to report election fraud claims in testimony.
Giuliani and others made false claims to the Georgia House of Representatives that Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss, who was also an election worker, sabotaged voting machines, according to the indictment.
The indictment alleges some of the defendants tried to influence Freeman’s testimony and intimidated her.
Trump associate Trevian Kutti allegedly traveled from Chicago to Georgia to speak to Freeman, the indictment alleged.
Kutti claimed she was there to help Freeman because she was in danger and lied to her about her intentions, according to the indictment.
Soliciting Dept. of Justice officials
Former senior Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark, who is one of the defendants named in the indictment, allegedly made false statements in writing and in person to the Acting Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, urging the officials to let him convey the false information to Georgia State Officials.
Clark wanted to be able to say that the Department of Justice “identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple states, including the State of Georgia,” according to the indictment.
Clark requested authorization, both in writing and in person, to send this incorrect information to Gov. Brian Kemp, Ralston and President Pro Tempore of the Georgia Senate, Butch Mille.
Unlawful breach of election equipment
The indictment alleges that members of the group “stole data, including ballot images, voting equipment software, and personal voter information.”
Trump attorney and co-defendant Sidney Powell allegedly “entered into a written engagement” with a forensic data firm known as SullivanStricker LLC that they allege joined in an “unlawful breach of election equipment in Coffee County, Georgia.”
“The stolen data was then distributed to other members of the enterprise, including members in other states,” the indictment said.
ABC News’ Lucien Bruggeman contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday pledged to help Maui recover from the devastating wildfires there “as long as it takes” and said he and the first lady would visit the state as soon as they can.
“We will be there in Maui as long as it takes,” Biden said during unrelated remarks in Milwaukee. “As long as it takes. And I mean that sincerely.”
The president listed ways the federal government had provided assistance for victims of the fires, which claimed at least 99 lives. According to the administration, 300 Federal Emergency Management Agency workers are currently on the ground, and the agency has provided approximately 50,000 meals, 75,000 liters of water, 5,000 cots and 10,000 blankets.
“Think about this: All that area they got to plow up, they can’t do it now because they don’t know how many bodies are there,” Biden said. “They don’t know what’s left. Imagine being a mom or dad wondering where your child is. Imagine being a husband or wife, a mother, a father. It’s really tough stuff.”
The president said he is planning to visit the state with first lady Jill Biden, but said he doesn’t want to impede the ongoing clean up and recovery efforts.
“My wife Jill and I are going to travel to Hawaii as soon as we can. That’s what I’ve been talking to the governor about it. I don’t want to get in the way,” Biden said. “I’ve been to too many disaster areas. But I want to go, make sure we got everything they need. I want to be sure we don’t disrupt the ongoing recovery efforts.”
Biden’s comments followed criticism from conservatives in recent days that he has remained relatively silent about the wildfires’ impact despite the increasing death toll.
While he did comment on the fires on Thursday – also at the start of an unrelated speech – Biden hadn’t spoken publicly about them since.
He spent the weekend at his beach home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where the White House said Biden had been in touch with the head of the FEMA, as well as Hawaii’s governor.
But on Sunday, as he returned from the beach in Delaware and was about to enter his vehicle, a reporter asked him if he would comment on the death toll in Maui. With a smile, he replied, “No, no comment.”
Former President Donald Trump, who is running for the Republican nomination for president, slammed Biden in a campaign video Monday, noting Biden had “been spending a great deal of time” at the beach.
“To say no comment is oftentimes fine, but to be smiling when you say it, especially again, such a tragedy as this, is absolutely horrible and unacceptable,” the former president said.
Trump drew a line between Maui and the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which Biden never visited despite pledging to do so.
“It is a disgraceful thing that Joe Biden refuses to help or comment on the tragedy in Maui, just as he refused to help or comment on the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, for a very, very long time.”
In the face of criticism Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre argued that Biden had stayed engaged with FEMA and Hawaii’s elected leaders and that the federal government has continuously fulfilled Hawaii’s requests for assistance.
“What the president wants to make sure is that … the government of Hawaii has everything that they need to support the people on the ground,” Jean-Pierre said.
Several other lawmakers have weighed in Biden’s response to the Maui wildfires.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on a press call Tuesday morning that his “heart goes out to everyone who has been impacted by the fires in Maui” and that the Biden administration is working to secure additional disaster funding for this and other disasters. Schumer said he has spoken to Hawaii Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz — both Democrats — and has “committed to them to have the Senate do everything we could to help Hawaii.”
Hirono tweeted her gratitude to Biden in the aftermath of the wildfires.
“To be clear, @POTUS and his administration have been incredibly helpful over the past week. I’m glad to see so many on the right are so concerned about what’s happening in Hawaii though – I look forward to them supporting the robust federal relief funding our state will need,” Hirono wrote.
ABC News’ Soorin Kim and Allison Pecorin contributed reporting to this article.
(WASHINGTON) — The Unites States is without confirmed chiefs for three of its military services. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called the situation “unprecedented,” blaming it on Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s hold on high-level military promotions.
“Because of this blanket hold, starting today, for the first time in the history of the Department of Defense, three of our military services are operating without Senate-confirmed leaders,” Austin said at a relinquishment of command ceremony for outgoing Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday in Annapolis on Monday. “This is unprecedented, it is unnecessary, and it is unsafe.”
In December 2022, Tuberville pledged to block all senior Department of Defense nominations over a Pentagon policy that covers the travel costs of service members seeking abortions in states outside of where they are stationed if they are based in a state that bans the procedure.
A chain-of-command display in the E Ring of the Pentagon has black slates in place of photos for the leaders of the Army, Marine Corps, and now, Navy. The positions are being filled on an acting basis.
If nothing changes by the end of September, there will be another vacancy — and an additional back slate on the photo wall — when Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley retires. President Joe Biden’s chosen replacement for Milley, Gen. CQ Brown, would remain in the panel below as Air Force chief of staff until approved by the Senate.
Tuberville emphasized that his hold does not actually prevent confirmations, because Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has the ability to force a vote on any nominee.
“[Tuberville] expects Gen. Brown to get a floor vote, just as Gen. Milley did, and just as Gen. Brown did when he was confirmed to his current position,” Steve Stafford, spokesman for the Alabama senator, told ABC News on Tuesday.
Schumer has rejected this option, not wanting to cave to what he characterizes as a politicization of the military nomination process.
But while Schumer could feasibly force votes for the vacated chairman and service chief positions, it would not be tenable to hold separate votes on each of the hundreds of other officers awaiting promotion.
Austin remarked on what he called “a painful milestone” on Monday, saying, “more than 300 nominations for our outstanding general and flag officers are now being held up in the United States Senate. That includes our top uniformed leaders.”
He didn’t mention Tuberville by name, referring only to the hold itself when leveling his criticism.
“This sweeping hold is undermining America’s military readiness. It’s hindering our ability to retain our very best officers, and it is up-ending the lives of far too many American military families. Our troops deserve better, our military families deserve better, our allies and partners deserve better, and our national security deserves better,” Austin said.
The Pentagon will not change its abortion travel policy, which it instituted after the repeal of Roe v. Wade, to placate Tuberville, according to deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh.
“If you are a service member stationed in a state that has rolled back or restricted health care access, you are often stationed there because you were assigned there, it is not that you chose to go there. And so a service member in Alabama deserves to have the same access to health care as a service member in California, as a service member stationed in Korea. And so that’s what that policy does,” Singh said during a briefing Tuesday.
Tuberville’s office claimed there are no military jobs left unfilled by the hold, saying, “instead, highly experienced acting officials are serving in these roles.”
Singh pushed back on this notion during Tuesday’s briefing, citing an example from Tuberville’s home state of Alabama.
“We have the Defense Missile Agency that right now is being dutifully commanded by a one-star general, but he’s filling the role of a three-star, right in Sen. Tuberville’s backyard,” she said.
ABC News’ Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — One of the highest-ranking FBI agents to ever face criminal charges pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and commit money laundering.
The plea was a reversal for Charles McGonigal, a former counterintelligence leader in the FBI’s New York field office, who had initially pleaded not guilty to charges that stemmed from his ties to Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire who has been sanctioned by the United States and criminally charged last year with violating those sanctions.
McGonigal, who retired from the FBI in 2018, had been charged with violating U.S. sanctions by trying to get Deripaska off the sanctions list. He was also accused of investigating a rival Russian oligarch in return for concealed payments from Deripaska.
McGonigal told a federal judge he agreed to collect information on Vladimir Potanin, a business competitor of Deripaska, in order to try to put him on the U.S. sanctions list.
“I knew that it was wrong,” McGonigal told the judge.
The single count to which he pleaded guilty to resolve the case carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Sentencing is set for Dec. 14.
“After his tenure as a high-level FBI official who supervised and participated in investigations of Russian oligarchs, Charles McGonigal has now admitted that he agreed to evade U.S. sanctions by providing services to one of those oligarchs, Oleg Deripaska,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
McGonigal was charged in a separate case in Washington, D.C., with concealing $225,000 he allegedly received from a former Albanian intelligence employee. His attorney said during a recent hearing he expects that case to also be resolved without going to trial.
(WASHINGTON) — Many congressional Republicans are again coming to former President Donald Trump’s defense after he was indicted a fourth time.
A Georgia grand jury late Monday issued a sprawling indictment against Trump and 18 others on charges related to alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and has attacked the prosecution as politically motivated, as he’s done with the previous charges brought against him in New York and by special counsel Jack Smith.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and other GOP allies of the former president echoed his claim.
“Justice should be blind, but Biden has weaponized government against his leading political opponent to interfere in the 2024 election,” McCarthy tweeted shortly after the Georgia indictment was handed up. “Now a radical DA in Georgia is following Biden’s lead by attacking President Trump and using it to fundraise her political career. Americans see through this desperate sham.”
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican and chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said that the charges are “just the latest political attack in the Democrats’ WITCH HUNT against President Trump.”
“He did nothing wrong!” Jordan added.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, the No. 3 House Republican, released a statement where she called the new charges “blatant election interference.”
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, in a press conference announcing the indictment, pushed back on Trump’s claim that the prosecution was politically motivated.
“I make decisions in this office based on the facts and the laws,” Willis said. “The law is completely nonpartisan. That’s how decisions are made in every case.”
Democrats, in response to the indictment, said it reinforced the idea that no one is above law.
“The fourth indictment of Donald Trump, just like the three which came before it, portrays a repeated pattern of criminal activity by the former president,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a joint statement.
“As a nation built on the rule of law, we urge Mr. Trump, his supporters, and his critics to allow the legal process to proceed without outside interference,” Schumer and Jeffries said in the statement.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat who chaired the House Jan. 6 Committee, said the Georgia charges are “part of a long journey to bring accountability for a multi-part conspiracy to overturn Georgia’s election results, which threatened the lives and livelihoods of brave election workers, like Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who make American democracy work.”
“A fair trial in this case will demonstrate this Nation’s commitment to the rule of law and show that the United States is not defined by those who would attempt to undermine its fundamental values,” Thompson said.
(ATLANTA) — In charging former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants in a sprawling 41-count indictment, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis reached for a familiar legal tool.
From prosecuting school teachers to street gangs, it has not been uncommon for Willis to rely on Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act throughout her career — but this time the former president is a remarkably uncommon defendant.
“It lets you get the big fish by working from the bottom up, by kind of indicting the whole pond,” Atlanta defense attorney Tom Church, who is not involved in the DA’s case, told ABC News.y
Since taking over as Fulton County district attorney, Willis has praised the versatility of the statute to “tell the whole story of a crime,” and by her own reckoning has pursued an unprecedented number of cases using the law. Two years ago she also tapped John Floyd, a seasoned lawyer who literally wrote the book on Georgia state RICO laws, to assist in the Trump probe, signaling how she might pursue the case.
Separate from the 1970 federal RICO law that precipitated the prosecution of some of the largest organized crime families, Georgia’s RICO law broadly mirrors the federal law with notable changes that broaden state prosecutors’ ability to charge defendants, according to multiple legal experts who spoke with ABC News.
Why does Georgia have its own racketeering law?
The federal RICO law originated from the concern that criminal organizations could not only inflict more harm on communities than individuals but were also harder to prosecute, according to Georgia State University College of Law professor Clark D. Cunningham.
“They felt that going after individual offenders was a little bit like that game of gopher, where you knock one thing down and another one pops up,” Cunningham said.
As federal prosecutors made strides against organized crime, state legislatures took note and began drafting state versions of the law. Georgia enacted its own law in 1980.
To be charged with a RICO offense in Georgia, a defendant needs to have allegedly committed or conspired to commit two related crimes — called racketeering or predicate acts — often as part of a larger criminal scheme, according to Chris Timmons, a trial attorney who spent 17 years trying RICO cases as a prosecutor with the DeKalb and Cobb County district attorney’s offices.
Georgia’s law permits prosecutors to charge as few as one defendant in a criminal scheme and does not require an extended timeframe for the crime, according to Timmons — giving prosecutors more leverage against individual actors.
“Somebody could go to JC Penney, shoplift a pair of socks, walk next door to Sears and shoplift a second pair of socks, and they can be charged with RICO,” said Timmons.
However, most RICO cases relate to broader schemes with multiple defendants. As a result, prosecutors tend to follow a similar approach to building a case.
“You work up the food chain,” Cunningham explained. “You start with people fairly far down … and so you have a lot of leverage to get cooperation.”
How have prosecutors used the RICO laws?
In the years following the passage of the federal and Georgia RICO laws, Georgia prosecutors began using the law to pursue cases against public officials, Cunningham said.
In 1984, prosecutors charged Georgia’s labor commissioner and multiple labor department employees with racketeering. Prosecutors eventually convicted the labor commissioner on fraud conspiracy charges.
As the federal law developed during the 1990s, Floyd began refining the Georgia law through multiple notable cases.
When Richard Hyde, then a Georgia state investigator, was considering how to prosecute fraud at the Medical College of Georgia in 1996, he turned to Floyd after reading about the lawyer’s unique approach to racketeering fraud. Describing Floyd as a “scary smart” yet “unassuming” lawyer, Hyde credited Floyd with helping successfully convict two faculty members who prosecutors alleged stole $10 million in research funds.
“He’s the only lawyer I wouldn’t want to ever be on the other side of,” said Hyde.
In 2002, Floyd successfully helped convict former DeKalb County Sheriff Sidney Dorsey on murder and racketeering charges after Dorsey ordered the murder of a political opponent who beat him in a 2000 election.
In 2014 and 2015, Floyd and Willis notably worked together in the RICO prosecution of 35 educators who engaged in a scheme to change test scores within the Atlanta public school system. The eight-month trial eventually resulted in convictions for 11 of the 12 defendants.
“He explained Rico in such a simplistic way that, you know, an 8-year-old would have been able to understand it,” said Clint Rucker, who tried the Atlanta public school case with Willis and Floyd.
Rucker said Floyd’s “laser-sharp” analysis and “professor-like” understanding of RICO not only helped the Fulton County DA figure out how to bring RICO charges in that case but also convinced the jury to convict on those charges, according to Rucker.
Floyd rejoined the Fulton County district attorney’s office in 2021 as an adviser in the Trump probe.
What challenges might arise in a racketeering case?
In recent years, federal prosecutors used the RICO statutes in notable cases including against former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and against some defendants in the so-called “Varsity Blues” case involving bribes to coaches and other officials at elite universities.
Some RICO cases require proving that the defendant stood to benefit by gaining money or property — which might present a challenge in the Trump case, according to Thomas.
“Here it’s not about money; it’s about power,” Thomas said.
Additionally, while RICO charges give a prosecutor the ability to describe a larger picture of criminal activity, describing that activity to a jury takes time.
The Atlanta public school case took eight months to try, on top of a six-week jury selection period.
“I would not be surprised if they were close to that same timeframe for the Atlanta public schools case,” Rucker said of the timeline for the Trump case, adding that jury selection for the former president’s case could be particularly challenging.
And to successfully convict, the prosecutors need to assemble the equivalent of a puzzle box of evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants engaged in criminal activity.
“What a RICO prosecution does is it takes a lot of different pieces, odd shapes, different colors that may not seem to have any relationship with each other,” Cunningham said. “If the prosecution is successful, the jury says, ‘Oh my God, I see the picture … I see a vast conspiracy here.'”
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump lashed out at the federal judge overseeing the case against him over efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss — after he was warned by the same judge against making “inflammatory” comments about the case.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a member of a political dynasty now mounting a long shot presidential hopeful, indicated he’d back a federal abortion ban after the first three months of pregnancy before abruptly reversing himself.
And Sen. Tim Scott made another targeted push for support in Iowa.
Here’s what to know from the trail on Monday.
Trump appears to disregard judge’s admonition
In an early morning post on his social media platform, Trump criticized U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, claiming she is “highly partisan” and “very biased and unfair,” referencing a punishment Chutkan handed down last year to a woman who was part of the mob that ransacked Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.
The Truth Social post seemed to reference remarks Chutkan made that contrasted Trump with the woman, Christine Priola, whom Chutkan sentenced to 15 months in jail after Priola pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and unlawful activities on Capitol grounds, among other crimes. “The people who mobbed that Capitol were there in fealty, in loyalty, to one man … one person who, by the way, remains free to this day,” the judge said last year.
Trump’s comments about Chutkan follows a familiar pattern of him personally attacking perceived adversaries, a habit that has now extended to include some of those involved in his mounting criminal charges, all of which he denies.
At a hearing last week, Chutkan warned that “inflammatory” statements “could taint the jury pool or intimidate potential witnesses” and may necessitate expediting Trump’s prosecution in Washington.
“I will take whatever measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings,” Chutkan told Trump’s lawyers during the Friday hearing.
She also said that she wouldn’t be influenced by politics: “The existence of a political campaign will not have any bearing on my decision.”
Chutkan ultimately issued a protective order forbidding the disclosure of “sensitive” materials in the case, such as exhibits provided to Trump’s defense team.
“He’s a criminal defendant — he’s going to have restrictions like every single other defendant,” she said of Trump.
RFK Jr. reverses abortion comment
Kennedy, the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and the son of slain former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, has bucked his own party on some personal and public health matters, including sharing conspiracy theories about vaccines and COVID-19.
On many other matters, however, his policies and platform are traditionally Democratic — except on Sunday, when he discussed abortion.
While in Iowa, Kennedy was asked by a reporter from NBC News about whether he would back any abortion restrictions.
“I believe a decision to abort a child should be up to the women during the first three months of life,” Kennedy said. When pressed further on whether that would mean he supported a ban on the procedure after 15 weeks or 21 weeks of pregnancy, he responded, “Yes.”
Later Sunday, his campaign issued a walk back.
“Today, Mr. Kennedy misunderstood a question posed to him by a NBC reporter in a crowded, noisy exhibit hall at the Iowa State Fair. Mr. Kennedy’s position on abortion is that it is always the woman’s right to choose. He does not support legislation banning abortion,” his campaign said in a statement.
No Labels expands its presence
No Labels, the bipartisan group weighing a third-party “unity” presidential ticket in 2024, landed a spot on the ballot in another swing state.
North Carolina’s State Board of Elections voted on Sunday to recognize No Labels as an official political party, meaning the group will now be on the ballot there next year.
Some Democrats are already wringing their hands over concerns that a third-party bid could boost Trump in a rematch with President Joe Biden, and their worries are unlikely to be allayed by No Labels’ play in a state Democrats have continually sought to flip in presidential elections.
Tim Scott practices retail politics
Scott, South Carolina’s junior senator, on Monday sought to beef up his bona fides in Iowa.
In a new radio ad released in the state, which holds 2024’s first nominating contest for Republicans, in January, Scott vowed to support farmers, including opposing farmland purchases via the Chinese government and supporting production of ethanol — both of which are more resonant in agriculture-heavy Iowa.
Since launching his campaign in May, Scott has combined his conservative policies with a pitch to voters tied to an uplifting message.
“I have the deepest appreciation for the hardworking farmers who feed our nation and fuel our cars. As president, I’ll support the production of ethanol and other homegrown biofuels. I will stop China from buying our farmland, and I will fight for fair trade to ensure our farmers have access to foreign markets. God bless Iowa and the bountiful harvest you provide to our nation each and every year,” Scott said in the ad.
FiveThirtyEight’s polling average shows Scott usually in third place in Iowa — stronger than his standing in national surveys so far.
ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.
