Donald Trump has promised to share an “irrefutable” report on his baseless claims of election fraud in Georgia.
Mr Trump took to Truth Social on Tuesday morning, writing: “A Large, Complex, Detailed but Irrefutable REPORT on the Presidential Election Fraud which took place in Georgia is almost complete & will be presented by me at a major News Conference at 11:00 A.M. on Monday of next week in Bedminster, New Jersey.”
“Based on the results of this CONCLUSIVE Report, all charges should be dropped against me & others - There will be a complete EXONERATION! They never went after those that Rigged the Election. They only went after those that fought to find the RIGGERS!” he added.
Mr Trump was charged with 13 counts in an indictment handed down by the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office on Monday night.
Eighteen others were also charged, including his former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows; the former New York City mayor and Trump lawyer Rudolph Giuliani; lawyers Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell; former law professor John Eastman,; Trump campaign lawyer Ken Cheseboro; as well as former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark.
Mr Trump faces charges of having violated Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute, conspiracy to impersonate a public officer, two counts of conspiracy to commit forgery, two counts of conspiracy to make false statements under oath, two counts of conspiracy to file false documents, two counts of solicitation of a public officer, filing false documents, conspiracy to solicit false statements, and making false statements.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp responded to Mr Trump on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“The 2020 election in Georgia was not stolen,” he wrote. “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. The future of our country is at stake in 2024 and that must be our focus.”
In the early hours of Tuesday, Mr Trump blasted his most recent indictment, writing that “the Witch Hunt continues!”
He added that he and 18 others were indicted “by an out-of-control and very corrupt District Attorney who campaigned and raised money on, ‘I will get Trump.’ And what about those Indictment Documents put out today, long before the Grand Jury even voted, and then quickly withdrawn? Sounds Rigged to me! Why didn’t they Indict 2.5 years ago? Because they wanted to do it right in the middle of my political campaign. Witch Hunt!”
Garrett Haake of NBC News noted that Mr Kemp’s comment “underscores the uniqueness of the Georgia problem for Trump. The state’s popular GOP governor, who already crushed a Trump-backed primary challenger, is calling Trump out on election lies he’s soon to have to go to trial over”.
Historian Aaron Aster added: “Trump will keep up his garbage accusations bc he is in too deep. And he will take his party down with him.”
After the 2020 election, Mr Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, after the 2020 election to ask him to “find” just enough votes in his column to get him past President Joe Biden in the state.
Mr Raffensperger didn’t buckle under the pressure from Mr Trump, and Mr Biden became the first Democrat to win the state on the presidential level since 1992.
Mr Raffensperger issued a statement after the indictment, saying that “The most basic principles of a strong democracy are accountability and respect for the Constitution and rule of law. You either have it, or you don’t”.
