Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said "accountability" is one of the principles of a "strong democracy." The comment came the day after former President Donald Trump was indicted on racketeering charges in Fulton County, Georgia.
Raffensperger, who is in charge of elections in the Peach State, released the statement nearly 12 hours after Trump was indicted by a grand jury on charges related to his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election under the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
DONALD TRUMP INDICTED: GEORGIA GRAND JURY CHARGES EX-PRESIDENT, 18 OTHERS IN SWEEPING RICO CASE
“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,” Raffensperger said in a statement.
Trump has been a vocal critic of the Georgia secretary of state since Raffensperger refused to overturn the 2020 election in the Peach State, allegedly at Trump's behest. The former president endorsed a challenger to Raffensperger in the Republican primary in the 2022 election, Jody Hice, but Raffensperger handily defeated Trump's candidate and was reelected in November 2022.
Trump was indicted on 13 counts, while others on the charging document included attorneys Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, and Sidney Powell, along with former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows. Nineteen people were indicted as part of the alleged racketeering scheme, but the charging document also mentioned roughly 30 unnamed alleged co-conspirators.
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, speaking in a late-night press conference, said Trump and his co-conspirators were working to "accomplish the illegal goal of allowing Donald J. Trump to seize the presidential term of office beginning on Jan. 20, 2021."
The former president railed against the charges in a post to Truth Social early Tuesday morning, claiming that the latest charges filed against him were part of a continuing "Witch Hunt" by "an out of control and very corrupt District Attorney."