Georgia indictment raises new dangers for Trump

WASHINGTON   -   Donald Trump has been indicted four times this year, but the lat­est charges -- in Georgia -- may carry particular peril for the for­mer president. The Georgia case is the only trial likely to be tele­vised, with the historic proceed­ings streamed and broadcast into households across the Unit­ed States and around the world. The billionaire real estate tycoon starred for 14 years in the reali­ty television show “The Appren­tice,” but he will be in a far dif­ferent role when the case comes to trial -- that of criminal defen­dant. Fani Willis, the Georgia district attorney who charged Trump and 18 others with rack­eteering and other offenses re­lated to their efforts to overturn the 2020 election, said Monday she wants to hold the trial within the next six months. Trump also faces federal charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith for allegedly conspiring to defraud the United States with his at­tempts to overturn the results of the presidential election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. A judge is to set a date on August 28 for a trial in the nation’s capital -- but television cameras are not allowed in federal courtrooms. Smith has asked for the trial to begin on January 2, 2024, near­ly three years to the day after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in a final bid to block Congress from certifying Biden’s victory. The special counsel has also accused Trump, the current frontrunner for the 2024 Repub­lican presidential nomination, of mishandling top secret govern­ment documents in a case set to go to trial in Florida in May 2024.

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