“It’s a type of criminal liability that you can get in trouble for things that other people do,” said Ashleigh Merchant, a Georgia criminal defense attorney with experience in RICO cases.
And she’ll be navigating around a federal prosecution of Trump for his 2020 election reversal schemes that has taken a much narrower approach.
Here are the strengths and weaknesses of Willis’ strategy:Georgia’s sweeping RICO lawGeorgia’s version of a RICO law – which stands for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act – is broader than the federal counterpart.
Additionally, there is not much appellate case law around the state’s RICO statute, criminal defense attorneys in Georgia told CNN.
There stands to be a significant overlap in evidence – including with testimony from some of the same witnesses – in the federal and Georgia cases.
Persons:
Donald Trump, Fani Willis –, “, ”, Ashleigh Merchant, CNN Willis, Trump, Willis, Racketeer, Sandy Wallack, that’s, Trump's, Andrew Fleischman, Willis ’, ” Fleischman, Feedback Giuliani, he's, Mark Meadows, Steve Vladeck, Scott McAfee, –, ” Merchant, Jack Smith, Jack Smith’s, Smith, Trump’s, Clark Cunningham, ” Cunningham, It’s
Organizations:
CNN, Trump, Trump White House, state’s, Georgia, White House, CNN Supreme, University of Texas School of Law, Appeals, Georgia State University
Locations:
Fulton County, Atlanta, Georgia, Coffee County