Former President Donald Trump may still face criminal charges, although he has been acquitted on an indictment, U.S. Virgin Stacey Plaskett said Tuesday.
Trump, the only U.S. president to be arrested twice, has faced an accusation in the Senate for allegedly inciting violence against the U.S. government. Democrats pointed out that Trump’s repeated allegations that voter fraud was a factor in the victory of President Joe Biden, which helped create the environment that prompted Trump supporters to start a riot at the U.S. Capitol building in January.
Should Trump be convicted, he would be banned from holding public office in the future. Plaskett, who served as an indictment manager for the House, said Tuesday that Trump can still be executed on charges.
‘Let’s hope that the many jurisdictions in the United States that file charges against the president – District of Columbia for incitement to violence, Georgia for election fraud and intimidation, and that New York is going back to its finances – we “could never figure out issues related to the breaches of the Emoluments clause while the president was in office,” Plaskett said in an interview with MSNBC. “All of this will continue to happen.”
Although no charges have been filed against Trump as a private citizen in the state-level cases to which Plaskett refers, investigations are ongoing.
Washington Attorney General Karl Karline said in January that he was considering charging Trump with an offense related to the riot in the Capitol. Trump made remarks during a Stop the Steal in DC before the riot began, which many critics saw as a result of the ensuing violence. Racine told MSNBC that “Trump’s behavior before the mob stormed the Capitol is relevant. I think his behavior during that time and immediately thereafter is also relevant.”
During his remarks, Trump told the crowd of his supporters, “If we do not fight like hell, we will not have a country anymore.”
Getty / Pete Marovich
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of Georgia said Thursday that she is investigating Trump for his request that Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger “find votes” to block the state’s election results in Trump’s favor. .
“All I want to do is just: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is more than we have,” Trump reportedly told Raffensperger during a January call. “Because we won the state, Brad.”
Willis told WSB on Thursday that she is approaching the Trump investigation with an “open mind” and that there will be charges if the facts show that Trump is violating certain laws.
“Anyone who breaks the law will be prosecuted, no matter what their social stature is, no matter what their economy is, no matter what their race is or what their gender is,” Willis said. “We’re not going to treat anyone else.”
The Trump organization, Trump’s group of about 500 businesses, is also being investigated in New York by the Attorney General’s office for inflating the value of some of its assets to obtain tax exemptions. In January, a judge of the Supreme Court in New York ordered a law firm representing the Trump organization to provide documents to the state attorney regarding his civil investigation.
“Our investigation is continuing,” New York State Attorney Letitia James told NY1 in January.
According to Reuters, District Attorney Cyrus Vance is investigating the Trump organization over allegations of tax and insurance fraud. Vance’s office sued Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, for eight years of Trump’s tax records in 2019. Trump’s legal team blocked the lawsuit. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case in 2021.
In 2019, the Democrats filed a lawsuit against Trump for allegedly violating the Emoluments clause of the Constitution by allowing foreign entities to do business with properties owned by the Trump organization. Judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dismissed the case in February 2020.
Newsweek reached out to the offices of the Washington Attorney General, the New York Attorney General and the Trump Organization for comment.