Detroit Today: What Trump’s fourth indictment means for his supporters

Just one week away from the first GOP presidential debate, Donald Trump was indicted by a grand jury in Georgia.

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The case — which represents the fourth criminal indictment against Donald Trump since leaving office — alleges the former president and 18 Trump allies were collectively engaged in a criminal enterprise seeking to overturn Georgia’s election results.

Because this is a state prosecution, the case represents a different type of challenge for Trump as he would not have the same options to attempt and shield himself and allies from a potential conviction if he won re-election.

The unique nature of this proceeding compels us to consider the historic nature of these events and many significant questions about the case.

Washington Post reporter Shayna Jacobs, political consultant Dennis Darnoi and Trump voter Michael Seltzer discuss the latest indictment against the former president on this episode of Detroit Today.

Guests

Shayna Jacobs is a federal courts and law enforcement reporter on the national security team at The Washington Post. Jacobs says the importance of Georgia’s RICO law, which targets criminal enterprises, cannot be overstated in this indictment.

“[Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis] is essentially saying Trump and his various enablers — from household names like Rudy Giuliani to lower down people who were attempting to meddle with election data — conspired to attempt to overthrow the legitimate results of the Georgia election in 2020,” says Jacobs.

Dennis Darnoi is the founder of Densar Consulting, a political consulting firm that tracks voter data. Darnoi says that we will see the conflict that the GOP party has faced when interacting with Donald Trump.

“The Trump issue is going to again create the division that we’ve seen in the last few cycles,” says Darnoi.

Michael Seltzer is a retired marketing executive who voted for Donald Trump twice. Seltzer says the vilification of Donald Trump will make it impossible for him to get a fair trial.

“I think that Trump had done a great job, but he has been so vilified,” says Seltzer. “I mean, come on, look at the number of indictments. It’s a joke.”