Trump could be indicted soon in Georgia after investigations

Atlanta,Aug,1: A Georgia prosecutor is expected to seek a grand jury indictment in the coming weeks in her investigation into efforts by Donald Trump and his Republican allies to overturn the then-president's 2020 election loss.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis began investigating more than two years ago, shortly after a recording was released of a January 2021 phone call Trump made to Georgia's secretary of state. 

Willis has strongly hinted that any indictment would come between July 31 and Aug. 18. One of two grand juries seated July 11 is expected to hear the case.

If Trump is indicted by a Georgia grand jury, it would add to a growing list of legal troubles as he campaigns for president. 

Trump is set to go to trial in New York in March to face state charges related to hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign. And he has another trial scheduled for May on federal charges related to his handling of classified documents. He has pleaded not guilty in those cases.

The Justice Department is also investigating Trump’s role in trying to halt the certification of 2020 election results in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. Trump said he's been told he's a target of that investigation, which likely has some overlap with the one in Georgia.

Details of the Georgia investigation that have become public have fed speculation that Willis, a Democrat, is building a case under the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which would allow her to charge numerous people in a potentially wide-ranging scheme.

Here are six investigative threads Willis and her team have explored:

The Georgia investigation was prompted by the Jan. 2, 2021, phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican. Trump suggested the state's top elections official could help “find” the votes needed to put him ahead of Democrat Joe Biden in the state.

“All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Trump is heard saying on a recording of the call, which was leaked to news outlets. “Because we won the state.”

Trump has insisted he did nothing wrong and has repeatedly said the call was “perfect.”

Trump also called other top state officials in his quest to overturn his 2020 election loss, including Gov. Brian Kemp, then-House Speaker David Ralston, Attorney General Chris Carr and the top investigator in the secretary of state's office. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, also called Raffensperger shortly after the November election.  Raffensperger said at the time that Graham asked whether he had the power to reject certain absentee ballots, which Raffensperger has said he interpreted as a suggestion to toss out legally cast votes. (AP)