Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks on stage during a campaign rally in Windham, New Hampshire, August 8, 2023.
Reba Saldanha | Reuters
Former President Donald Trump could face an unprecedented fourth indictment over his alleged efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, Georgia’s top election official Gabriel Sterling said. on Sunday that the criminal charges are “giving oxygen” to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
Sterling, a Republican, said Trump lost the state in 2020 and that his repeated claims of election fraud have not been proven. But because of the “tribal” nature of US political parties, Trump’s supporters are inclined to believe him.
“He’s making himself out to be a victim, he’s making himself out to be a martyr, and a lot of the American people are going to get behind him because they feel like some of these things are a little difficult,” Sterling told the ABC’s “This Week.”
Sterling warned of the potential for violence in December 2020, before angry rioters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. He said on Sunday that election-related violence remains his “biggest concern,” as the individuals can be radical to do something “stupid.”
The Atlanta prosecutor overseeing the Georgia investigation, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to present her case to a grand jury next week, NBC News reported. That presentation could lead to an indictment of the former president on state charges.
If that happens, it would be the fourth time Trump has been criminally indicted since March, and the second time he has been indicted in connection with his efforts to prevent President Joe Biden from taking office.
Sterling said he testified before the special grand jury, the panel that first investigated the case, and participated in two interviews with DA officials. He said if or when he is called to testify in the future, he will “tell the truth and answer honestly.”
Prosecutors in Atlanta reportedly possess text messages and emails that directly link the January 2021 voting system breach in Coffee County to members of Trump’s legal team, according to CNN Sunday. Allies of the former president attempted to access voting systems to find evidence of election fraud, according to the report, in what was part of a “top-down push by Trump’s team.”
Trump said in a speech Tuesday in New Hampshire that he expects to be indicted in Georgia soon.
“I should have four next week,” Trump said.
