Georgia Indictment: Reserving Room, Asking for Phone Number ‘Overt Act[s] in Furtherance of the Conspiracy’
The Georgia indictment unveiled Monday night by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis just before midnight on Monday claims former President Donald Trump and 18 others pursued a “conspiracy” with mundane acts such as tweeting about hearings.
In one passage, for example, the indictment states (original emphasis): “On or about the 3rd day of December 2020, DONALD JOHN TRUMP caused to be tweeted from the Twitter account @RealDonaldTrump, ‘Georgia hearings now on @OANN. Amazing!’ This was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.”
Similar tweets are also included (original emphasis):
On or about the 30th day of December 2020, DONALD JOHN TRUMP caused to be tweeted from the Twitter account @RealDonaldTrump, “Hearings from Atlanta on the Georgia Election overturn now being broadcast. Check it out. @OANN @newsmax and many more. @BrianKempGA should resign from office. He is an obstructionist who refuses to admit that we won Georgia, BIG! Also won the other Swing States.” This was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.
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On or about the 30th day of December 2020, DONALD JOHN TRUMP caused to be tweeted from the Twitter account @RealDonaldTrump, “Hearings from Atlanta on the Georgia Election overturn now being broadcast LIVE via @RSBNetwork! https://t.co/ogBvaKfqG.” This was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.
One tweet describes a telephone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, which is at the heart of the indictment, saying that the latter was unwilling to pursue allegations of voter fraud — but this, too, is “an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy,” even though it shows a lack of willingness to “conspire.”
In other portions of the indictment, acts as mundane as reserving a room for hearings and asking someone else for a phone number are portrayed as “act[s] in furtherance of the conspiracy” (original emphasis):
On or about the 21st day of November 2020, MARK RANDALL MEADOWS sent a text message to United States Representative Scott Perry from Pennsylvania and stated, “Can you send me the number for the speaker and the leader of PA Legislature. POTUS wants to chat with them.” This was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.
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On or about the, 11th day of December 2020, DAVID JAMES SHAFER reserved Room 216 at the Georgia State Capitol in Fulton County, Georgia, for the December 14, 2020, meeting of Trump presidential elector nominees in Fulton County, Georgia. This was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.
Other tweets allegedly constituting “overt act[s] in furtherance of the conspiracy” include Trump’s criticism of Georgia’s elected officials, a retweet of a call for citizens to encourage a special session of the state legislature, claims about the vice president’s power to reject Electoral College votes under the Constitution, and a demand for signature verification of absentee ballots — all typically statements that fall under the category of political speech that is protected by the First Amendment.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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