The people who allegedly helped then-President Donald Trump overturn the 2020 election represented a large, loosely knit, and surprisingly diverse group.

According to prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, those involved in Mr Trump’s efforts to “find” enough voices to change Georgia’s results include Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York — but also lesser-known ones Defendants include Scott Hall, a Georgia defendant released on bail Bondsman, and Stephen Lee, an Illinois pastor.

Why we wrote this

The Georgia case against Donald Trump and his 18 co-defendants, all of whom have pleaded not guilty, is large and complex. Each individual’s legal strategy has the potential to impact the rest.

In a way, the sprawling Georgia case might just be viewed as part of a larger picture. According to the federal indictment filed by Special Counsel Jack Smith, the Trump team pressured officials in at least six other key states to help him block President Joe Biden’s election.

Trump’s false allegations of Democratic voter fraud point to a major national conspiracy for which there is no evidence. In the Georgia and federal election cases, prosecutors will essentially claim that the conspiracy took place on the other side.

“If the reported facts are correct, it was a fairly wide-ranging, many-tentacled operation that tried by any means necessary to prevent the presidential election from being certified or to reverse its outcome,” said Caren Morrison, associate professor at the College of Law from Georgia State University.

It wasn’t just Donald Trump. The people who allegedly helped the then-president to overturn the results of the 2020 election represented a large, loosely knit, and surprisingly diverse army of longtime allies and newbie supporters.

This is reflected in the allegations of interference with the state election in Fulton County, Georgia. According to prosecutors, those involved in Mr Trump’s efforts to “find” enough votes to change Georgia’s results include Rudy Giuliani, the famous former mayor of New York – but also lesser-known defendants like Scott Hall , a Georgia bail bondsman, and Stephen Lee, an Illinois pastor.

Mark Meadows, Mr Trump’s former chief of staff, is one of the accused. So too are Trevian Kutti, a former publicist for rapper Kanye West (now calling himself Ye), and Harrison Floyd, a former Marine active in the group Black Voices for Trump.

Why we wrote this

The Georgia case against Donald Trump and his 18 co-defendants, all of whom have pleaded not guilty, is large and complex. Each individual’s legal strategy has the potential to impact the rest.

The sheer scale of the Georgia trial of Mr Trump and his 18 co-defendants, all of whom have pleaded not guilty, is likely to weigh on both prosecutors and defense attorneys, legal experts say. That’s perhaps why Special Counsel Jack Smith streamlined his federal election case, charging only Mr Trump and not charging six alleged co-conspirators.

But in a way, the sprawling Georgia case might just be viewed as part of a larger picture. According to the federal indictment, the Trump team pressured officials in at least six other key states — Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — to help block Joe Biden’s election to the presidency.

Jim Vondruska/Reuters

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Pastor Stephen Lee, a suspected co-conspirator in connection with the harassment of Georgia poll workers, poses for a portrait outside the Living Word Lutheran Church in Orland Park, Illinois on August 27, 2023.

Mr Trump’s false allegations of Democratic election fraud in 2020 point to a major national conspiracy for which there is no evidence. In the Georgia and federal election cases, prosecutors will essentially claim that the conspiracy took place on the other side.

“If the reported facts are correct, it was a fairly large-scale, multi-tentacled operation that tried by any means necessary to prevent the presidential election from being certified or reversed,” said Caren Morrison, a former U.S. assistant Attorney and Associate Professor in the College of Law at Georgia State University.

One case, 19 defendants, mixed charges

A arraignment hearing was scheduled for Wednesday for the 19 Georgia election interference defendants, at which they will plead before a judge and be told the allegations against them. However, state law allows the defendants to waive their right to appear in person, and all chose to make their pleas of “not guilty” remotely, avoiding appearing in the courtroom on television.

Mr Trump and other key defendants face multiple felony charges. The former president and Mr. Giuliani each face 13 felonies in the Georgia case.

Among other things, Mr Trump participated in a recorded phone call with Georgia’s Foreign Minister Brad Raffensperger, in which the then-President falsely claimed he had won the state by “hundreds of thousands of votes”.

Meanwhile, Mr Giuliani claimed that the voting machines in Georgia had been tampered with. He falsely claimed that two state poll workers, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, were taped engaging in voter fraud. In another case, Mr Giuliani admitted last month that he had made defamatory statements about the two women.

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Rudy Giuliani speaks at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta on August 23, 2023. Mr Giuliani surrendered to Georgian authorities and faced charges for acting as a key co-conspirator to former President Donald Trump in a conspiracy to suppress the 2020 election.

Other defendants have been charged with one or two specific acts. Trevian Kutti flew to Atlanta from her home in Chicago on Jan. 4, 2021, trying to get Ms. Freeman to confess to voter fraud. At a meeting at an Atlanta police station, she told Ms. Freeman that she “needed protection and pretended to offer her assistance,” according to the indictment.

Mr Floyd allegedly helped recruit Ms Kutti to speak with Ms Freeman. According to the indictment, he joined the conversation by telephone.

According to prosecutors, Mr Lee also traveled to Ms Freeman’s home to put pressure on her. They said Mr Hall was involved in an attempt to illegally gain access to voting machines in Coffee County, Georgia, to check for suspected fraud.

Three other defendants have been accused of involvement in a plot to replace Georgia’s 16 presidential elections with an unauthorized, unelected pro-Trump list.

Similar fake voter groups have been organized in six other states. In a court filing Tuesday, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis likened such efforts to claims that “a homemade badge” can turn someone into “a real U.S. Marshal with all the powers that post bestows.”

Will some defendants be tried separately?

The federal case, filed by Special Counsel Smith, has only one indicted defendant: Mr. Trump. Legal experts say it’s designed for speed — quick trial, quick trial, maybe a quick verdict ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

The Georgia case is not like that. With its characters and interwoven storylines, it tells a long story. This could be due to Georgia’s far-reaching crime law, which Ms Willis has often used to bring charges against companies she believes are organized crime.

“The Georgia case is inherently broad,” said Daniel Urman, a law professor at Northeastern University.

Trying a case with 19 defendants can be challenging for prosecutors. At a Sept. 6 hearing, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee expressed extreme skepticism about such an all-encompassing approach, saying it sounded “unrealistic.”

At the same time, Judge McAfee initially denied a request by Trump attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell to separate their cases from the others.

If the defendants do split into groups, those scheduled later could have the advantage of getting early insight into the prosecution’s case and court methods.

“It’s almost like being on a football team and seeing your opponent in pre-season games,” says Professor Urman.

However, if the prosecutor’s office comes to a verdict in the near future, the pressure on the remaining defendants could increase. Should they strike a plea deal and testify against the others? If not, will someone else turn against them?

In a situation like this, “there’s a really big incentive.” [co-defendants] to provide evidence, make deals, and escape these allegations,” said Anthony Michael Kreis, assistant professor in the College of Law at Georgia State University.

The legal strategies of the defendants are already beginning to diverge in ways that could potentially hurt the person at the top. The three Georgia defendants who are accused of serving as a sham voter now claim they did so because they acted on orders from then-President Trump. An attorney for Mr. Meadows has suggested his client may also point to Mr. Trump as the main force behind the Georgia effort.

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Former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (center, bottom arrow) exits the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, where a hearing is being held on his motion to see the Fulton County case transferred to federal court in the 2020 election. at Atlanta, August 28, 2023.

A busy legal calendar… and an upcoming election

At the very least, the complications of law enforcement in Georgia and the various other legal proceedings that Mr. Trump will face in the coming months are likely to result in a frantic period of legal motions, disputes, countermotions and hearings that will draw voters’ attention away from the U.S. could distract politics.

The first major court date is in early October, with the start of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil complaint against Mr Trump, his company and family members for allegedly fraudulently inflating the value of their assets by billions of dollars.

Trials will then continue through 2024, beginning in January with a second libel suit against Mr Trump, filed by writer E. Jean Carroll. The federal election interference trial is currently scheduled to begin in March, and the federal trial for illegally storing classified documents in Mar-a-Lago is scheduled to begin in May.

Given the legal competition and the size of the case, Mr Trump’s trial in Georgia could be delayed beyond next November, says Professor Morrison.

“I think it will be difficult to make it before the election,” she says.