Updated Aug 15, 2023 - Politics & Policy

Here are Trump's 18 co-defendants in the Georgia indictment

Clockwise from top left: Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, and Mark Meadows

Clockwise from top left: Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, and Mark Meadows. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, Eric Lee/Bloomberg, David Swanson/Bloomberg, Drew Angerer via Getty Images

Former President Trump's indictment Monday by an Atlanta-area grand jury over his alleged efforts to overturn the state's 2020 election results highlights a wide cast of characters connected to the probe.

Why it matters: This is Trump's fourth indictment, adding to an increasingly complex web of legal challenges even as he remains a frontrunner in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries.

  • The indictment unveiled by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, following a years-long investigation, charged Trump and 18 others with criminal racketeering.
  • Those charged have until noon Friday, Aug. 25, to surrender.
  • Here's who is named:

West Wing

Donald Trump: The GOP presidential frontrunner faces a total of 13 counts, including soliciting the then-Georgia House Speaker David Ralston and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to break their oaths of office with regard to overturning the election.

Mark Meadows: The former White House chief of staff was a close Trump ally and part of the Jan. 2021 phone call to Raffensperger in which Trump told the Georgia secretary of state to "find" the necessary votes for him to win.

  • He was also in contact with members of Congress about efforts that could influence the election, Politico previously reported.
  • Meadows visited Georgia in Dec. 2020 while the state was carrying out an audit of absentee ballot signatures.
  • Meadows is charged with violating Georgia's racketeering law (or RICO) and soliciting the violation of oath by a public officer.

Trump's legal team

John Eastman: Eastman, a former Trump lawyer, championed the legal theory that Trump used to pressure his Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election results.

  • Between Jan. 4 and Jan. 7, 2021, Eastman sent 101 emails in which he discussed various methods to bar Congress from certifying the 2020 election results
  • Eastman testified before Georgia lawmakers in Dec. 2020 that they had the authority to replace the Democratic party's slate of electors, per CNN.
  • Eastman is charged with 9 counts, including violating Georgia's RICO act, filing false documents, and conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer.

Rudy Giuliani: The former Trump lawyer was among the witnesses compelled to testify before the Atlanta special purpose grand jury.

  • Giuliani appeared before Georgia legislators in December 2020, outlining false claims of voter fraud that questioned Biden's victory in the state and urging legislators to appoint their own slates of presidential electors to certify a Trump victory.
  • Like Trump, Giuliani is facing 13 charges, including conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, violating Georgia's RICO act, and conspiracy to commit filing false documents.

Sidney Powell: Powell is a former attorney for the Trump campaign who helped spread baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election being stolen.

  • Powell is facing seven charges, including violating Georgia's RICO act, conspiracy to commit election fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the state.

Kenneth Chesebro: Chesebro, an attorney who was advising the Trump campaign, is credited with being the first lawyer to suggest that slates of fake pro-Trump electors could try to get recognized by Congress on Jan. 6.

  • Chesebro is facing seven charges, including two counts of conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree and two counts of conspiracy to commit false statements and writings.

Jeffrey Clark: A former Trump Department of Justice official, Clark supported Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

  • Clark wrote an unsent letter in Dec. 2020 to Georgia officials that stated that falsely claimed the Justice Department had "identified significant concerns" that would affect the state's 2020 election results.
  • Clark is charged with one count of violating Georgia's RICO act and one count of criminal attempt to commit false statements and writings.

Of note: Several of those named in the indictment — including Powell, Clark, Giuliani, Chesebro and Eastman — are widely believed to be one of Trump's six unidentified conspirators in the Justice Department's Jan. 6 probe.

Trump campaign

Ray Smith: A Georgia-based lawyer who represented Trump in post-election challenges in the state.

  • Smith gathered witnesses to testify in hearings before Georgia lawmakers in Dec. 2020 about alleged problems with the state's 2020 election, AP reported.
  • Smith is facing 12 charges, including solicitation of violation of oath by public officer, conspiracy to commit false statements and writings, and conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer.

Michael Roman: Roman was a Trump campaign aide who played a key role in putting forth slates of fake electors.

  • Roman is facing seven charges, including conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, violating Georgia's RICO act, and conspiracy to commit filing false documents.

Georgia's fake electors

David Shafer: The former state senator and chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, Shafer was one of Trump's false electors in Georgia.

  • Shafer presented himself as the "chairperson" of the Electoral College of Georgia and filed a fake slate of 16 pro-Trump electors in Dec. 2020, per the New York Times.
  • Shafer is facing eight charges, including false statements and writings, forgery in the first degree, and impersonating a public officer.

Shawn Still: A current Georgia state senator, Still was another of 16 Republicans who signed an "unofficial electoral certificate" in Georgia stating that Trump had won the state and that they were Georgia's duly-elected electors, per AP.

  • Still is facing seven charges, including forgery in the first degree, violating Georgia's RICO act, and criminal attempt to commit filing false documents.

Cathy Latham: Another fake GOP elector, Latham was also the chair of the Coffee County Republican Party in Georgia.

  • In Jan. 2021, Latham allegedly helped grant unauthorized access to voting systems in Coffee County, Georgia to Trump operatives, per CNN.
  • Latham is facing 11 charges, including two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud and conspiracy to commit computer trespass.

Coffee County election breach

Scott Hall: A Georgia bail bondsman, Hall was involved in the scheme to illegally breach election equipment in Coffee County, Georgia.

  • Hall, Latham and Misty Hampton "aided, abetted, and encouraged" employees from the data solutions firm SullivanStrickler to access voting equipment inside the Coffee County Board of Elections Registration office, per the indictment.
  • Hall faces seven charges, including conspiracy to commit election fraud, conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy, and conspiracy to defraud the state.

Misty Hampton: The former Coffee County elections director, Hampton was involved in the scheme to grant Trump supporters unauthorized access to election equipment in Georgia's Coffee County.

  • Hampton is facing seven charges, including conspiracy to commit election fraud and conspiracy to commit computer theft.

Others indicted

Robert Cheeley: A Georgia-based lawyer, Cheeley presented video clips of of election workers at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta at a Georgia State Senate hearing after the election, alleging that workers were double- and triple-counting votes.

  • Cheeley is facing 10 charges and is the only defendant charged with perjury.

Jenna Ellis: Ellis appeared with Giuliani during the Dec. 2020 hearing before Georgia lawmakers, during which false claims of election fraud were made.

  • Ellis also authored memos claiming Pence had the authority to block Biden's 2020 victory when Congress met on Jan. 6 2021.
  • Ellis is charged with violation of Georgia's RICO Act and solicitation of violation of oath by public officer.

Stephen Lee: An Illinois pastor, Lee was involved in an effort to intimidate Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman in order influence her testimony to the Fulton County grand jury. Lee allegedly traveled to Freeman's home and knocked on her door, per the indictment.

  • Lee is facing five charges, including two counts of criminal attempt to commit influencing witnesses.

Harrison Floyd: The head of Black Voices for Trump, Floyd was involved in the efforts to intimidate Ruby Freeman and made several attempts to contact her.

  • Floyd is charged with violating Georgia's RICO act, influencing witnesses, and conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings.

Trevian Kutti: Kutti was allegedly recruited by Floyd to take part in the effort to intimidate Freeman.

  • Kutti traveled to Freeman's home in Jan. 2021 and later met with Freeman at a police precinct, during which Floyd joined the conversation over the phone, according to the indictment.
  • The indictment alleges that Kutti presented herself as someone who could protect Freeman, but then pressured her to falsely confess to election fraud.
  • Kutti is charged with violating Georgia's RICO act, conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings, and influencing witnesses.

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Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details.

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