Who are the 18 Trump associates named in the Georgia indictment?

Alongside former US president Donald Trump, Georgia’s issuing of criminal charges over alleged interference in the 2020 presidential election in the state also concerns 18 of the Republican’s associates, but who exactly are they?

While they all face different charges from the more than 40 individual accusations listed on the indictment, they have all been charged with violating the Georgia RICO, which stands for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

To break it down further, the legislation – in Georgia’s case – says it is illegal for "any person, through a pattern of racketeering activity or proceeds derived therefrom, to acquire or maintain, directly or indirectly, any interest in or control of any enterprise, real property, or personal property of any nature, including money".

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis said: “The indictment alleges that rather than abide by Georgia’s legal process for election challenges the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia’s presidential election result.”

Trump, along with 18 associates, now has until midday on 25th August to “voluntarily surrender”, with a trial date being sought for “within the next six months”.

So let’s go through the names…

1. Rudy Giuliani

Yep, the Trump lawyer responsible for the iconic Four Seasons Total Landscaping meme is caught up in this indictment.

He was previously subject to a two-year investigation by the FBI which included a raid on his New York apartment, before the case closed with no criminal charges being filed.

In June this year, he lost his licence to practise law in New York following his comments about the validity of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost.

Giuliani faces charges including false statements and writings, conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer and conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree.

2. John Eastman

Eastman is a former Trump-linked attorney who is currently facing the prospect of being disbarred in California over allegations he “engaged in a course of conduct to plan, promote, and assist” Trump in “executing a strategy, unsupported by facts or law, to overturn the legitimate results” of the last presidential election.

Charges faced by Eastman include conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, and filing false documents.

3. Mark Meadows

Former chief of staff to President Trump, Meadows is reported to have joked about his boss’s claims of fraud shortly after the 2020 presidential election in December that year, texting a White House lawyer that his son – a Georgia-based attorney investigating possible fraud – could find votes required by Trump to win the election.

After a phone call between Trump and Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger saw the latter claim investigators only discovered two instances of votes being cast in the election by “dead people”, Meadows intervened to say: “That may be what your investigation shows, but I can promise you there are more than that.”

He's charged with violating Georgia’s RICO law and solicitation of violation of oath by public officer.

4. Kenneth Chesebro

Another Trump-affiliated lawyer, Chesebro authored a memo from December 2020 which suggested electors who would have voted for Trump had he won in six key states could forge Electoral College certificates to send to Washington under the pretence of them being legitimate.

Then vice president Mike Pence would, according to the plan, accept the fake certificates and reject the legitimate ones, granting Trump an illegal win for the presidential election.

In December, the House select committee tasked with investigating the January 6 Capitol riot published a report which named Chesebro as the architect of the aforementioned plot.

“The fake elector plan emerged from a series of legal memoranda written by an outside legal advisor to the Trump Campaign: Kenneth Chesebro,” it stated.

He faces charges of conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, conspiracy to commit filing false documents and more.

5. Jeffrey Clark

A former lawyer at the Department of Justice (DOJ), Clark urged his bosses to sign a letter that would have the DOJ support Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud in the election, and pressure US states to send pro-Trump electors to the Electoral College vote, even in areas where Joe Biden won fair and square. The DOJ refused.

He also had his Virginia home raided by law enforcement in June last year, and was interviewed by the January 6 committee, but he largely declined to answer questions citing his fifth amendment right to remain silent and avoid incriminating himself.

Clark’s charged with a violation of Georgia’s RICO and a criminal attempt to commit false statements and writings.

6. Jenna Ellis

The former Trump attorney was censured by a Colorado judge in March this year after she admitted making 10 “misrepresentations” around the 2020 presidential election, an admission which saw Ellis acknowledge that it is “professional misconduct for a lawyer to engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation”.

It was agreed Ellis “undermined the American public’s confidence” in the vote.

She’s charged with violating the Georgia RICO and the solicitation of violation of oath by public officer.

7. Ray Smith III

Based in Georgia, Smith played a part in several lawsuits challenging the legitimacy of the results in Georgia for the 2020 presidential election.

He faces charges of criminal attempt to commit false statements and writings, conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree and conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, amongst others.

8. Robert Cheeley

The Georgia lawyer alleged election workers at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta were counting votes more than once.

Cheeley’s charges include conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, false statements and writings, and perjury.

9. Michael Roman

Roman is a former aide to the Trump campaign who had his phone seized as part of a DOJ investigation into the 2020 election, and was questioned by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection.

He was part of the attempts to put forward fake electors to back Trump following his loss in the presidential election, and his charges include conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree and conspiracy to commit false statements and writings.

10. David Shafer

Shafer is a former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party which, together with the Trump campaign, filed – and lost - a legal challenge looking to overturn the election results in the US state.

He also signed a false certificate in December 2020 declaring Trump had won the 2020 election in Georgia and that they were the state’s “dule elected and qualified” electors.

In May, lawyers representing Shafer said their client shouldn’t face charges over his involvement in a plot to overturn the presidential election as he was acting on the “repeated and detailed advice of legal counsel” in Trump’s team.

He’s charged with impersonating a public officer, forgery in the first degree and a criminal attempt to commit filing false documents, amongst other offences.

11. Shawn Still

Still, a representative in Georgia’s Senate, was one of the Republicans alongside Shafer who signed a certificate falsely claiming they were Georgia’s electors and that Trump had won in the state.

Charges faced by Still include impersonating a public officer, a criminal attempt to commit filing false documents and forgery in the first degree.

12. Stephen Lee

Lee has been the subject of allegations he attempted to extort a false confession from Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman, who faced false accusations of pulling fake ballots from suitcases while counting votes in the state.

In an interview with Reuters, Lee did not deny visiting Ms Freeman’s house but refused to say why he went there.

He’s charged with a breach of RICO, criminal attempt to commit influencing witnesses, influencing witnesses and conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings.

13. Harrison Prescott Floyd

Also going by the name of Willie Lewis Floyd III, Floyd is affiliated with the Black Voices for Trump group, and is another name allegedly linked to the incident involving Ruby Freeman.

14. Trevian Kutti

A former publicist for Kanye West (yes, really), Kutti is another name allegedly linked to the Freeman incident, and is alleged to have been seen cornering the election worker and threatening her with jail time when the pair went to a police station – according to bodycam footage captured by a nearby officer.

In 2021, a spokesperson for West – who now goes by the name ‘Ye’ – told Reuters: “Trevian Kutti was not associated with Kanye West or any of his enterprises at the times of the facts that are reported in these articles or since these facts occurred.”

He’s charged with a breach of Georgia’s RICO, conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings, and influencing witnesses.

15. Sidney Powell

Yet another Trump-affiliated attorney, Powell enlisted forensics company Sullivan Strickler to investigate Michigan voting machines in a $26,000 deal.

A report from the January 6 committee also notes that alongside Giuliani and Ellis, she held a press conference at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee. During the conference, she claimed there was a “massive influence of communist money through Venezuela, Cuba, and likely China in the interference with our elections here in the United States”.

She also falsely claimed the voting machine company Dominion’s software was “created in Venezuela at the direction of Hugo Chavez to make sure he never lost an election”.

Powell is charged with a breach of RICO, conspiracy to commit election fraud, conspiracy to commit computer theft, conspiracy to commit computer trespass, conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy and conspiracy to defraud the state.

16. Cathy Latham

The former chairwoman of the Coffee County Republican Party was filmed on video escorting a team of operatives into the county’s elections office on 7 January 2021, the same day a voting system was known to be breached.

A lawyer for Ms Latham said she did not have the authority to “authorise anyone to do anything with the ballots” but added that she did not “participate personally in anything that the elections board and/or its employee … may have decided to do under their own authority (or at least their perceived authority) with the ballots.”

She was also one of the “fake electors” who signed false certificates in a bid to keep Trump in office.

Her charges include impersonating a public officer, forgery in the first degree, conspiracy to commit election fraud, conspiracy to commit computer theft and conspiracy to defraud the state.

17. Scott Hall

He was one of the operatives filmed greeting Latham at the county’s elections office and being led to the back area to meet with experts.

Hall is charged with a breach of RICO, conspiracy to commit election fraud, conspiracy to commit computer theft, conspiracy to commit computer trespass, conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy and conspiracy to defraud the state.

18. Misty Hampton

Also known as Emily Misty Hayes, she’s a former Coffee County elections official who allegedly penned a “written invitation” to attorneys working for Trump to access the county’s voting systems – according to CNN.

She’s facing the same charges as Hall and Powell.

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