What is racketeering? Trump charged with mafia-busting law in Georgia

Donald Trump is already facing 78 transgression charges crossed 3 cases - but this week successful Georgia, helium could beryllium deed with 1 helium has ne'er seen before: racketeering.

Local prosecutors successful Fulton County person been investigating the efforts to overturn Mr Trump's decision successful the closely-contested authorities successful the 2020 election.

US media reports suggest the territory attorney's bureau could beryllium pursuing racketeering charges that implicate respective radical successful a sprawling predetermination subversion conspiracy, with Mr Trump arsenic the alleged ringleader.

If it does, it would beryllium indicting a erstwhile American president connected charges erstwhile utilized to convict mob bosses similar John Gotti and Vincent Gigante.

Organised transgression enactment successful the US is routinely prosecuted nether the national Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (Rico) Act.

Rico laws assistance prosecutors link the dots betwixt underlings who broke laws and those who gave them marching orders.

More than 30 US states person implemented their ain versions of the national government's Rico Act and Georgia's adaptation is broader successful scope than most.

Federal Rico statutes database 35 crimes that would suffice arsenic grounds of racketeering, but Georgia's Rico laws take from a database of 65.

Prosecutors are required to amusement that a transgression "enterprise" exists and to item a signifier of racketeering that rests connected astatine slightest 2 qualifying crimes.

Penalties nether Georgia's Rico Act are steep - situation presumption betwixt 5 and 20 years, oregon fines of up to $250,000 (£197,000) - and tin assistance transportation subordinates to chopped deals with the prosecution successful speech for lesser sentences.

Such incidents whitethorn make a question of never-before-seen grounds and grounds prosecutors tin usage against the alleged ringleaders, according to Anthony Michael Kreis, a instrumentality prof astatine Georgia State University.

To convict Mr Trump himself, Mr Kreis said prosecutors volition person to amusement the erstwhile president was "not immoderate benignant of passive participant" pursuing ineligible advice, but the antheral "driving the bus".

Mr Trump is already facing national charges from the US Department of Justice implicit his mendacious predetermination claims, successful a proceedings whose grounds could origin into, and overlap with, the lawsuit successful Georgia.

He is besides awaiting proceedings implicit his alleged mishandling of classified documents and his hush-money payments to a porn star.

District Attorney Fani Willis, who heads the Georgia probe, has not commented connected what benignant of charges she volition question against the erstwhile president, and her bureau did not instrumentality the BBC's petition for comment.

But the Democrat has utilized the state's racketeering laws for high-profile prosecutions successful the past.

In 2013, she led the prosecution - connected Rico charges - of Atlanta nationalist schoolhouse teachers and administrators accused of cheating connected state-run standardised tests successful bid to unafraid bonuses and promotions.

"You don't, nether Rico, person to person a formal, sit-down meal gathering wherever you devour spaghetti," Ms Willis explained arsenic she indicted astir 3 twelve educators astir a decennary ago.

"But what you bash person to bash is each beryllium doing the aforesaid happening for the aforesaid purpose. You each person to beryllium moving towards that aforesaid goal."

Eleven of 12 officials were yet convicted astatine trial, the longest successful authorities history, with astir different co-conspirators taking blameworthy pleas.

Last year, Ms Willis leaned connected Rico statutes again to allege that Grammy-winning rapper Young Thug and 27 associates astatine his YSL euphony statement are a "criminal thoroughfare gang".

"The crushed that I americium a instrumentality of Rico is, I deliberation jurors are very, precise intelligent," she said astatine a quality league to denote the charges.

"They privation to cognize what happened. They privation to marque an close determination astir someone's life. And truthful Rico is simply a instrumentality that allows a prosecutor's bureau and instrumentality enforcement to archer the full story."

But a proceedings that was acceptable to statesman this past January is present 8 months into a glacial assemblage enactment process, with thousands of jurors excused and not a azygous juror seated.

That has near Young Thug sitting successful jailhouse for 15 months, portion a fistful of his YSL co-defendants person taken plea deals oregon had their cases separated from the trial.

"I americium hoping Fani Willis has learned from this YSL lawsuit erstwhile Donald Trump's lawsuit yet gets to that level," said Keisha Steed, an Atlanta defence attorney. "The mode it's playing retired has been a mess!"

She said Ms Willis's bureau did not look "prepared for the fig of jurors that they had to telephone in, the logistics of having everybody beryllium successful 1 place, the clip it takes for each attorneys to question jurors".

The plodding gait of Young Thug's proceedings has acceptable it connected people to bushed the grounds acceptable by the Atlanta educators' proceedings arsenic the longest successful authorities history.

That is not antithetic for multi-defendant and multi-attorney Rico cases, which tin make large backlogs successful the ineligible system.

"The full courthouse is fundamentally closed," said Meg Strickler, different section defence attorney.

"I hatred the Rico Act," she added, saying clients are often intimidated by the penalties they could face, and the clip and wealth needed to support themselves.

And, fixed however lengthy and analyzable Rico trials are, she expects the Trump proceedings volition beryllium a confusing and uncomfortable matter for a jury, if 1 tin yet beryllium seated.

"Jurors are going to autumn dormant agelong earlier they recognize it," Ms Strickler predicted.