
When Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis brought state racketeering and conspiracy charges against Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants over their efforts to reverse the former president's defeat in the 2020 election in Georgia, she reached for a legal tool she has relied on before — in prosecuting corrupt school teachers and violent street gangs.
Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, law enabled Willis to charge Trump and his allies for allegedly engaging in an extensive plot to overturn the state's 2020 election results. The historic 41-count indictment accused them of orchestrating a "criminal enterprise" with the intention of helping Trump maintain his hold on power.