Two of the biggest trials in America will take place in Atlanta. Former President Donald Trump and prolific Atlanta rapper Young Thug will both fight charges, in separate cases, under the Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization statute, also known as the RICO.
On Aug. 14, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis announced the indictment of Trump and 18 other co-defendants in connection to the 2020 election probe.
“Every individual charged in the indictment is charged with one count of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act through participation in a criminal enterprise in Fulton County, Georgia, and elsewhere, to accomplish the illegal goal of allowing Donald J. Trump to seize the presidential term of office beginning on January 20, 2021,” Willis said during a press conference at the Fulton County Court on the night of Aug. 14.
Both cases against Trump and Young Thug have thrusts Willis into the national spotlight. During an interview that took place earlier this summer, Willis shared with me that she’s willing to go after any person, big or small, who commits crime in Fulton County.
“It’s going to be a historic year,” Willis shared. “It’s certainly we have more history to come. We’re gonna continue to do great things because I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, no one is above the law. And so we are making sure through our efforts that we are making sure that our community has its dignity, but we also want to prosecute those that choose to come to this county and commit crimes.”
But Willis isn’t new to using the RICO to cast a wide net over alleged crimes. Ten years ago, Willis used the RICO to indict 35 teachers in the Atlanta Public School system who were accused of falsifying standardized test scores. It came at a time when test scores were often directly linked to funding as schools with consistently low test scores could be taken over by…
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