Former President Donald Trump is set to be arraigned on Wednesday, Sept. 6, in the criminal case accusing him and several top allies of creating a "criminal enterprise" to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results, according to a court docket for the case.
Trump and 18 others were charged earlier this month in a sweeping 98-page, 41-count indictment, and were booked at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta last week. The former president himself faces 13 felony charges, including violation of the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer and numerous conspiracy charges.
As part of the proceedings, Trump is expected to stand before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee and enter a formal plea. The former president has denied wrongdoing in the case, repeatedly railing against it as politically motivated and blasting Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who launched the investigation and brought the charges.
Trump's former attorney, ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, will follow Trump at 9:45 a.m. ET. The other defendants in the case, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and attorneys Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell, will also face arraignment that day, appearing before Judge McAfee in 15-minute increments.
Willis launched the probe in February 2021, about a month after a recorded phone call in which Trump pressed Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the 11,780 votes he needed to win the state.
In addition to that phone call and other efforts to pressure state officials to overturn Joe Biden’s win in Georgia, investigators also examined false statements Trump’s lawyers made in legislative hearings, a meeting in which phony pro-Trump electors cast votes, the breach of voting equipment by Trump allies in Coffee County and an intimidation campaign by Trump supporters against a Fulton County election worker into falsely admitting she was part of a fraud scheme, according to court documents and other public records.
Willis empaneled a special purpose grand jury in May 2022 to aid in the investigation. In its final report, which was issued in February and partially released shortly after, the grand jury said it found there was no evidence of widespread fraud in Georgia’s election.
The first U.S. president in history to face criminal charges, Trump has now been indicted in four separate cases.
He faces federal charges in two investigations led by special counsel Jack Smith. In Florida, Trump faces 40 counts of retaining military documents after leaving office and obstructing government efforts to recover them. In Washington, the former president is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and other offenses also related to his efforts to undo the 2020 election results.
Trump also faces state charges in New York of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
He has pleaded not guilty in all those cases.