Donald Trump's lawyers, Ga. GOP leaders among 19 defendants in election case

Aug. 15 (UPI) -- The indictment of former President Donald Trump by Georgia prosecutors claims that 19 defendants "joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome" of the 2020 election.

Alongside the former president are familiar names, including his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman.

All 19 defendants are being charged under Georgia's anti-racketeering law, and each of them faces at least one additional charge.

Here's a rundown of those charged on Aug. 14.

Rudy Giuliani: The former federal prosecutor and mayor of New York City served as Trump's personal lawyer during the last days of his presidency and led the efforts in several states to challenge the 2020 election results.

He has been charged on 13 counts, more than any defendant other than Trump, related to false allegations of election fraud before state legislative committees in December 2020 as well as his role in a plan to send a slate of electors who supported Trump to Congress.

Like all of his co-defendants, Giuliani was charged under Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. As a U.S. attorney in New York in the 1980s, Giuliani rose to fame by pioneering the use of the RICO act to prosecute organized crime.

"This indictment is an affront to American democracy and does permanent, irrevocable harm to our justice system," Giuliani wrote on Twitter hours after the indictment was unsealed. "It's just the next chapter in a book of lies with the purpose of framing President Donald Trump and anyone willing to take on the ruling regime."

Mark Meadows: The former White House chief of staff is the highest-ranking government official other than Trump charged. In addition to the RICO charge, he was hit with one count for his participation in Trump's Jan. 2, 2021, call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, during which the former president pressured Raffensperger to "find" enough votes so he could win.

Meadows was apparently not among the unindicted co-conspirators in the federal case made by special counsel Jack Smith against Trump earlier in August.

Jeffrey Clark: The former Justice Department official was charged with trying to use a letter to influence Georgia election officials that included false claims the department had "identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple states."

A spokeswoman for Clark, who has seen his stature rise in the Republican Party since the failed attempt to overturn the election, accused Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis of "exceeding her powers by inserting herself into the operations of the federal government."

"It's clear Willis aspires to higher office and is using this witch hunt to climb the political ladder," spokeswoman Rachel Cauley of the Center for Renewing America, a conservative think tank where Clark is a senior fellow, said. "Jeff Clark was simply doing his job in 2020 and he doesn't deserve to be subjected to this naked political lawfare."

Kenneth Chesebro and John Eastman: The attorneys were key architects of the plan to use fake Trump electors in several battleground states. Both face several counts relating to forgery and making false statements in the efforts to overturn the election in Georgia. Eastman, the former dean of Chapman University law school, also faces an additional charge for filing a federal court case in Georgia that falsely claimed thousands of people had voted illegally.

Both lawyers are believed to be among the unindicted co-conspirators in the federal indictment against Trump.

Sidney Powell: The Trump campaign lawyer was one of the most prominent figures pushing election fraud claims. She vowed to "release the Kraken," a sprawling lawsuit based on conspiracy theories that included voting machine rigging under former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. She is believed to be one of the unindicted co-conspirators in the federal indictment against Trump.

Jenna Ellis: The Trump campaign lawyer, who became a high-profile conservative media figure pushing election fraud claims, was charged on two counts. She was censured for misconduct by a Colorado Supreme Court judge in March for making public false statements.

Ray Smith III and Robert Cheeley: Both are Georgia attorneys. Smith worked for the Trump campaign. They are charged with several counts relating to their false assertions of voter fraud at a Georgia state Legislature hearing in December 2020.

David Shafer: The former chairman of the Georgia GOP was one of three fake electors charged in the indictment. He presided over a December 2020 meeting where a group of 16 state Republicans signed a certificate falsely claiming that Trump had won the election and named themselves Georgia's "duly elected and qualified" electors.

Shawn Still: The finance chair of the Georgia GOP in 2020 served as secretary for the December 2020 meeting and certified himself one of the fake electors. He is currently a Georgia state senator.

Cathy Latham: The former head of the Republican Party in Georgia's rural Coffee County was one of the 16 fake Trump electors and is charged with assisting in the "unlawful breach of election equipment" at the county elections office in January 2021, where Trump supporters accessed voting machine software and data.

Misty Hampton: The former Coffee County election supervisor is also accused of helping Trump supporters access voting equipment.

Mike Roman: The campaign official who was Trump's director of Election Day operations was charged with involvement in efforts to organize slates of false electors from battleground states.

Trevian Kutti: The former publicist for Kanye West is accused of taking part in a plot to pressure Fulton County campaign worker Ruby Freeman to confess to voter fraud accusations. Freeman, 61, became the target of harassment by Trump supporters after a video spread on right-wing media that falsely purported to show her producing unlawful ballots.

Kutti presented herself as someone with connections who could offer Freeman protection but only if she confessed to the phony fraud charges.

Stephen Lee and Willie Lewis Floyd III: Lee, a Lutheran pastor from Illinois, and Floyd, a former mixed martial arts fighter and director of the group Black Voices for Trump, were also charged in connection with the effort to intimidate Freeman and her daughter.

Scott Hall: Hall, 58, is an Atlanta-area bail bondsman who allegedly played a role in attempting to tamper with voting systems in Coffee County, Ga. He faces seven charges, including conspiracy to commit election fraud and conspiracy to defraud the state.