Former Macon DA responds to Trump indictment in Georgia election probe
Former Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney David Cooke says Trump "intentionally tried to deprive people of their lawful votes."
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – As former President Donald Trump faces charges in Georgia, we asked former Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney David Cooke his thoughts on the indictment out of Fulton County. Trump and 18 other defendants are named in the 41-count indictment.
The charges stem from claims that Trump and his allies tried to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. One of the major charges in the indictment is racketeering. Cooke says the charge was developed to combat organized crime or people who conduct crime as a business.
“They have this enterprise that’s doing a bunch of different things, but committing a number of different crimes basically as a part of their normal everyday lives or businesses,” said Cooke. “And it doesn’t have to be the mafia.”
Cooke mentioned the example of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her successful prosecution in the Atlanta Public Schools case.
“A number of teachers and administrators got together to falsify test scores in a manner that violated the law that counted as racketeering,” said Cooke. “And it’s oftentimes used in street gang prosecutions and other types of complicated cases where the jury needs to hear the whole story.”
Cooke says he worked with Willis for about five years in Fulton County, and he describes her as a hard working and fearless lawyer.
“D.A. Willis and I work together in the major case division of the Fulton County DA’s Office,” said Cooke. “That’s the homicide division. And you don’t get into that division unless you work really hard, and you’ve done well in your trials. It’s not a place where you start off.”
41NBC’s Shelby Coates also asked Cooke if he believes the former president will go to trial in Georgia.
“Oh, yes,” said Cooke. “Unless he decides to take a plea bargain, this case is going to trial. She’s not going to back down.”
Cooke also addressed concerns about the election probe being a federal case and not a state case.
“It’s not uncommon for people who commit very serious crimes in conjunction with others for them to be subject to both state and federal prosecution,” said Cooke. “And D.A. Willis is well within her rights to seek this indictment and to seek justice for the citizens of Georgia. And let’s face it, based on what we’ve all seen, Mr. Trump intentionally sought to interfere in our election. He intentionally tried to deprive people of their lawful votes. He intentionally sought to have people threaten people who were just doing their jobs. We all heard that that telephone conversation he had with our secretary of state This is a case that needed to be brought.”
Cooke went on to say that the indictment in this case is well done. Cooke says this is a tight case and is not subject to dismissal.
