Trump indicted in Georgia election probe by Fulton County grand jury

Several of former President Donald Trump’s co-defendants in the Fulton County indictment are facing charges in connection with the breach of a voting system in a rural Georgia county that took place after the 2020 election.  

CNN has previously reported that multiple of the newly-indicted co-defendants helped orchestrate and carry out the breach in Coffee County. 

 The indictment alleged that several Trump allies committed specific crimes related to their involvement in the Coffee County breach, as well as allegedly lying about their roles. Those charges include computer trespassing, perjury, conspiracy to commit election fraud and conspiracy to commit computer theft, the indictment states. 

The people charged in connection with the Coffee County breach are:

• Sidney Powell, a former Trump attorney
• Misty Hampton, a former elections supervisor for Coffee County
• Cathy Latham, a former local GOP official in Coffee County
• Scott Hall, a pro-Trump poll watcher and bail bondsman in Georgia

The indictment echoes previous CNN reporting about Powell’s alleged role in the breach, including that she contracted a cyber-forensics firm to examine and copy voting systems in Coffee County without the proper authorization to do so.

Latham and Hampton both face charges for allegedly helping facilitate the breach, according to the indictment. Latham also faces perjury charges for lying about her involvement in the Coffee County breach during a deposition conducted as part of a long-running civil lawsuit related to election security in Georgia.

Hall’s role in the breach was similarly exposed during that civil lawsuit, initially by a phone recording where he acknowledges his involvement. 

The civil lawsuit, brought several years ago against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger by a coalition of election security advocates, is cited throughout the indictment as a key source of evidence prosecutors used to bring criminal charges against those Trump allies involved. 

CNN has previously reported that surveillance video, text messages and other communications unearthed during this civil case provided essential evidence for prosecutors investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. 

As recently as Sunday, CNN reported that Atlanta-area prosecutors investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia were in possession of text messages and emails directly connecting members of Trump’s legal team to the early January 2021 voting system breach in Coffee County.