Donald Trump's fourth indictment, connected to an alleged criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results, has led to accusations that figures in the Democratic Party should face similar charges.
On Monday night, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis announced that the former president and his allies are accused of a total of 41 charges, with each defendant accused of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
This is now the fourth indictment Trump has faced this year, bringing the total charges against him to 91. Trump denies all wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty to all the accusations against him in the other three cases.
After the indictment was posted, some conservative commentators began to say Stacey Abrams, the 2018 and 2022 Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Georgia (where Trump was indicted) should face similar scrutiny.
Conservative pressure group Libs of TikTok, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on August 15, 2023, in a post viewed 430,000 times "When is Stacey Abrams getting indicted in Georgia for attempting to overthrow election results?" The post included two articles by Fox News about Abrams saying she won the election and not conceding the result.
Breitbart's Joel Pollak made a similar point on August 15, 2023, in a post viewed 149,800 times, arguing "If it's a crime in Georgia to claim, falsely, that an election was "stolen," how is @staceyabrams not in prison?"
Newsweek's Fact Check team examined whether there was any merit to the claims.
What Did Stacey Abrams Do?
In 2018, Democrat Abrams ran against Republican Brian Kemp to be governor of Georgia. She narrowly lost to Kemp but refused to concede at the time.
Newsweek previously reported that Abrams accused Kemp, who was serving as Georgia's secretary of state, "of deliberately keeping over 1 million Georgians from casting ballots by improperly removing them from the rolls."
The two were separated by fewer than 60,000 votes, and Abrams initially refused to concede amid allegations of widespread voter suppression. Kemp, in charge of overseeing elections as secretary of state, denied the accusation.
While she accepted that Kemp would take office, the Democratic nominee also filed a lawsuit alleging that the state had violated voters' constitutional rights. A federal judge in late September 2022 ruled against Abrams' claims.
Despite this history, in a rematch in 2022, Abrams conceded to Kemp in Georgia's gubernatorial race, after projections put her Republican opponent ahead.
How Does This Differ From Trump?
Abrams' refusal to concede and attempts to challenge the results are clearly distinct from the indictment that Trump is facing. There was no evidence that Abrams attempted to interfere with the outcome of the gubernatorial election, as it is alleged that Trump and his co-conspirators might have.
Trump, crucially, is not facing charges for lying but conspiring to change the result of the election.
Furthermore, Abrams' lack of concession over the 2018 vote is not an indictable offense, just as Trump's refusal to concede in the 2020 presidential race is not.
Legal scholar Richard Briffault told Newsweek that Abrams' claim of unfairness was based on a "massive purge of voters who hadn't voted in recent elections, as well as obstacles to the registration of new voters."
"As I understand it, Abrams said she would have won a fairly conducted election and claimed that various things her opponent Kemp, then the Georgia Secretary of State, did in terms of election rules and procedures [that] made it harder [for her] supporters to vote, were unfair, and she would have won if he hadn't manipulated the rules," Briffault said.
"Unlike Trump I don't think she ever claimed she actually won the election that was held and she never did anything illegal to overturn the outcome."
Abrams is not the only candidate to have made outspoken claims about the circumstances of her election result. After the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton kept referring to Donald Trump as an "illegitimate president" claiming he knew he stole the contest, reported The Washington Post.
Again, Clinton did not attempt to overturn the results so there wouldn't be grounds for indictment there either.
Crucially, however, Abrams' actions did not attract the potential for charges that Fulton County DA Fani Willis' office has found in Trump's case.
Newsweek has contacted a representative for Stacey Abrams via her website for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
