LA MAGA NOSTRA

RICO took down ‘Teflon Don’ Gotti, will it take down Teflon Don Trump?

Donald Trump faces particular legal peril in Georgia after being charged with the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations act, a kind of prosecution that ironically was pioneered by his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, against New York Mafia families.

These Dons now have something notorious in common.

Former President Donald Trump has been charged with alleged election tampering in Georgia under a state anti-organized crime law known as RICO — and it’s a version of the federal statute once famously used to nail New York City’s “Teflon Don’’ John Gotti, the late head of the Gambino crime family.

The federal RICO — or Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations — Act was adopted in 1970 and since then states including Georgia have gone on to pass their own versions of the law.

Even more sweeping than its federal counterpart, the Peach State’s RICO law, under which Trump and 18 associates are now charged, makes it a crime to participate in, acquire or maintain control of an “enterprise” through a “pattern of racketeering activity” or to conspire to do so.

Notably, the alleged plot does not have to have been successful for a RICO charge to stick.

Some of the most high-profile RICO cases in the past have involved Gotti’s Gambino crime family.

Gambino bosses Gotti and Frank Locascio were convicted in April 1992 under the RICO Act and sentenced to life in prison — the beginning of the end for what was once regarded as America’s most powerful Mafia organization.

In the mid-1990s, prosecutors used RICO charges to dismantle the powerful Lucchese crime family in a matter of 18 months after several high-ranking members flipped into informants.

Bonanno crime family boss Joseph Massino also was found guilty at trial in 2004 of 11 RICO counts for seven murders, as well as arson, extortion, loan-sharking, money laundering and illegal gambling.

Massino, dubbed “The Last Don,” was sentenced in 2005 to life in prison, but was resentenced to time served in 2013.

The anti-racketeering statute is crucial to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ 13-count indictment against Trump, for which he would potentially face up to 71 and ¹/₂ years if convicted.

A trial by tweet

And Trump’s old tweets may help convict him.

Willis highlighted a dozen of the former president’s posts on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, in the case.

The tweets were showcased in a section of the 13-count indictment against Trump that outlined 150 instances that played a role in his alleged conspiracy to thwart the 2020 election.

On Dec. 3, 2020, Trump zeroed in on a Georgia state Legislature hearing and called out local officials in the Peach State in his tweets. During that hearing, his allies peddled unfounded claims of electoral malfeasance in a bid to overturn the election.

“Wow! Blockbuster testimony taking place right now in Georgia. Ballot stuffing by Dems when Republicans were forced to leave the large counting room. Plenty more coming, but this alone leads to an easy win of the State!” he posted.

“People in Georgia got caught cold bringing in massive numbers of ballots and putting them in ‘voting’ machines. Great job @BrianKempGA!” Trump wrote.

Three days later, Trump lashed out again at Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp as well as at former Lt. Gov

Geoff Duncan, blasting them for resisting his call for a special session to evaluate the election.

Duncan testified before a Fulton County grand jury this week.

“Gee, what a surprise. Has anyone informed the so-called (says he has no power to do anything!) Governor @BrianKempGA; his puppet Lt. Governor @GeoffDuncanGA, that they could easily solve this mess, WIN. Signature verification call a Special Session. So easy!” Trump had written.

About two weeks later, Trump tweeted, “We now have far more votes than needed to flip Georgia in the Presidential race. Massive VOTER FRAUD took place. Thank you to the Georgia Legislature for today’s revealing meeting.’’

On Jan. 2, 2021, Trump had a controversial phone call with

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger during which he emphasized the need to “find, uh, 11,780 votes” — enough needed to overturn his election loss.

That call was the impetus for the Fulton County investigation.

“I spoke to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger yesterday about Fulton County and voter fraud in Georgia,” Trump tweeted the day after his phone call. “He

was unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as the ‘ballots under table’ scam, ballot destruction, out of state ‘voters’, dead voters, and more. He has no clue!”

All of the key figures mentioned in Trump’s old tweets have repudiated his election claims.

Duncan condemned the former president’s behavior Monday, insisting the latest indictment should be a “wake up” call for the GOP.

Driving GOP into ‘ditch’

“The right thing to do is to call Donald Trump out for lying, misleading us and taking our Republican Party straight to the ditch,” Duncan, a Republican, told CNN.

Duncan also recounted that his testimony was a “very intense meeting,” while declining to divulge specifics of what transpired.

Raffensperger stressed the importance of defending the law. “The most basic principles of a strong democracy are accountability and respect for the Constitution and rule of law,” he said in a statement. “You either have it, or you don’t.”

Kemp says Trump’s election fraud claims were false.

“The 2020 election in Georgia was not stolen,” he tweeted. “For nearly three years now, anyone with evidence of fraud has failed to come forward — under oath — and prove anything in a court of law.”

Trump is also facing a fourcount indictment for alleged election subversion, a 40-count indictment for alleged retention of classified documents and a 34count indictment out of Manhattan over alleged hush money payments.

He has denied wrongdoing across the board.

Willis has given Trump and 18 of his allies featured in the Georgia indictment until Aug. 25 to voluntarily surrender themselves.