Since his entry onto the American political stage in 2015, former president Donald Trump has managed to avoid serious consequences from most investigations into his conduct through the loyalty of his close associates and by deploying the power of the office he held from 2017 to 2021. Even as he faces four criminal cases against him, Mr Trump’s continued campaigning for the presidency in next year’s general election has allowed his confidantes to credibly hold out the possibility that a win over President Joe Biden next year would allow him to deep-six at least the two cases currently being prosecuted against him by Special Counsel Jack Smith. And in the case pending against him in a New York court, he managed to avoid charges more serious than those he faces for allegedly falsifying business records thanks to the loyalty of his company’s executives, including a longtime aide who served a jail sentence rather than give evidence against him. But many legal experts believe the 40-count indictment brought against Mr Trump and 18 co-defendants by Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis will push his co-defendants, some who have been among his closest allies, beyond their breaking points and force them to turn on the ex-president rather than face the wrath of a Georgia jury. The list of targets who Ms Willis is now prosecuting includes some of the twice-impeached, indicted-four-times-over ex-president’s most high-profile confederates, including his former personal attorney, ex-New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who faces 12 separate felony charges as a result of his work to help Mr Trump push to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. Mr Giuliani, a former prosecutor who made a name for himself by bringing Racketeering Influenced and Criminal Organisation (Rico) prosecutions against the Italian-American mob in the 1980s, is now being prosecuted under a state version of the anti-organised crime law alongside John Eastman, the ex-law professor with whom he appeared at the 6 January 2021 rally which preceded that day’s attack on the US Capitol by a mob of Mr Trump’s supporters. They will also be joined in the dock by three ex-Trump administration officials: Mr Trump’s last White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, ex-Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark, and a Trump White House aide turned campaign official, Michael Roman, each of whom is understood to have been described in a federal indictment of Mr Trump as anonymised co-conspirators. Also charged alongside the ex-president are former Trump campaign lawyers Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell. In addition, Ms Willis successfully sought charges against a slew of other defendants associated with Mr Trump’s allegedly illicit efforts, including an alleged plan to submit forged electoral college certificates for counting by then-vice president Mike Pence. These other co-defendants include Georgia GOP officials, including ex-Georgia Republican Party chair David Shafer, ex-Coffee County, Georgia elections director Misty Hampton, and other GOP activists who signed the forced electoral certificates. According to legal experts, the sheer number of co-defendants, plus the harshness of the charges against them, will push at least some of them to flip on Mr Trump in hopes of a better deal. These experts say the particulars of Georgia’s criminal law, under which a friendly Republican governor could not issue a pardon for these offences, will also push many of the people named in the indictment to cooperate with prosecutors. Glenn Kirschner, a former assistant US attorney in Washington, DC who prosecuted several racketeering trials in the 1990s, told The Independent that Ms Willis appears to have already secured significant help from numerous individuals based on the number of unindicted co-conspirators described in the indictment. While Mr Kirschner suggested the “best” deals — including full immunity from prosecution — had most likely been handed out before Ms Willis brought her case to a grand jury, he also said the number of defendants who were ultimately indicted will necessitate more dealmaking if Ms Willis wants to take the case to trial. “There’s no way 19 are going to trial,” he said. The former federal prosecutor said his practice as an assistant US attorney was to “identify potentially valuable defendants that I wanted to develop into cooperating witnesses”. “Sometimes I succeeded, often I didn’t. But what I did find was that when you talk to them before they were indicted, the whole prospect of them being criminally indicted was a little theoretical, hadn’t quite hit home,” he said. “And then once they see their name on the wrong side of the ‘v,’ it tends to get their attention. And often, that’s when they would want to begin negotiating again. And we would develop a fair number of cooperating witnesses after they were indicted.” Mr Kirschner added that in his experience, the mechanics of holding trials would also limit the number of defendants who are tried and will give Ms Willis incentives to cut deals when possible. His suggestion that there has already been significant cooperation by people involved in the case was echoed by John Dean, the former White House counsel under Richard Nixon who testified against the disgraced president during the Watergate scandal. Mr Dean, who pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and turned state’s evidence for federal prosecutors, told CNN on Monday that he believes it’s “very likely” that Mr Trump’s co-defendants will “flip” now that charges have been filed. “They just wanted to see the indictment, and they’ve seen it now, and it’s not pretty,” he said, adding that he thinks Mr Meadows will “probably find a solution to get out of the Georgia case, too”. Norm Eisen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who worked for House Democrats during Mr Trump’s first impeachment trial, also told The Independent that he thinks co-defendants who cooperate now will be far worse off than they could have been had they turned on the ex-president earlier. “The best deals were already handed out. It’s like you know, it’s like getting a season ticket —the earlier you buy, the better the value,” he said. “The good deals were there for the fake collectors, many of whom got immunity without having to agree to any jail time.” Mr Eisen also noted that Ms Willis has a history of pleading out Rico defendants, “sometimes on very generous terms,” in exchange for cooperation. “So I think we may see some of these individuals turn on the former president and the remaining co-conspirators,” he said. But another attorney who spoke to The Independent, Georgia-based defence lawyer Andrew Flesichman, expressed significant doubts that any of the 18 co-defendants not named Trump would turn on the ex-president, citing the relatively tame penalties they could face if convicted and the lack of leverage which state prosecutors have compared to their federal counterparts. Mr Fleischman pointed out that the federal experts who have been opining on the case in the press aren’t taking into account how the federal system forces defendants into deals because of the lack of parole for convicted defendants who are sentenced to jail or prison. “The sentencing exposure for most of these people is not even that bad,” he said. “All these offences, you can get straight probation on them, and all these people are first-time offenders and this won’t count as a felony on their record, so I don’t think the state has as much pressure to turn people as some people are saying.” Mr Fleischman said it’s more likely that the people who were going to flip on Mr Trump have already done so. He also suggested that those co-defendants who were fake electors have a credible defence by claiming they were lied to by other co-defendants. “If you stick with Donald Trump, you can still raise your defence that you were lied to, which is a pretty good defence for these false electors, and then their sentencing exposure is not that bad,” he said. “I could understand if they want to take it to trial on some kind of principle.” The Independent has reached out to Mr Trump’s representatives for comment. Read More Fulton County DA Fani Willis proposes March 2024 date for Trump Georgia trial Trump judge makes barbed comment about Elon Musk as contents of Jack Smith’s Twitter warrant revealed Mark Meadows pushing to move Georgia charges to federal court Rudy Giuliani is furious about being charged with same mob law he claims he pioneered Will the Georgia gang of 18 turn on Trump? 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Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis hailed his party’s victory in the parliamentary elections as a “political earthquake” after the conservatives secured a smashing win but fell short of forming a majority. With most votes counted after the election on Sunday, the ruling New Democracy party has secured a commanding lead with 40.8 per cent of the votes, while the previous governing party, Syriza, trailed far behind with 20.1 per cent for the 300-seat Hellenic Parliament. However, Mr Mitsokais’s party fell just short of the majority required to form a government on its own, as the fate of the new government still hangs in limbo. According to projections by Greece's interior ministry, New Democracy is expected to win 145 seats in parliament, which is six seats shy of an absolute majority. Starting from Monday, Greek president Katerina Sakellaropoulou will give the top three parties - New Democracy, Syriza, and the Socialist PASOK – three days each to attempt to form a coalition government. If all three parties fail, Ms Sakellaropoulou will appoint a caretaker government to prepare for new elections to be held approximately a month later. Without Mr Mitsotakis, the numbers for potential coalitions do not add up, as Syriza has 72 seats, PASOK has 41 seats, the Communist KKE party has 26 seats, and the right-wing Hellenic Solution party has 16 seats. The KKE party has already stated that it will not participate in any alliance, while the Hellenic Solution party has been critical of both New Democracy and Syriza. Mr Mitsotakis, who served as prime minister and leader of the New Democracy leader, had expressed his desire for a strong one-party government, but he believes that the election results provide a clear mandate. Addressing supporters outside party headquarters in Athens, Mr Mitsotakis called his party’s victory a “political earthquake”. "The ballot results are decisive. They show that New Democracy has the approval of the people to rule, strong and autonomous." This victory for Mr Mitsotakis is quite significant, as his administration faced numerous challenges, including a wiretapping scandal, the Covid-19 pandemic, a cost of living crisis, and a fatal rail crash that sparked public outrage. However, it comes as a significant setback for Syriza and its leader Alexis Tsipras, who rose to power in 2015 on the wave of public dissatisfaction with other parties' handling of the debt crisis that severely impacted Greece's economy for over a decade. The MeRA25 movement, led by former Syriza finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, failed to secure any seats in parliament. Mr Tsipras, who congratulated Mr Mitsotakis on his win, noted that the race is not over and talked about the possibility of a second election. “Battles have wins, and losses,” he said. “The electoral cycle has not ended yet ... it is very possible there will be a second election.” Greece faced the threat of a eurozone exit during the height of its debt crisis in 2015, leading to the country accepting a third bailout under Mr Tsipras' leadership. Mr Mitsotakis, elected in 2019, focused his campaign on improving the financial conditions of the Greek people, promising to raise wages and pensions that were cut during the crisis. Panos Koliastasis, an adjunct assistant professor of politics at the University of Peloponnese, attributed Mitsotakis' victory to his emphasis on addressing financial concerns and his clear proposal for an autonomous government. “He also had a clear proposal of (how) he will be in power - that of an autonomous government,” he said. “The alternative of Syriza, of a coalition government, wasn’t that realistic because others refused to cooperate.” The elections in Greece are held every four years to determine the composition of the 300-seat parliament. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Focus on coalition horse-trading as Greek election looks unlikely to deliver a strong winner Out of bailout spotlight, Greeks feeling recovery pains at election Daughters’ desperate plea after British grandmother vanishes on Greek island Polls open in Greece's first election since international bailout spending controls ended Focus on coalition horse-trading as Greek election looks unlikely to deliver a strong winner Out of bailout spotlight, Greeks feeling recovery pains at election

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