The (Wilkes-barre, Penn.) Citizens’ Voice on Donald Trump’s corrupt scheme laid bare:

Because Donald Trump chooses to perform in public, the facts underlying his fourth criminal indictment are matters of public record.

Whether he is guilty of the crime of racketeering, as alleged by Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis and a grand jury, will be determined in court. But anyone concerned about the integrity of American democracy should be appalled by the undisputed conduct of Trump and his alleged conspirators.

The state case is similar to the most recent federal indictment in that it concerns the former president’s efforts to reverse the clear and certified results of the November 2020 presidential election that he lost.

But it is far more extensive, describing an alleged scheme that flowed from the White House into presidential election “swing states.”

The charges are not just a matter of Trump’s infamous recorded phone call beseeching Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” more than 11,000 votes.

Rather, the indictment details the nefarious “false elector” scheme in Georgia and other states, including Pennsylvania, in which Trump supporters falsely posed as duly designated electors.

Trump’s defense is not based on disputing the facts of his own conduct or that of the alleged conspirators. Rather, he claims he was simply exercising his right to free speech — even though that right does not encompass interfering in elections, repeatedly lying to state officials or strong-arming and threatening election administrators.

Regardless of what Georgia jurors decide, voters must be prepared to cast their own verdict in 2024 in favor of democracy.