Legal experts tonight. Were discussing rico is a powerful charge because it is so broad. It is one of the broadest laws in the nation, the way georgia uses it, as the Washington Post explains, because prosecutors can weave together alleged crimes, violations of state and federal laws, activities in other states, the law as this d. A. Knows well, does not require a defendant to set foot in georgia to be charged. Why . Because rico is that broad, you do need, of course, something to happen in the state, in georgia, but you could be a person who stayed out of state. Maybe youre a busy coconspirator. Maybe youre a coward and send other people to do things for you. Under the Georgia State rico statute, a long as some people have committed these crimes of some kind inside the state, other people can be looped in. Thats one of the ways d. A. Willis came out with this strong, broad set of charges last night rounding up these 19 defendants. Theyre not all Household Names. I want to show you def
officials witnesses, and it yields facts which the rest of the world can use. in society, in journalism, and now as we see, in multiple criminal indictments. with that in mind on this historic night, we have two special nights. a former senior investigative counsel to that very house january 6th select committee, and chai komanduri on the political history of it. he has worked on several presidential campaigns including obama s and is known as the democrats in-house historian. with that in mind, let me start with you. it did make history. you did unearth things. i m not saying your whole committee was perfect or your work is perfect, but as a journalist, when you do things that work and are good, we re going to note that. i m curious, big picture, what you think of what s come out of atlanta last night and how it relates to the fact finding you did. hi, ari. thanks for having me.