Georgia's Criminal Case Against Donald Trump Is the 'Most Compelling' One Yet, Ethics Lawyer Says

Donald Trump faces no shortage of legal troubles as the subject of four historic criminal investigations. But a likely indictment in Fulton County, Georgia, over his alleged efforts to overturn the state's 2020 election results could be the most consequential of all, explains a former White House lawyer.

Norm Eisen, a legal and ethics expert and the executive chair of the States United Democracy Center, tells PEOPLE that many of the investigations into Trump "strike at the very heart of democracy" in that they examine efforts to illegally alter the results of a United States election.

The state of Georgia, Eisen says, is where those efforts "hit hardest of all."

The Fulton County investigation hinges on Trump and his allies' behavior after he lost the popular vote in Georgia by 11,779 votes during the 2020 presidential race, including a phone call the former president placed on Jan. 2, 2021, to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to demand he "find 11,780 votes" to change the outcome.

"It's logical that a prosecutor on the ground in that state has been investigating virtually since the [Raffensperger tape was released]," Eisen tells PEOPLE. "As a trial lawyer myself, the way you persuade people is through telling a detailed narrative. And the facts on the ground in Georgia are extremely compelling."

That tape, Eisen adds, "is very significant and valuable," though he's quick to point out that "the evidence is compelling across the board."

Eisen — who previously worked as a staff lawyer on Capitol Hill and as ethics counsel in Barack Obama's White House — points to what he calls "three lanes" of alleged crimes in the Fulton County case.

First, there's the so-called fake electors scheme, in which Trump allies allegedly had electors in states across the country sign certificates falsely stating that Trump had won the election in their state. "One of the most outrageous examples of that is found in Georgia," Eisen notes.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office earlier revealed that 16 people who signed a certificate falsely stating that Trump had won the state were a target of her investigation, though at least some of those people have reportedly been granted immunity for cooperating in the investigation.

The second lane, says Eisen is the "'just find 11,780 votes' pressure call to Raffensperger."

Eisen continues: "And then you have the computer hacking in Coffee County to support the false conspiracy theories."

Coffee County was the site of a reported plan by Trump attorney Sidney Powell, who is accused of having a computer forensics team copy data and software from elections equipment on Jan. 7, 2021 — one day after the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol.

As the Associated Press reported earlier, security camera footage shows two Trump allies spending "days going in and out of the Coffee County elections office," while Republican Party officials can allegedly be seen allowing them to access the election equipment.

On Sunday, CNN reported that Georgia prosecutors had recovered emails and text messages directly linking members of Trump's legal team to the voting system breach in Coffee County.

The notion of the election software being hacked by Trump supporters is particularly noteworthy given the former president (and his allies, including Powell) claiming repeatedly that the software was hacked by Democrats.

"It’s three kinds of fraud. Georgia has all three and offers the most compelling narratives," Eisen says.

Eisen says that, in contrast to the federal case surrounding the events of Jan. 6, 2021, the Fulton County investigation has shed light on "an attempted coup not through guns and … tanks and soldiers, but through statutes and lawyers."

One more reason a Georgia indictment would be so compelling: It would persist even if Trump wins the 2024 presidential election.

"Interestingly, that’s another reason [the cases in] Georgia and New York are so important. They’re the insurance policy for federal charges being dropped," Eisen says.

While the two federal investigations could potentially be dismissed if Trump were to be elected president again (and appoint his allies to the Justice Department), any state investigations will remain ongoing.

The Fulton County case is one of a number of legal issues the former president faces.

In April 2023, Trump faced a Manhattan judge and pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts involving alleged hush money payments to two women, believed to be (though not named by prosecutors) adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal.

In June, Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury for his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House. Days later, the former president was arraigned at a courthouse in Miami, where he faced a judge and pleaded not guilty to all charges.

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And in August, Trump was indicted on four criminal counts by a federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and other efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Per the indictment, Trump was charged with one count each of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. He pleaded not guilty to each of those charges as well.