Our election was ‘stolen’ and Russians were behind it, Georgia president Salome Zourabichvili claims
The President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, has almost finished her six-year term in what is largely a ceremonial position, yet the French-born politician has become far more than a figurehead over the past few years.
She has led opposition to a set of repressive laws introduced by the country’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, and more importantly, perhaps, managed to unite a fractious opposition in its attempts to unseat the government in Saturday’s parliamentary election.
Yet those attempts have failed after Georgian Dream, led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, claimed 54% of the vote.
Leaders of the main opposition parties, alongside Ms Zourabichvili, say the election was stolen.
Georgia’s President Salome Zourabichvili addresses a protest rally against the election result. Pic: Reuters
In an interview at the elegant Orbeliani Palace in the capital Tbilisi, I reminded President Zourabichvili of the statement she gave after casting her vote.
“You were convinced that the opposition would win. You said ‘tonight, victory will be ours. Our dreams will come true’. What happened?,” I asked her.
“I was right,” she said. “We won the elections. The pro-European forces won the elections. The fact that they were stolen is a different story.”
The president said various methods were used to rig the vote but argued the introduction of new electronic voting machines was key.
“All the forms [of fraud] were used plus new technologies. The electronic equipment that was for the first time used in the elections in Georgia was used to reproduce votes. With one ID, you could vote 15, 17, 20 times and that is being documented in many [ways].”
Georgian Dream party leader Bidzina Ivanishvili. Pic: Reuters
Reports of ballot box stuffing
International election observers said they witnessed a series of fraudulent and unfair practices in the lead-up to, and on election day.
Cases of ballot box stuffing, double-voting, intimidation, and other forms of pressure were reported but election monitors did not condemn the election outright.
A video shared on social media showed a man stuffing ballots into a box at a polling station in Marneuli
I suggested to President Zourabichvili that it was problematic for her that the observers had refrained from declaring the poll invalid.
“No, it’s not a problem because international observer missions never condemn elections two days after the election.
“The observation is done more by locals than by these international observers who have travelled through the country and it’s very difficult for them.”
Was election a ‘Russian special operation’?
Infuriated by the result, leading figures in the opposition have described the election as a “Russian special operation” that was planned in Moscow and executed by the leader of Georgian Dream, Mr Ivanishvili.
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Voting irregularities in Georgia
I asked the president whether she agreed with that claim.
“Yes, I think so, I don’t know whether it was planned in Moscow, but the methodology, the sophistication, the extent, the fact that in different places of the country, different methods were used in parallel, all of that is a very good organisation.
“It’s not something that was just something, ‘I tried to fraud here and there’. It was very well planned in advance.”
“It’s a strong accusation to make,” I countered. “Some people are going to say the real problem here is that the opposition, including yourself, are refusing to accept the verdict of the election.”
She told me to look at the popular protests fuelled by the ruling party’s decision to pass a Russian-style ‘foreign agent’ law.
The bill, which was passed in May, restricts the ability of media and civil society groups in receipt of foreign funds to function normally.
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“The will of the Georgian population was shown on the streets last March, April, and those hundreds of thousands of people – have they disappeared?”, the president asked.
Fears of violence
I asked her if she was trying to unseat the government.
“I’m not there to unseat anyone,” she said. “I have made a judgement on the elections… I’m the only independent institution in the country that is left. Those who have to confirm it are the people.”
Challenged over whether people could get hurt, Ms Zourbichvili was blunt in her response.
“Well, people will get hurt,” she said.
So, did she expect her time as president to end in uncertainty and instability?
“Certainly not. And I hope it won’t.”
Whoever picked up the keys to the White House, this was always going to be a historic election win.
A Kamala Harris victory would have made her the first female president. Donald Trump is the first convicted felon to become POTUS.
In May, Trump became the first former US president to be criminally convicted, for attempting to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign.
Mr Trump is now due to be inaugurated as president for the second time. Pic: Reuters
He was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to commit election fraud. As it stands, he is due to be sentenced in this case later in November.
Mr Trump, who is due to be inaugurated as president in January, has also been embroiled in other state and federal criminal cases, as well as civil cases. He has pleaded not guilty to charges against him and alleged prosecutions are politically motivated.
Experts say it is likely the federal cases at least will “go away”.
‘Hush money’ – state case
Stormy Daniels. Pic: AP 2018
This is the case relating to Stormy Daniels, for which Trump was found guilty of covering up his then lawyer’s $130,000 (£99,000) payment for her silence before the 2016 election, about a sexual encounter she alleges they had a decade earlier.
Trump is due to be sentenced in New York on 26 November – and could face up to four years in prison. His lawyers are now expected to ask Justice Juan Merchan to delay the hearing.
Initially set for July, Judge Merchan has already twice postponed the sentencing. This is in part due to a US Supreme Court ruling made in July, finding that presidents have broad immunity from prosecution over their official acts.
Mr Trump argues the case should be dismissed based on this, which prosecutors dispute.
Election subversion – federal case
Trump claimed that he won the 2020 election, not Joe Biden. Pic: Reuters
Donald Trump is also charged with attempting to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden.
He has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges accusing him of a conspiracy to obstruct the process to collect and certify the results.
He was accused of using “dishonesty, fraud, and deceit” and spreading “pervasive and destabilising lies about election fraud”.
Again, this case has been slowed by the US Supreme Court ruling on presidents and immunity.
Election interference – state case
Mugshot from the Fulton County Sherriff’s Office in Georgia. Pic: AP/Fulton County Sherriff
Mr Trump was formally booked at Georgia’s Fulton County jail in August 2023, charged over an alleged conspiracy to reverse his defeat specifically in the battleground state in the 2020 election.
While he was there, he had his mugshot and fingerprints taken before being released on bail. Speaking to media afterwards, he said: “What has taken place here is a travesty of justice. We did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong and everybody knows that. I’ve never had such support.”
The election result in Georgia was memorably close, triggering two recounts, but ultimately Mr Biden won by 11,779 votes – or 0.23% of the five million cast.
It was certified by both Georgia’s Republican governor Brian Kemp and secretary of state Brad Raffensperger. But Mr Trump did not accept the result.
Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City and Trump lawyer, was also charged in the case in Georgia
Prosecutors used state racketeering laws, developed to fight organised crime, to charge him and others, including his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Mr Trump and eight of his 14 co-defendants in the case are appealing. They are seeking to disqualify the lead prosecutor, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, over alleged misconduct.
Misuse of classified documents – federal case
Documents were found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. Pic: REUTERS/Marco Bello 2022
Mr Trump had also faced charges over classified documents he allegedly took from the White House, including deleting CCTV footage of his staff moving boxes at his Florida home.
However, a judge threw out this case against him on 15 July.
Details on the US nuclear weapons programmes, potential vulnerabilities of the nation and its allies, and plans for retaliatory military attacks were in some of the documents, the federal indictment said.
Prosecutors are appealing.
Civil cases
Trump spoke at a rally contesting the result of the 2020 election. Pic: Reuters
He is also appealing several civil lawsuits totalling more than $500m (about £388m), which likely won’t be affected by his win.
These include a civil fraud case in New York state, and cases brought by writer E Jean Carroll, who sued him for allegedly sexually assaulting her in the 1990s, and defaming her while he was president the first time.
The appeals court is expected to rule in the sexual assault case first, with the ruling expected at any time, according to NBC.
Mr Trump is also facing eight pending civil suits related to the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, following his complaints of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
No trial date has been set, but with appeals these could take months or even longer to be determined, NBC reports.
So what happens now?
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March 2024: Donald Trump on presidential immunity
Experts say his election victory will essentially end the criminal cases brought against him, at least for the time he occupies the White House.
He has previously said that should he become president again, he would fire US Special Counsel Jack Smith – who led the federal prosecutions – “within two seconds” of being sworn in.
While he will indeed have the authority to fire Mr Smith and shut down the federal cases, he will not have the same control over state cases in New York and Georgia.
However, being the US president is a unique position, and means it is unlikely he will face legal consequences in either case during his term in office.
Does that mean he gets off?
Sky News US correspondent James Matthews says this is a possibility, although he adds that the two state cases “are more complicated”.
As president, Mr Trump would have the power “to appoint officials of his choice at the Department of Justice,” Matthews added, and it is “probably fair to say their brief would include dropping the two federal cases”.
Can Trump pardon himself?
Pic: Steven Hirsch/pool via Reuters – May 2024
This is also a possibility, Matthews said. It falls within the power of the president, although a self-pardon has never been tested legally.
The issue of a pardon doesn’t apply in state cases – however, the conviction and prosecution are weakened by the Supreme Court ruling.
“Nor can evidence of official acts be used in evidence to support the prosecution of a crime committed out of office,” Matthews said.
“In both the New York appeal and Georgia case, expect Trump’s lawyers to point to evidence used to convict him – phone calls and behaviour whilst in the role of president – and claim it relates to official acts and, under the Supreme Court ruling, should be ruled inadmissible.”
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Danny Cevallos, legal analyst for Sky News’ US partner NBC, said he could say with “a lot of confidence” that the federal cases “are going to go away”.
Mr Trump could appoint an attorney general “who will simply do his bidding and dismiss the case,” he said, or he could instruct the justice department “to not even bother with the appeal of the already dismissed federal case. Those cases are, for all intents and purposes, gone”.
Next up, the hush money case. Even if sentencing does happen on 26 November, “in all likelihood, it’s not a case that he’s going to get prison time”, Mr Cevallos said, due to a number of factors.
He added: “You have someone over 75 years old, no guns, no drugs, no violence… in the spectrum of criminals who might be able to get a probation-only or house arrest sentence, Donald Trump is in a high likelihood. That’s even if the case goes forward this month for sentencing, it might not.”
Finally, the case in Georgia is “mired in appeal”, Mr Cevallos said.
“In all likelihood, those cases will be put on pause. And four years from now, who knows what the political situation will be in Fulton County, Georgia.”
Fulton County is “not good at speedy trials in complex cases,” he added, so “Donald Trump’s case may never see the light of day in Georgia”.
Ireland’s prime minister has announced the planned date for a general election to be held this month.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said he hopes the election will take place on 29 November, formally kicking off a truncated campaign which will last mere weeks.
Mr Harris, 38, was appointed Irish prime minister – the youngest in the country’s history – after Leo Varadkar’s shock resignation in March.
He will travel to Aras an Uachtarain on Friday, the official residence of the Irish president, to seek the dissolution of Ireland’s Dail parliament.
Speaking to RTE News on Wednesday, Mr Harris said: “As I would have discussed with the other coalition leaders, it’s my hope that we will have polling day on this country on November 29.”
He added: “I’m looking forward to the weeks ahead and asking the people of Ireland for a mandate.”
After refusing to be drawn on the election date for weeks, Mr Harris made the announcement less than an hour after his coalition partner-turned-campaign rival Micheal Martin revealed that the election would be called on Friday.
Mr Harris could have waited until March when the coalition’s five-year term comes to an end to go to the polls, but he has been paving the way for an election in recent weeks, announcing 10.5bn euros (£8.75bn) in tax cuts and spending increases last month.
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The election will bring to an end the historic coalition that brought together Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, who had been rivals dating back to the civil war.
It saw Mr Martin, the Fianna Fail leader, taking the taoiseach role for the first half of the lifetime of the government, later replaced by then-Fine Gael leader Mr Varadkar.
The last election was seen as a monumentally successful performance for Sinn Fein, which had the highest percentage of first-preference votes, but the party has struggled in more recent local and European elections.
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