Democrats’ attempts at election interference just received a major blow.
Trump’s trial won’t proceed the way that they hoped.
Donald Trump won a court victory that annihilated the Democrats’ scheme.
A Georgia judge has ruled that former President Donald Trump will not stand trial in October due to election interference concerns.
Democratic Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis tried to have the trial start right before the Republican primary with an October 23 start date for Trump and his 18 co-defendants, but Judge Scott McAfee ruled against rushing the trial.
“The precarious ability of the Court to safeguard each defendant’s due process rights and preparation ensure adequate pretrial preparation on the current accelerated track weighs heavily, if not decisively, in favor of severance,” McAfee ordered.
A date has not yet been set for Trump’s trial.
McAfee also found problems with Willis’ push to try all 19 defendants at the same time.
“The Fulton County Courthouse simply contains no courtroom adequately large enough to hold all 19 defendants, their multiple attorneys and support staff, the sheriff’s deputies, court personnel, and the State’s prosecutorial team,” he said.
John Santucci, executive editorial producer for ABC News, explained on Thursday why the ruling was such “bad” news for Willis.
“Fani Willis wasn’t there, but you gotta imagine, Diane, she’s throwing things against the wall based on this hearing,” Santucci told the host. Having a “show this fall” followed by a “repeat performance next spring” makes it “incredibly difficult for prosecutors,” he added.
“A great win for Donald Trump and others that did not want to be part of this speedy trial case,” Santucci continued. “I can tell you, sitting here with you, just texting with some of the attorneys involved in the other defendants — celebrating, ‘Yay, victory.’ This is everything they wanted — was to take more time and slow this down.”
Willis is also facing congressional scrutiny into Trump’s indictment, with Rep. Jim Jordan enquiring into whether she had political motivations.
“Your indictment and prosecution implicate substantial federal interests, and the circumstances surrounding your actions raise serious concerns about whether they are politically motivated,” Jordan wrote in a letter to Willis in August.
Jordan noted that the timing of Willis’ charges against Trump was highly suspicious.
“In February 2021, news outlets reported that you directed your office to open an investigation into President Trump,” Jordan wrote. “Indeed, sometime on or around February 11, 2021, your office purportedly sent a letter to several Republican officials in Georgia, requesting that they preserve documents relating to a ‘matter . . . of high priority’ that your office was investigating. Yet, you did not bring charges until two-and-a-half years later, at a time when the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination is in full swing. Moreover, you have requested that the trial in this matter begin on March 4, 2024, the day before Super Tuesday and eight days before the Georgia presidential primary. It is therefore unsurprising many have speculated that this indictment and prosecution are designed to interfere with the 2024 presidential election.”
If you want Black Eye Politics to keep you up to date on any new developments in this ongoing story and the rest of the breaking news in politics, please bookmark our site, consider making us your homepage and forward our content with your friends on social media and email.
