NEWS
Trump To Be Tried After Powell and Chesebro As Judge Severs Georgia Election Interference Case
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Former President Donald Trump and 16 co-defendants accused of interfering in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election will not be tried alongside Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell on Oct. 23, according to a ruling Thursday.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee severed the case Thursday after granting speedy trial motions for Chesebro and Powell, meaning they will be tried before the others.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis sought to have all 19 defendants tried together in October, but McAfee said that would be an enormous undertaking that threatens due process rights.
“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 weights heavily, if not decisively, in favor of severance,” McAfee stated in the order.
There were also basic logistical matters, such as the fact that there is “no courtroom adequately large enough to hold all 19 defendants.”
Trump and 18 others were indicted by a Fulton County grand jury on felony charges including racketeering under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, Act, which is normally associated with mobsters.
The grand jury accused Trump of “knowingly, willfully and unlawfully” making false statements on a call in which he “unlawfully” solicited Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to help him change Georgia’s results in the 2020 election.
The 100-page indictment details other allegations, including the claim that one of Trump’s lawyers attempted to tamper with voting machines and steal data from a voting machine company.
Other defendants include Trump’s then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, his former personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, and lawyers who allegedly strategized overturning the results, including Powell, Chesebro and John Eastman.
“The indictment alleges that rather than abide by Georgia’s legal process for election challenges, the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia’s presidential election result,” Willis said at a news conference announcing the indictment.
All 19 defendants — including Powell and Chesebro — have pleaded not guilty.
McAfee did not rule out the possibility of additional divisions in the case. He said that any defendant who does not waive their right to a speedy trial by Oct. 23 will immediately join that trial. Trump already waived his right to a speedy trial.
TMX contributed to this article.
