Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked in a Friday filing to begin the racketeering trial of former President Donald Trump on August 5, 2024. If granted by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, this would correspond with Willis’ plans for Trump’s trial to be active on Election Day, as she told a crowd of reporters gathered at The Washington Post‘s headquarters last week.
Willis requested McAfee to schedule the trial after a final plea hearing on June 21, 2024. According to Willis, the August trial date “balances potential delays” from Trump’s “other criminal trials” while respecting the rights of his co-defendants to have a speedy trial.
Additionally, Willis urged McAfee not to consider severing the case against any of the 15 remaining defendants from the greater indictment until after the final plea date. Prosecutors may have done this to preserve the August trial date, as McAfee’s previous order to sever the case against lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell from the greater indictment effectively meant that trial would be held before a trial against Trump could begin.
Speaking at an event sponsored by the Post on November 13, Willis told reporters she expects the Trump trial “will take many months,” and likely will not “conclude until the winter” of 2024 “or the very early parts of 2025.” A Post reporter clarified this meant the trial will be ongoing on November 5, 2024, and may continue until the inauguration on January 20, 2025.
McAfee previously set the first hearing date for the Trump case for December 1, when the court will hear arguments for a number of filings submitted by other defendants and adopted by Trump. Filings submitted by Atlanta-based attorney Bob Cheeley will also be heard, marking the first time lawyers for either men will appear in McAfee’s court. It remains unclear whether Trump or Cheeley intend to appear personally.
While Willis requested McAfee refuse to consider severing any more cases until next year, her office and lawyers for White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows are due to provide oral arguments before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on December 15 for Meadows’ effort to remove the case from Fulton County to a federal court.
Lawyers Chesebro, Powell, and Jenna Ellis have entered into plea agreements with Willis’ office, as did Georgia bail bondsman Scott Hall. The remaining 15 defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Attorneys for at least one defendant, former Black Voices for Trump director Harrison Floyd, have indicated they intend to prove Georgia’s election results were false in 2020 at trial, which they say in turn will prove Floyd’s innocence.
– – –
Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
