A major test for Trump, accomplices like DA Fani Willis to unleash election racketeering charges

Washington August 27: Former U.S. President Donald Trump and his 18 co-defendants, including his attorney Rudy Giuliani and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, will face the acid test Monday as Fulton County District Attorney Fanny Willis opens up the first details of her sprawling anti-extortion case against them. in the court session.

For the first time, Americans will see substantive arguments presented in court over the four criminal cases against Trump this year and the subject of the hearing — Meadows’ proposal to transfer his case to federal court in an effort to have it thrown out. But media reports said Meadows’ move could amount to a mini-trial determining the future of Fulton County v. the former president.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, whom Trump called in January 2021 to get 11,000 votes to reverse Joe Biden’s victory, was called to testify, along with an investigator in his office and two other attorneys who were present on the call. Meadows is the defendant in the case because he was also present on the call. Trump said there was nothing wrong with his call because he had the right to question an election ruling.

Trump may try to delay proceedings, which are scheduled to begin in Fulton County at 1000, in a final bid to stand trial for indictment as he faces criminal charges in four cases as he runs his third presidential campaign. CNN said in a report that his legal calendar appears somewhat murky and dark, with specific and proposed trial dates extending beyond May 2024.

In the federal election sabotage case, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan is expected to set a trial date for Monday as the former president tries to delay proceedings until after the 2024 election. Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team has proposed a trial in January 2024 including jury selection at a time early December.

It was rejected by Trump’s legal team on the grounds that Smith’s timeline conflicted with other criminal and civil cases in which the former president is a defendant. The Trump team suggested an alternative date in April 2026, long after the presidential election.

In the Fulton County, Georgia, election sabotage case, two allies of the former president — Kenneth Chesebro, the architect of the “fake voter plot,” and attorney Sidney Powell — have asked for a speedy trial, media reports said.

The judge in Chesebrough’s trial has set the hearing to begin on October 23, and Fulton County District Attorney Fanny Willis has tried to apply the date to all defendants in the case, including the former president. However, the judge clarified that the trial date only applied to Chesebro.

Trump’s lawyers told the judge they objected to joining the former president’s case, with Cheesbro saying they would try to separate the two cases to avoid a speedy trial.

Two hearings are expected Monday related to former President Trump’s alleged interference in the election — one in the Fulton Willis County District Attorney’s case and the other related to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 investigation.

And while both cases focus on the former president’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, here’s how they differ:

How is the Fulton County case different from the January 6 federal case? Jack Smith’s team accused Trump of trying to overrun the 2020 election, leading to violence in the Capitol building on January 6, 2021 to force lawmakers to “delay certification” of the results in favor of Biden. Trump faces four federal charges, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. He has pleaded not guilty.

CNN said that if he is elected president and convicted in this case, Trump will likely pardon himself.

And in the Fulton County case, Trump and his associates are accused of orchestrating a so-called fraudulent voter scheme, including calls from the former president for elected officials to “hunt for votes” and decertify an election that showed Trump was a loser.

Willis charged Trump and 18 others — including his former personal attorney and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows — with 41 felony counts. The charges focus on violating the state’s anti-extortion law, and the indictment alleges that the defendants acted as a “corporation” to overturn the election result.

Reports said Trump was arrested and released on bail, but has not yet been arraigned in the case.

If Trump is convicted and also elected president in 2024, CNN said, he cannot pardon himself or his allies in this case — or fire the Fulton County prosecutors who brought the charges — because that would be tantamount to a government conviction.

Those facing charges, which will be opened in federal court on Monday, are: Trump; Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s attorney; Mark Meadows, White House Chief of Staff; John Eastman, Trump’s attorney; Kenneth Chesibro, a pro-Trump lawyer; Jeffrey Clark, a senior official in the Department of Justice; Jenna Ellis, attorney for the Trump campaign; Robert Chilly, the attorney who promoted the fraud allegations; Mike Roman, Trump campaign official; David Schafer, Georgia Republican Party chairman and bogus voter; Sean Steele, a fake Republican voter; Stephen Lee, a priest linked to intimidation of election workers; Harrison Floyd, leader of Black Voices for Trump; Trevien Cotey, a propagandist linked to the intimidation of election workers; Sidney Powell, attorney for the Trump campaign; Kathy Latham, the fake GOP voter linked to the coffee boycott violation; Scott Hall, linked to the Coffee County election breach; Misty Hampton, Coffee County Elections Supervisor; and Ray Smith, Trump campaign attorney.

All but one of the defendants were bailed out with bonds ranging from $100,000 to $200,000 for Trump and Giuliani, respectively. Harrison Floyd is in the Fulton County Jail because he was unable to arrange bail in time.