Fulton County DA Asks for October 2023 Trial in Trump Case

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks during a news conference at the Fulton County Government building in Atlanta, Ga., on Aug. 14, 2023. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is asking for all 19 defendants, charged in a racketeering case over their contesting the 2020 election results, to be tried in court in two months.

The updated timeline proposal comes after defendant Kenneth Chesebro filed a motion on Wednesday demanding a “speedy trial.”

Mr. Chesebro had surrendered voluntarily earlier this week and was released on $100,000 bond, one of the highest, behind former President Donald Trump at $200,000 and Rudy Giuliani at $150,000.

Ms. Willis had given all 19 defendants a noon Aug. 25 deadline to do so.

Previously, Ms. Willis had proposed a March 4, 2024 trial date, which critics described as unrealistic, rushed, and potentially political given that it falls right before “Super Tuesday,” when more than a dozen states will hold Republican primaries. Defendant Jeffrey Clark, former Justice Department official, had formally opposed it in a court filing.

Now Ms. Willis is requesting “this Court specially set the trial in this case to commence for all 19 defendants on October 23, 2023.” Attorneys for seven of the defendants were automatically notified.

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The October date falls within the “next succeeding regular court term,” as requested in Mr. Chesebro’s demand for a speedy trial, according to the filing. A judge will ultimately decide the trial date, which could also be impacted by the potential removal of the case to federal court after a hearing on Aug. 28.

Defendants Mark Meadows, David Shafer, and Mr. Clark have filed notices of removal to federal court. President Trump’s attorneys have said they will be considering the option of removal, but have not indicated when they may file a notice.

Many observers noted, early on in the case, that a state conviction couldn’t later be pardoned by a president.

“Mr. Chesebro will be prepared to move forward with trial for whatever date the Court ultimately sets,” his attorney Scott Grubman told The Epoch Times.

7 Counts

Mr. Chesebro, an attorney, was charged with seven counts: violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, as all the other defendants were, plus conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, conspiracy to commit false statements and writings, conspiracy to commit filing false documents, conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, and conspiracy to commit false statements and writings.

Ms. Willis alleges that efforts around having an alternate slate of electors cast ballots constituted a “criminal racketeering enterprise.”

The indictment lists several of Mr. Chesebro’s actions in this regard as acts of furthering a conspiracy, including being sent an email about statutory requirements for submitting electoral votes, writing emails regarding alternate electors in other states, and sending documents to be used by alternate electors. It also included a meeting where it was discussed that Mr. Chesebro might meet with elector nominees in Wisconsin.

It cites Mr. Chesebro’s email to Mr. Giuliani about a “President of the Senate strategy” where he outlined multiple strategies to delay the counting of the votes on Jan. 6, 2021. In several emails, attorneys Mr. Chesebro, Mr. Giuliani, and Mr. Eastman discussed the validity of various paths to using an alternate slate of electors.

Potential Removal

Mr. Meadows, former chief of staff to the president, and Mr. Clark have filed defenses that, as high-ranking federal officials, they are immune to state criminal proceedings.

Mr. Shafer, former chair of the Republican Party of Georgia and one of the alternate electors, argued that as his role as an alternate elector was legitimized by an act of Congress, he also qualified as a federal officer. At minimum, his lawyers argue, he would be considered to be acting “under color of” a federal officer, as he was advised by counsel and federal officials when he cast his ballot.

Mr. Giuliani, who was serving as an attorney for President Trump in the actions in the indictment, is also planning to file a notice of removal. Presumably, he would argue that he was acting under color of a federal officer, as the president’s attorney.

Mr. Giuliani had previously criticized Ms. Willis’s proposed six months-to-trial timeline, saying RICO cases he tried with some 20 defendants took two and a half years to convict all defendants.

Only one notice of removal is needed to move the entire case to federal court.

However, parts of the case that fall outside federal jurisdiction could still be returned to state court.

Mr. Meadows and Mr. Clark are expecting to have their charges dismissed in federal court, as they argue that the Constitution’s supremacy clause gives them immunity.

The other defendants are attorneys Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell, John Eastman, Ray Smith III, and Robert Cheeley; GOP strategist Michael Roman; Georgia alternate electors Shawn Still and Cathleen Latham; Illinois pastor Stephen Lee; Harrison Floyd, vice president for the Black Conservative Federation who is also involved in Black Voices for Trump; Trevian Kutti, former publicist for Kanye West; Scott Hall, a Georgia bail bondsman and Fulton County Republican poll watcher; and Misty Hampton, also known as Misty Emily Hayes, a former Coffee County elections supervisor.

Several have already surrendered and been released on bond, and President Trump is expected to arrive at the Fulton County jail Thursday evening to surrender.