The GA Court of Appeals on Wed ordered a halt to the proceedings in the election interference case against Trump & 8 co-defendants pending the outcome of their appeal seeking to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney #FaniWillis.
The order, issued by the full appeals court, means the case against #Trump & his co-defendants, accusing them of a #criminal#conspiracy to try to overturn his defeat in the state, will almost certainly not be scheduled for trial before the fall #election or even the new year. It remains unclear if the case against the 6 remaining co-defendants who did not sign onto the appeal will proceed.
#Trump & 18 of his allies were indicted in #FultonCounty, GA, last Aug, in a #RICO case. The case was brought by the DA #FaniWillis.
But the #racketeering case is unlikely to go to trial this yr. Part of the delay stems from an affair between Willis & the atty she hired to run the case, Nathan Wade. Defense claimed it created a conflict of interest.
Judge McAfee, held many hearings on the topic & decided not to disqualify Willis, if Wade stepped down; he did.
Despite a judge’s ruling that #FultonCounty DA #FaniWillis can continue prosecuting…, the relentless campaign to attack her & discredit the case against #Trump continues full-steam ahead.
Through a barrage of dubious accusations, Trump & his allies seek to tarnish Willis’ reputation, delegitimize the judicial process & the #RuleOfLaw, & distract from the substantive #facts of the case.
We’re witnessing a concerted effort by #Trump & #MAGA#politicians to cast doubt on the legitimate & strong #FultonCounty#ElectionInterference case by attacking the prosecutor. It’s an effort that takes advantage of every avenue of #government#power to which Trump’s allies have access. Their goal? #Delay#accountability for Trump’s alleged attempt to illegally overturn a presidential election.
The decision to hear the appeal reopens the possibility that#FaniWillis, the Fulton County district attorney, could be disqualified from prosecuting Trump & 14 #CoConspirators over efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The decision to hear the appeal, handed down by a 3-judge panel, is likely to further #delay the #Georgia#criminal case against #Trump & 14 of his #CoConspirators, making it less likely that the case will go to #trial before the Nov #election.
The terse 3-sentence announcement reopens the possibility that DA #FaniWillis could be #disqualified from the biggest case of her career, & one of the most significant state criminal cases in the nation’s history.
At issue is a romantic relationship she had w/ #NathanWade, a lawyer she hired to handle the prosecution of #Trump. Defense lawyers argued that the relationship amounted to an untenable conflict of interest, & that DA #FaniWillis & her entire office should be removed from the case.
#Apple fired me in a blatant & egregious act of retaliation for reporting real safety issues; yet Apple's so powerful, they were able to avoid putting anything on the record about it with the government for years, even with #NLRB & #DOL charges filed before I was fired.
"Two weeks after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis survived a bid by defense lawyers to have her disqualified from the Georgia election interference case, she has all but taken over the case personally, focusing intensely on legal strategy and getting her team in fighting form for trial."
Prosecutors in the hearing room at the DA's table: attys Daysha Young, Will Wooten & Donald Wakeford + #RICO expert & special prosecutor John Floyd
Special prosecutor Anna Cross is also present.
For the defense it's #Trump & David Shafer's #legal teams.
Steve Sadow, Trump's lead Atlanta attorney, is currently arguing why his client's speech at issue in the indictment is core political speech that's protected under the #1A.
#Georgia DA rebuts defense’s protected “political speech” / #1A argument because this isn’t about lying in #PoliticalSpeech, it’s about filing false documents & making false statements to the #court & the government.
Additionally, the lies were employed as a part of #criminal conduct & not protected.
Overt act in a criminal #conspiracy
The purpose of presenting the overt acts is to show that it is part of the overall operation – the #CriminalConspiracy.
lol. The last #Trump#Georgia#criminal#RICO defense argument was that charges should be dismissed because the term #FakeElectors was a legal conclusion & disparaging.
DA prosecutor got up for his turn & started by saying, “the words ‘fake electors’ do not exist anywhere in the indictment.”
#McAfee last wk said #FaniWillis can remain on the most sprawling of 4 #criminal cases against #Trump as long as Wade resigns, which Wade did on Fri.
…Attys for Trump & the other defendants said in court papers on Mon that Wade’s resignation was not enough to correct the appearance of impropriety the judge found. Defense attys say a failure to remove Willis could imperil any convictions & force a retrial if an appeals court later finds it was warranted.
Jeff DiSantis, a spox for the DA’s office, noted in a text message that the case had not been put on hold, adding that prosecutors will “work to move it forward to #trial as quickly as possible.” The DA’s office will only comment on the #appeal in #court filings, he said.