ATLANTA– One year after a grand jury in Georgia accused Donald Trump and others over an illegal attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state, the case is stalled and has no chance of going to trial before the end of the year.
When Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis filed the indictment a year ago Thursday, it was the fourth and most extensive of the criminal cases against the former president.Trump narrowly lost to Georgia to Democrat Joe Biden, and Willis used Georgia’s Anti-Extortion Law claim that he and 18 others had participated in a large-scale scheme to subvert the will of the voters in the state.
Willis’s team initially won some victories in the case, but explosive allegations made earlier this year by one of Trump’s co-defendants have delayed and could even derail the prosecution.
Here are some things you should know about the case.
The indictment is nearly 100 pages long and contains 41 charges against Trump and 18 others. Notable individuals charged alongside the former president include his White House chief of staff Mark Weidenformer mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani and conservative lawyer Sidney Powell.
All of the defendants were charged with violating the state’s anti-racketeering law, and the indictment lists 161 alleged acts in support of that charge. The narrative advanced by prosecutors alleges that multiple people committed separate crimes to achieve a common goal: challenging Trump’s election loss.
The indictment includes charges relating to a January 2, 2021, phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump urged the state’s top election official to help him “find” the votes he needed to win. Other charges relate to getting a list of Republican electors to falsely declare that Trump won the state, allegations of intimidation of a Georgia election worker and a breach of election equipment in a rural area of southern Georgia.
The judge who heard the case in March six charges in indictment dismissedincluding three of the 13 charges against Trump. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote that prosecutors had not provided enough details about the alleged crime in those charges. Willis’ team has appealed against that decision.
When Trump arrived in Atlanta last August to be booked on the charges against him, he was quickly released on bail. But his short stop at the Fulton County Jail marked the the first time a former president had to pose for a police photo.
While Trump and the others who were all indicted, booked into jailthey waived their initial court appearances. Although his lawyers have been present and have argued at numerous hearings over the past year, Trump has yet to set foot in a Georgia courtroom.
Four of the 18 people charged with Trump in Georgia pleaded guilty to less serious charges after a settlement was reached with prosecutors within months of the indictment.
Surety Provider Scott Hall pleaded guilty to a crime in September. Prosecutors accused him of participating in a breach of election equipment in rural Coffee County.
The next month, powell and attorney Kenneth Chesebro has both pleaded guiltyPowell was also charged with the Coffee County violation, while Chesebro helped orchestrate the Republican election scheme. The two reached deals with prosecutors just before they were due to go to trial after asserting their rights to a speedy trial.
A few days later, attorney Jenna Ellis, a prominent member of Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, said a tearful confession of guilt was made.
In early January, a lawyer for co-defendant Michael Roman, a Trump campaign staffer and former White House adviser, alleged in a court document that Willis had improperly engaged in a romantic relationship with attorney Nathan Wadewhom she had selected to lead the prosecution against Trump and the others.
The court filing alleged that Willis benefited financially from the case, as Wade used his earnings to take her on the trip. It was said that this created a conflict of interest and that Willis and her firm should be removed from the case. Willis and Wade recognized the relationship but said they had shared travel and other expenses.
During a extraordinary hearingIntimate details of Willis and Wade’s personal lives were aired in court and broadcast live on television. Judge McAfee reprimanded Willis for a “huge error in judgment,” but no conflict of interest found who justified her removal as long as Wade left the case. Wade resigned a few hours later.
Trump and other defendants have appealed McAfee’s ruling. That appeal is currently under treatment for the Georgia Court of Appeals, which plans to hear arguments in December and is due to rule in mid-March. Meanwhile, the appeals court has barred McAfee from taking further action in the case against Trump and the others on the appeal while it is pending.
It’s not entirely clear.
Regardless of the appeals court’s ruling, the losing party will likely ask the Georgia Supreme Court for guidance, which would cause further delays.
The November general election, in which Trump Republican candidate for presidentadds to the uncertainty. Even if the appellate courts ultimately rule that Willis can stay on the case, it seems unlikely she could continue to prosecute Trump while he is president if he wins the election.
To complicate matters further, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts within their “exclusive sphere of constitutional authority” and are presumptively entitled to immunity for all official acts. They are not protected for unofficial or private actions.
Trump’s Georgia lawyers had filed a motion earlier this year claiming presidential immunity. If Willis is ever allowed to pursue her prosecution, his lawyers will surely use the Supreme Court ruling to argue that it should be dismissed.