Georgia District Attorney Fani T. Willis has brought the fourth bundle of charges against former President Donald Trump, this time for his actions after the 2020 election. She has been building the case for more than two years and convened a grand jury in Atlanta to green-light one more legal burden on the 45th president. Is this latest indictment different, and does it present a unique threat not found in the other cases?
We spoke with Liberty Nation’s Legal Affairs Editor Scott D. Cosenza, Esq. to figure out the process, the motivations, and the machinations of Trump’s latest challenge.
Mark Angelides: Can you give us a brief rundown of the new charges Donald Trump is facing, and how serious they are?
Scott D. Cosenza: The charges are as serious as a five-year mandatory-minimum prison term. Plus, the ocean of money Trump will need to spend on legal expenses if the case reaches trial. That’s a big “if” at the moment, but defendants typically start paying the moment they secure defense counsel.
MA: Scott, with the accelerated demand for a trial – I believe she aims to get all 19 defendants and their lawyers in one room within six months – it just seems these latest indictments are less about justice and more about the budding career of Fani T. Willis. What other possible reason could Willis have for demanding such an early trial other than to benefit herself personally or damage Trump politically – thus, again, advancing her career?
SDC: When she said she would try all the cases simultaneously, Fani Willis departed the world of a serious adult discussion of an important issue. No Georgia courtroom can accommodate 19 defendants at trial, and even if one could, such a production would likely violate several rights of the defendants.
MA: Let’s dig a little deeper on the mechanics here, Scott. You wrote in your article on Liberty Nation that the RICO charge is the most serious one being leveled. But that means all of the defendants have to coordinate their defense – or could choose to coordinate their defense, right? From what I hear, Willis is a professional. Still, the expectation that 19 individual defendants will be able to mount any kind of contest in just six months seems to rest on very shaky legal ground. What’s your take?
SDC: Mark, it was genuinely shocking to hear Willis say she would try all 19 defendants together and ask the court for a trial within six months. Neither is remotely possible, given the logistics involved. A judge will set the trial date. While asking for one within six months is perhaps wishful thinking for a prosecutor, given the complexity of the case and scope of the alleged conspiracy, it’s also preposterous.
MA: A bit of a follow-on question, Scott. The rumor mill is already floating the word “mistrial.” Whether that’s for the leaking of a version of the charge sheet in advance or forgetting to redact the grand jury members’ names, it seems Willis is taking a lot of flak.
SDC: Willis should take lots of criticism – for using her office to pursue a political prosecution of Donald Trump. That said, there is no reason to take seriously the idea that publishing the charging sheet will be grounds for some relief for any of these defendants, much less a mistrial.
Fani Willis (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
MA: The left-leaning activist media are practically salivating over this case, compared to the three other indictments the former president is presently facing. Media denizens seem to believe either Trump or a Trump-friendly Republican could well win the 2024 election and pardon him of all federal crimes. But that doesn’t work with the Georgia case, does it?
SDC: The president of the United States may pardon any person for any federal crime but has no power over state crimes or convictions. That certainly is why many Never-Trumpers are so animated over these charges. Another may be the perceived likelihood of a conviction: Fulton County is literally one of the most reliably Democratic counties in the United States. Democrats carried the county in 34 of the last 36 presidential elections, and Biden took it by more than 70% in 2020.
MA: One major question is whether Donald Trump has an easily defined defense. I mean, it’s not illegal federally or at a state level to call an election rigged or false, and it seems to me that we come back to the question of whether Trump actually believed the election was stolen. What am I missing in this equation?
SDC: Before mounting any defense like that, Trump will start with procedural moves to favor his case. One is likely to be removing the case to federal court. An ordinary defendant does not have access to this, but Trump does. Federal law (28 U.S. Code § 1442) says that criminal prosecutions begun in state court may be removed to federal court by the defendant, but only if the defendant is one of several officials. Trump qualifies under the statute because he was president of the United States at the time the alleged conspiracy occurred, and the law covers “any officer (or any person acting under that officer) of the United States or of any agency thereof, in an official or individual capacity.”
MA: Will any of the 18 co-defendants be able to take advantage of this? How would it work, practically?
SDC: Perhaps. It’s hard to say because so much of this is new, and there is little in the way of appellate law hashing out what the legislation means. We can confidently say that Trump is covered. Some others will certainly try for it, and we may find out where the lines are. How it would work is that Trump would be tried in federal court in Atlanta, and the jury pool would be expanded from those in Fulton to the 45 other counties that make up the Northern District of Georgia for the federal courts. Getting more jurors from Republican areas is likely to help Trump should there be a trial to verdict.
Donald Trump (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
While the place would be a federal courthouse, however, the law applied would still be state law.
MA: Scott, over the last five years, we’ve seen activist district attorneys and prosecutors campaign and win elections on the promise that they will be the dragon slayer; they’ll be the one to bring down Trump finally. Does Willis have a better chance than most at achieving this?
SDC: Yes. She’s essentially unaccountable except to the voters of her district. While they might prefer she focus on local issues, they are unlikely to oppose her prosecution on political grounds or as an affront to their values. Willis’ office bio says she has taken more than 100 criminal trials to verdict. This is not a politician wearing a prosecutor’s suit. Willis’ prosecution may be political, but her bona fides make her dangerous to any person upon which she sets her office.
