The judge overseeing Trump’s RICO prosecution in Georgia indicated during a marathon Friday hearing that he was unsure if the case could go to trial by August 2024, the time that state prosecutors have proposed. The judge did not seem to think the case could go to trial before August and expressed some concern about it happening on Election Day, suggesting it might get pushed to 2025 or beyond.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee had asked defendants in the case to weigh in on the request from District Attorney Fani Willis, who had asked for an Aug. 5, 2024 start date.
Trump attorney Scott Sadow replied by asserting that the two federal prosecutions facing Trump – the D.C. Jan. 6 case and the Florida Mar-a-Lago records case – preclude the possibility of an August trial. He also reminded everyone that Trump is running for president, and claimed that the campaign would make the trial impossible.
McAfee said that he didn’t think he yet had enough information to make a decision on setting a final trial date for Trump, and added that he didn’t think he’d be able to decide before next year. The judge added that he wasn’t yet sure whether Willis’ proposed August trial date was “realistic.”
Trump has sought across his criminal cases to delay as much as possible. With next year’s election bearing down, Trump would have a number of options to direct a Justice Department under his control dismiss the federal cases against him.
In the case of the Georgia state prosecution, Trump’s options are far more limited. But McAfee helpfully asked Sadow what he thought would happen if Trump won the election and the trial were still pending.
“This trial would not take place at all until after his term in office,” Sadow replied, saying that the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause would automatically push back any trial.
That appears to be the first instance that any of Trump’s attorneys have gone on the record addressing what would happen to any of the state criminal cases against him in the event that their client wins the election next year. Sadow prevailing in that argument would mean that the Fulton County RICO case over 2020 Georgia election interference would commence against Trump in 2029 at the earliest.
After McAfee suggested that he wasn’t sure whether Willis’ proposed August trial date was realistic, Sadow pounced. He called the idea of putting Trump on trial while he was campaigning “the most effective election interference in the history of the United States.”
“Can you imagine the notion of the Republican nominee for president not being able to campaign because he’s in some courtroom defending himself?” Sadow said.
McAfee gave a prosecutor with Willis’ office the chance to respond. He only offered a few lines defending the case.
“This trial does not constitute election interference,” the prosecutor said. “This trial is about the business of Fulton County, Georgia. It should not impede Trump from campaigning for president.”
