FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Special Counsel Jack Smith is evaluating how to wind down the two federal cases against President-elect Donald Trump following his win in the 2024 presidential election.
Longstanding Justice Department protocol says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted. It's unclear how that policy may apply to his convictions in New York or the election interference probe in Georgia.
His attorney, Steve Sadow, declined to comment to 11Alive on Wednesday, just hours after tweeting that he now has "the honor of representing the next & 47th president of the United States, DONALD J. TRUMP!!"
However, his conversation with Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee suggests any trial would have to wait until 2029.
"I'll put one more question out to the floor. This isn't one that has to be answered now, but I think it might be worth considering," McAfee asked, according to court transcripts. "If your client does win (the) election in 2024, could he even be tried in 2025?"
"I believe that under the Supremacy Clause and his duties as President of the United States, that this trial would not take place, if at all, until after he left his term of office," Sadow replied.
Legal experts said a Fulton County trial before Inauguration Day is implausible.
The case is currently on hold over allegations of an inappropriate relationship between District Attorney Fani Willis and former Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade.
The Georgia Court of Appeals will consider whether Willis can continue leading the case after oral arguments on December 5. Decisions are generally issued "six to eight months after a case is docketed," according to its website.
"I just don't see this case getting underway, which probably means a four-year postponement," Emory Law School Associate Dean of Students and Academic Programs John Acevedo told 11Alive. "No one's ever attempted to try a sitting president."
He said it will be interesting to see how New York handles Trump's sentencing later this month, given how unprecedented the situation is.
"The closest we came was with Bill Clinton, but then he struck a plea deal to simply surrender his bar license because he had perjured himself to during the court case," Acevedo said. "And, of course, President Nixon resigned and was pardoned back at Watergate. So we really just don't know if the Fulton County case can even continue."
Darryl Cohen, a former prosecutor with the Fulton County District Attorney's Office, said it's unlikely this case will continue forward.
"Do I think it will proceed? I do not," he said. "But, Fani Willis is her own person. She's going to do what she thinks is appropriate, and nobody knows what she thinks at this point."
He said there are several legal hurdles the case would have to clear before moving forward to trial.
"This has never happened before, so everybody is going to be scratching their collective heads. The Supreme Court of Georgia will probably have to get involved if the case continues and certainly the Court of Appeals of Georgia is continually being involved," he said. "I think the courts will do the right thing regardless of what side of the ballpark we're on. Republican, Democrat, it doesn't matter."
11Alive reached out to the Fulton County District Attorney's office via email twice on Wednesday. They had not responded as of 7 p.m.