ATLANTA — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is keeping her word, setting a potential trial date for former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants within a six-month window.
The timing however is likely to come under fire by Republicans and Trump himself. Willis' motion filed on Wednesday set a trial date for March 4, 2024. This is just eight days before the state's presidential primary on March 12, 2024.
Dr. Andra Gillespie, a professor of political science at Emory, believes the Trump campaign will use it to rally their base ahead of the Republican primary.
"I expect that Donald Trump is going to use this as evidence of the politicization of this prosecution and say that Fani Willis is purposely trying to set this particular date to prevent him from campaigning," Dr. Gillespie explained.
While a trial date was filed, many in the legal community don't believe there's a chance this case will go to trial in March.
"Has anyone ever seen a trial going initially? Find me one. I think it's never. We know these defendants are not going to file speedy trials, so I will lay a bet now, it's not six months from now," criminal defense attorney Meg Strickler said.
Strickler also brought up the point as to what courtroom is going to fit all 19 defendants, their team of attorneys and the prosecution inside it. Willis mentioned during a news conference after the indictments were handed up on Monday that she wants to try all 19 defendants together.
In the meantime, in that same motion Willis filed that mentioned a trial date, she set the first appearance for the 19 defendants for the week of Sept. 5, 2023.
As to how this latest indictment may play into the upcoming presidential primary, Gillespie said, "We haven't seen significant shifts against Trump as a result of any of these indictments," adding, "these indictments have certainly helped Trump maintain his lead amongst Republican primary voters."
In the latest polls, Trump remains the frontrunner among the Republican candidates vying for the nomination.
Gillespie said she believes the true test will come in the general election, that is if Trump wins the Republican nomination.
"Is the information that is being revealed during these indictments and in any trials going to be the type of thing that is, one, going to mobilize Democratic voters to turn out in mass to oppose Donald Trump and whether or not this is the type of information that could turn off swing voters," Gillespie explained.
She added, "Swing voters are actually really important. And if either of the two candidates doesn't get the majority of those swing votes in critical states, that could be the difference between winning and losing an election and, you know, via the Electoral College. And that's a really important consideration."