ATLANTA — As a Fulton County judge weighs a slew of motions to dismiss the 2020 Georgia election case, Donald Trump’s legal team is also fighting a proposed August 2024 trial date.
Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead attorney, told Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee that if elected Trump’s trial wouldn’t take place until after he left office. Sadow cited Trump's presidential duties and the Supremacy Clause, a section of the Constitution that prohibits states from interfering with the federal government's constitutional powers, as the reason behind such a delay.
If elected, Trump would serve until January 2029.
Sadow argued the proposed August trial date interferes with Trump’s other ongoing criminal proceedings. Currently, Trump is set for trial in Washington D.C in March and the Southern District of Florida in May.
The August date would also interfere with Trump’s efforts to regain the White House in 2024, Sadow said. The attorney told McAfee that he’d prefer his client not be on trial when he could be campaigning. Sadow asked that a trial date not yet be set.
“Can you imagine the notion of a Republican nominee for President not being able to campaign for the presidency because he is, in some form or fashion, in a courtroom defending himself?” Sadow said. “That would be the most effective election interference in the history of the United States.”
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The Fulton County District Attorney's Office told McAfee that the proposed August trial date does not constitute election interference. It also shouldn’t interfere with Trump’s ability to campaign.
"(Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis') sole focus is to move this case forward," said special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Hearings in McAfee's courtroom began at 10:30 a.m. and ended around 5 p.m. He is still weighing multiple motions to delay or dismiss the sprawling racketeering election case.
Trump and 18 others were indicted by a Fulton County grand jury in August. To date, four people have taken plea deals.
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