Georgia prosecutors want to begin trying former President Donald Trump and his allies for alleged crimes related to the 2020 election the same week that 16 states go to the polls in the presidential primaries, a move that would make the busiest day on the primary calendar even more chaotic.
The Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney is asking a judge to schedule Trump’s trial on racketeering and other charges stemming from attempts to overturn the election beginning on March 4, 2024 — the day before Super Tuesday. But Trump’s lawyers are expected to slow down the proceedings, or seek to move the trial to federal court, where Trump might face a friendlier jury.
The trial could provide a bizarre televised split screen as Trump vies for the Republican presidential nomination while also fighting four separate legal cases that have yet to put a dent in his support with the GOP base.
Fulton County DA Fani Willis noted in her motion Wednesday the proposed date doesn’t conflict with Trump’s other legal cases in Florida, New York and Washington, D.C.
REBA SALDANHA via Reuters
Even more wildly, Trump might be facing a criminal trial over charges he tried to prevent Joe Biden from lawfully taking office while already having the Republican nomination in the bag. If Trump wins Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada — the states that traditionally vote first — then his victory in remaining states is all but assured, especially if many of his opponents have already dropped out and coalesced around him.
If the trial begins the week of Super Tuesday, then Trump may also be fighting his case in court while Georgians are voting in their presidential primary the following week.
The Fulton County DA’s request asked for Trump to be arraigned the week of Sept. 5, but the judge needs to approve the proposed calendar before the dates become official.
Trump was charged in a sweeping racketeering case that alleges the former president and his cronies — including his ex-personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows — helped orchestrate a criminal enterprise that knowingly spread lies about the 2020 election and tried to bully others into doing the same.
The former president and his political allies argue this case and the others against Trump are a weaponization of the justice system. Trump will have his say in a press conference set for Monday.
GOP supporters don’t seem to care about his legal woes: A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday, and conducted between Aug. 10 and 14, found that Trump had widened his lead on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis among likely Republican primary voters. The same poll found that 85% of Republicans don’t believe that Trump should be prosecuted on charges he tried to subvert the election to keep himself in office.