Donald Trump’s Georgia Case Likely Delayed Until After Election As Appeals Court Pauses Proceedings
Another one of Donald Trump’s criminal trials looks as if it won’t happen until after the election, if at all, as a Georgia appeals court put a pause on a racketeering case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
In a one-page ruling, the appeals court stayed the proceedings against Trump and eight other defendants. The judges are considering an appeal of a lower court ruling that retained Willis as the lead prosecutor despite a romantic relationship with a special prosector, Nathan Wade.
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Oral arguments on whether Willis should have been removed from the case have been tentatively scheduled before the appellate court on Oct. 4, per the AP. The sidelining of the racketeering case now makes it all but impossible for it to start the racketeering trial itself before the November election.
Trump was convicted last week of 34 New York felony counts of falsifying business records, in one of four criminal indictments he faced going into this year. But moves by his legal team and other factors have put in doubt other cases.
Trump faces federal charges that he withheld classified documents and obstructed a federal investigation, but the judge in that case, Aileen Cannon, has yet to set a new trial date and has most recently scheduled a hearing on the legality of the special counsel’s authority.
The former president’s federal trial on charges that he conspired to remain in power after the 2020 election also has been on hold, as the Supreme Court considers whether he had presidential immunity from all or some of the allegations. After oral arguments in April, the justices have yet to issue a ruling. The next set of opinions are to be released on Thursday.
In March, Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Willis could remain on the case but that Wade should step aside. Defendants in the case then appealed the decision.
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