What happens to Ga. indictment of Trump after reelection?
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Now that Donald Trump has completed the biggest political comeback in American history, what happens to the criminal case pending against him in Georgia?
In August 2021, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis handed down a historic series of indictments against the 45th U.S. president, accusing him and 17 of his GOP allies - including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani - of engaging in a criminal conspiracy to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results.
That election saw Joe Biden defeat Trump in Georgia by less than 17,000 votes; on his way to the White House, Biden became the first Democrat since Bill Clinton in 1992 to carry Georgia or any other deep Southern state.
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But a now-acknowledged romantic relationship between Willis and Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to assist in her investigation, threw the case into an entirely new political and judicial spectrum. And now that Trump has become the 47th president-elect, Willis’ prosecution is faced with even more uncertainty.
Since her indictment, four of Trump’s co-defendants have reached plea deals with her office, but Trump and several others - including Giuliani and Trump’s former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows - continue maintaining their innocence.
But Willis has suffered numerous recent setbacks in her attempt to prosecute Trump. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee dismissed two charges Willis had filed against Trump. Then the Georgia Prosecuting Attorney’s Council declined to charge Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in a probe into alleged 2020 election interference in the state.
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Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia, said Jones was acting in his capacity as an alternate elector who wished to certify Georgia’s 2020 election in favor of Trump.
That decision was also announced the same day Willis defied a subpoena from a state senate committee investigating her conduct in Trump’s indictment.
The Georgia Court of Appeals will hear arguments on whether Willis should be dismissed from the case on Dec. 5, 2024.
According to CNN, if Willis is allowed to remain on the case, it would almost certainly be imperiled now Trump has been elected. A decision from the court isn’t expected until 2025, and if Willis is removed, sources told CNN they think it’s unlikely another prosecutor will want to take up the case and it will effectively go away.
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