(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s sham RICO case against Donald Trump and his multiple co-defendants was dealt a major blow in court, which included prosecutors facing accusations of obstruction.
Atlanta Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Thursday denied Willis’s request to simultaneously try Trump and his 18 co-defendants next month over charges that the group allegedly tried to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
Legal analysts called the ruling, which allows two co-defendants to split their case from Trump’s, a stunning legal blow to Willis. The Soros-backed DA wanted to herd the cases together to fill a politically weaponized trial schedule loaded against the GOP’s leading 2024 presidential candidate.
McAfee ruled that severing the cases of co-defendants Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, who were seeking a speedy trial date of Oct. 23, was “a procedural and logistical inevitability” and warned that more might be on the horizon.
“Additional divisions of these 17 defendants may well be required. That is a decision for another day once the many anticipated pretrial motions have been resolved,” McAfee wrote. Willis’s team of prosecutors were also ordered to disclose the identities of 30 un-indicted co-conspirators referenced in the indictment for all 19 defendants.
“This is everything they wanted,” ABC News executive editorial producer John Santucci said of the judge’s rulings, calling it “a great win for Donald Trump” and a “bad” day for Willis.
“I mean, Fani Willis wasn’t there but you have to imagine she’s throwing things against the wall based on this hearing,” Santucci said. “I can tell you, sitting here with you, just texting with some of the attorneys involved in the other defendants — celebrating. Yay victory!”
The news for Willis didn’t get any better when Sidney Powell’s attorney accused prosecutors of illegally withholding exculpatory evidence that could prove key in defending her against charges of allegedly breaching voting machines to find evidence they had been rigged.
Fulton County Prosecutors Accused of Hiding Key Documents in Trump RICO Case
"I heard squat from the state."
"They have it, your Honor. I have a reason to believe they have it and they don't even respond. I have a motion. I'm going to file it. I'm going to ask for this relief,… pic.twitter.com/qiPcp1GXfZ
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) September 14, 2023
“They have a due process obligation to turn over to me favorable information,” argued defense attorney Brian Rafferty. Specifically, the defense sought a letter referenced in a CNN report that indicated officials from Coffee County had invited Powell to examine the voting machines.
“The most important thing that I’ve found, your honor, is a report by CNN, which I’ve been able to confirm, that there is a letter, a letter of invitation from Coffee County on Jan. 1 of 2021 that was sent,” Rafferty argued in court Thursday. “And it was sent not to Ms. Powell, it was sent to another lawyer, inviting folks to come down to Coffee County and do whatever it is that they do.”
Despite repeated requests for the evidence, “I heard squat from the state,” Rafferty told the judge, adding that he was filing a motion for relief.
“That is exculpatory information that establishes that Ms. Powell should not be in this case. They have it, your honor,” Rafferty said. “I have a reason to believe they have it, and they don’t even respond.”
Mark Pellin is an editor at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/sabrepaw70.
