Former US President Donald Trump and 16 other defendants will be tried separately, in addition to two defendants who will appear in court next month in the case in which they are accused of trying to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
A Georgia judge, Scott McAfee, accepted that Trump and sixteen other defendants be tried separately from lawyers Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, who requested a speedy trial and will therefore begin their hearings on October 23. .
Most of the 19 suspects involved in this case have attempted to separate their cases from some or all of the others, with many claiming they will not be ready to defend themselves until October 23, when trials are scheduled for two suspects who have already filed a case. pleas for a speedy judgment.
On Tuesday, Trump waived the right to request a speedy trial, in line with the efforts made by the Republican Party’s leading election candidate in his other cases, in an effort to delay the proceedings in order to better to prepare for a return to the White House. in the 2024 elections.
However, McAfee cited the existence of a tight schedule, among other things, as a factor in his decision to separate Trump and sixteen other defendants from Powell and Chesebro.
“The Court’s poor ability to safeguard the rights of every suspect to a fair trial and ensure adequate trial preparation in the current expedited trial weighed heavily, if not decisively, on this decision”the judge explained.
This decision will be welcome news for other defendants trying to prevent prosecutors from being linked to Powell, who perhaps more than any other figure close to Trump championed the baseless conspiracy theories spread by the former president, who continues to claim that his presidential victory has been stolen. in 2020.
Another defendant in the Georgia case, former New York City Speaker and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, is also trying to distance himself from Powell.
In addition, Trump supporter Eric Herschmann, who tried to resist efforts to overturn the election results in 2020, told a congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol that he found Powell’s ideas “crazy.” found.
The nearly 100-page indictment presents dozens of alleged actions by Trump or his aides and allies to reverse his 2020 defeat in that southern U.S. state, including the suggestion that Georgia’s secretary of state, a Republican, could help get enough votes to help Trump win that election.
Source: DN
