Staff Reports
The hopes of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis bringing former President Donald Trump and his associates to trial before the upcoming election have officially been sent packing. This week, the Georgia Court of Appeals announced they will not address Willis’ ambitions until well after the ballots are cast in November, with oral arguments scheduled for December. It’s safe to say that any last-ditch dreams of a speedy trial are as dead as a doornail.
The appellate court won’t be handing down a final decision until mid-March next year, but given the tendency for the losing party to kick and scream their way to the Georgia Supreme Court, it seems that this circus is far from over. The whole case could drag on longer than a Tuesday night run-off, putting any ambitions Willis has for a quick prosecution on the back burner—assuming she even hangs on to her job by then.
Donald Trump’s sentencing in the hush money trial was delayed until Sept. 18, so the judge could weigh the former US president's argument that he should have been immune from prosecution under a landmark Supreme Court ruling https://t.co/TUcQDaNcyp pic.twitter.com/DRcJ4y7AzB
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 3, 2024
Trump’s legal team has jumped on the opportunity to push for Willis’ disqualification, citing her alleged romantic entanglement with former assistant DA Nathan Wade as the crux of their argument. An earlier decision by Judge Scott McAfee ruled that either Willis or Wade needed to bow out due to the whiff of impropriety hanging over them. Wade took the hint and resigned, but Willis? Nope, she’s dug in her heels and is refusing to budge, which has led to this tedious legal tango among the state’s top courts.
Leading the charge from Trump’s camp, attorney Steve Sadow has asserted that Willis’ alleged missteps are so egregious that the case should have been tossed aside altogether. He suggests that a prosecutor who skates around ethical boundaries, especially when those actions seem motivated by a personal agenda, can’t possibly deliver impartial justice. If one were to believe that a prosecutor could maintain professionalism while simultaneously juggling romantic relationships and power struggles, there might be some oceanfront property in Arizona up for sale.
With the case now effectively stalled pending the resolution of this disqualification debacle, the initial grand designs of charging and convicting Trump before Election Day seem like nothing more than an ambitious pipedream. The case was already beginning to fizzle under the weight of allegations and the looming question of Willis’ own ethics long before this latest development. Reports from Associated Press made it clear that all pre-trial proceedings were frozen, leaving Willis’ prosecution plans on the ice, just like a frigid winter in Atlanta.
Amid all this legal upheaval, it turns out there are even more hurdles. Trump’s attorneys have several motions still pending, seeking to toss the indictment altogether. Their arguments? They claim that the First Amendment gives Trump a free pass for his alleged offenses and that actions taken during his presidency should fall under his official duties. While Judge McAfee has already dismissed some of these arguments, they remain poised for another round in the courts once the appellate circus completes its act. In a world where the Supreme Court has made it clear that former presidents enjoy immunity for actions tied to their official responsibilities, the chances of Willis seeing victory in this high-stakes game of legal ping-pong don’t appear great.
