Willis: Pausing Trump’s Georgia trial due to his reelection bid is ‘a silly notion’

The Georgia prosecutor leading the case in the state against former President Trump wrote off his attorneys’ attempts to delay the case against him due to the 2024 election as a “silly notion,” continuing her push for a trial next year.

Trump’s attorneys have continually attempted to delay the Georgia case, arguing that its size would ensure that it would overlap with the 2024 election and could impact political outcomes.

“If the prosecutor finds that they violated the law, they have an ethical duty to bring forth charges and so this is a silly notion to me that because one runs from office that your criminal case would stop,” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told The Associated Press.

Willis has requested an August trial date for the case. It’s the only criminal case Trump faces that does not yet have a schedule for trial.

Trump and his 18 co-defendants are accused of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia. Four of the defendants have pleaded guilty to charges, with Willis requesting the remaining 15 be tried in a single trial.

Judge Scott McAfee has doubted that plan, noting the significant logistical undertaking it would involve. Willis said she could see additional defendants signing plea deals before the case reaches trial.

“My answer would be it’s whittled down now to a size we can try, but I don’t know that all 15 will be at the table once they get through the process,” she said.

The delay strategy from Trump’s attorneys follows a similar one by lawyers representing him in other criminal cases.

In a Washington-based election fraud case involving similar allegations, Trump’s attorneys have argued that there is no need for a criminal trial to occur before the 2024 election. That trial is scheduled to begin in March, though a pending Supreme Court question could delay it.

Trump also faces a second criminal case from federal special counsel Jack Smith over allegations of improperly handling classified documents.