Fulton County District Attorney General Fanny Willis You will face your first real test in the trial of the former president’s co-defendants Donald Trump and his allies on Monday.
An evidence hearing is scheduled for a US District Court In Georgia where the judge will hear arguments from Ms. Willis as well as the defense as to whether to prosecute the former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows It must be done in federal court.
Meadows and two others, David Schaeffer and Jeffrey Clark, filed petitions as part of a longer effort to get charges against them under laws that prohibit the prosecution of government officials for actions taken “under color” for their duties in the United States. Federal government.
Ms. Willis argued in a motion against Mr. Meadows on Thursday that the former Trump aide was already violating the Hatch Act and performing services for the Trump campaign while participating in efforts to change the results of the election in Georgia and she is seeking to have his bid dismissed. She is expected to present evidence for that argument before US District Judge Steve Jones on Monday.
While the evidence Ms. Willis presents at the hearing will be a far cry from the extent of evidence her office will present against Mr. Meadows, the former president and the 17 other defendants, it will still be a revealing insight into the strength of the prepared DA’s case.
The district attorney charged Meadows with subpoenaing a public servant for violating his oath in addition to violating the Georgia Racketeering Act (RICO) in the sprawling indictment last week.
He and all the defendants surrendered to authorities before the deadline last Friday, and all of them, including Mr Trump, have been photographed.
If the judge grants Meadows’ request to move the trial, it could send signals about the strength of the case that Ms. Willis and her team have assembled. But that will not lead to complete separation.
Ms. Willis’ case concerns efforts by the Trump campaign, in particular attorneys including Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, to get Georgia Republican officials to endorse a list of so-called “phony electors” to cast Georgia votes in the presidential election. Electoral College.
Separately, that also includes Trump pressuring Georgia’s secretary of state in a phone call to “find” more than 11,000 votes to add to his tally in the 2020 election, thus snatching victory in the state from President Joe Biden.
Trump has declared his innocence in the Georgia case as well as in the four other criminal trials currently involving him.
Meadows, unlike his former boss, has refused to speak to the media or post statements on social media or elsewhere about the charges against him.
