Fani Willis is brilliant. Her strategy in the RICO case against Trump et al. is proving how capable she is. But it isn’t her intelligence or her intimate knowledge of Georgia law that terrifies Trump and his lawyers. Willis has something else that scares the pants off Donald Trump.
Willis is brave.
When faced with threats instigated by the insane rhetoric of the twice-impeached, four-times indicted former president, Willis doesn’t blink.
While Donald Trump claims to be the MAGA base’s “retribution” (a nonsensical claim, given that the wrongs Trump consistently touts are made up in his addled brain), Fani Willis is the real deal. Willis is the American people’s retribution — she will right the wrongs done by Trump, and she will do it on live TV.
Whatever Trump and his minions do, Willis will always be several steps ahead of them. As a result, she is turning straw into gold as she responds to the requests she has already received from co-defendants Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro.
Speedy trial requests impede Trump’s delay strategy
It’s well known to anyone familiar with Trump’s various and sundry legal battles that his main tactic is to delay. But in this case, it doesn’t appear to be working.
Two of Trump’s co-defendants (Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell) have requested a speedy trial. In Georgia, that means the trial must begin in the current session or the one immediately following. In this case, that is on or before the end of October 2023.
Chesebro and Powell have also requested to have their cases severed — they don’t want to be tried together. But that request has been denied.
While Chesebro and Powell are the only ones (so far) who’ve formally requested a speedy trial, Willis has made it clear that she wishes to try all 19 defendants at the same time. Her intention to present the case a mere 40 days from now has been questioned by the judge in this case as well as by numerous legal scholars, yet she is not deterred.
Willis has already submitted a response to counter the argument that it would be logistically impossible to try all 19 defendants simultaneously. Her rationale is compelling — so much so that one of my favorite legal analysts, Glenn Kirchner, who originally balked at the timeline Willis was proposing, has done a complete 180 on the subject.
In a surprising change of heart, Kirchner found himself agreeing with Willis. Why? Because he read her filing on the matter, and there was nothing in it that could be argued with.
Willis is the American people’s retribution — she will right the wrongs done by Trump, and she will do it on live TV.
Willis makes a strong case for trying all 19 defendants in October
Willis, who has prosecuted RICO cases before, knows exactly how this will play out. Her recent filing outlines the potential problems inherent in a case with multiple defendants should several of them request both severance and a speedy trial.
If that happens, the prosecution would be saddled with numerous trials of various co-defendants, all required to begin by the end of this October.
The expense and logistical nightmare resulting from several separate cases requiring additional prosecutors and courtroom space to present the same evidence for the same crimes at the same time but in different trials would put an unnecessary and undue burden on the Fulton County justice system.
Willis suggests a solution
In her filing, Willis included a request that would eliminate the possibility of the logistical nightmare outlined above. It’s a simple and elegant solution. Willis asks the judge to require any defendant wishing to request severance to waive their right to a speedy trial. (This is what Trump did, though his severance request has not been granted as of this writing.)
This gives the judge the ability to schedule trials for severed co-defendants at a later date so Willis can focus her efforts on a single trial in October of this year — one that will include both Chesebro and Powell and, if Willis prevails, Donald Trump as well.
What if Trump says he can’t be ready for trial by October
If any defendants claim they can’t be ready for trial by the October date set for the speedy trial requested, they must provide a date by which they will be ready. No doubt Trump will attempt to postpone his trial until after the 2024 election, but that won’t work. He already tried that trick in the Jan. 6 case, and it backfired.
But let’s say he manages to convince the judge that he needs six months to prepare for trial. That will not change the fact that between October 23rd (the scheduled date for the trial of Chesebro and Powell) and whatever future date Trump can wrangle for the start of his case, the entire case against him will already have been televised.
Trump may not be on trial before the end of this year, but this is a RICO case. The case is about a conspiracy involving various plots working together to overturn the 2020 election. That means whether the first to go to trial is Donald Trump or somebody else, the evidence against him and the sordid details of the plot he orchestrated will be in the public domain before this year is over.
Will early trials give Trump an advantage when it’s his turn?
Some have suggested Trump’s desire to sever himself from Chesebro and Powell is part of a ploy to force Willis to show her hand at trial before Trump is forced to defend himself.
But the presentation of evidence against his co-defendants in a trial broadcast on live TV will be far more detrimental to Trump than any benefit the foreknowledge of Willis’ strategy might provide.
There will be no smoke and mirrors in Fani Willis’ prosecution — she will simply present the facts. Regardless of when Trump goes to trial, he will be fighting against the truth — and he will lose.
Trump will finally be forced to face reality
Trump’s sole strength is his ability to manipulate. He has convinced millions that he’s a successful businessman when he’s lost more money than most of us make in a hundred lifetimes. He’s been filmed declaring “You’re fired!” repeatedly on his TV show, but in reality, when it’s time to fire someone, he either gets somebody to do it for him or he announces it on social media rather than confronting the person directly.
The Trump Organization has been convicted of fraud, Trump has personally been found liable for both sexual abuse and defamation, and he is viewed as both a danger and a joke by many who were unfortunate enough to have belonged to his cabinet while he was president.
Yet, in spite of all this, Trump has somehow managed to tap into the deep-seated fear and grievances of a group of people who’ve mistakenly assumed he can help them. What they fail to realize is that Donald Trump doesn’t help anyone but himself.
When Trump finally has his day in court, in a state case not subject to a presidential pardon — when he can’t shout out lies as evidence is presented against him — the real Donald Trump will emerge. Then one of two things will happen: either he will insist on taking the stand to defend himself and will not only commit perjury but will implode, making him the poster boy for mental instability, or he will sit quietly, like the lost little boy that he is while reality bites.
I’m okay with either.