The decision by a handful of Donald Trump Georgia co-conspirators to try to speed up their trials on racketeering charges is creating “chaos” for defense attorneys and prosecutors alike, and while the former president’s legal team seems to think it gives them an advantage it could instead cripple his chances of being acquitted.
According to a report from the Daily Beast, many legal observers believe the trials of Trump advisers Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell that will be fast-tracked to a Georgia courtroom will give Trump an advantage because his legal team will be able to see what Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willi has up her sleeve.
However, those two cases and others could instead go sideways and provide Willis with more witnesses or testimony that implicates the former president further.
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As the Beast’s Jose Pagliery wrote, “…nearly every legal scholar who spoke to The Daily Beast noted that the power dynamic shifts dramatically if Trump’s lower rung co-defendants start pleading guilty or if they lose at a speedy trial next month. Because then, prosecutors might score stronger witnesses they can parade around at Trump’s trial.”
He then added Willis could deploy a bit of gamesmanship and engage Trump’s legal team in a “game of chicken.”
“Willis could surprise everyone by dismissing the criminal charges being faced by any defendant who wants to face trial on their own before Trump, a rare move that’s akin to playing chicken and swerving at the very last second,” Pagliery wrote before adding, “In that scenario, she could still refile charges and indict the person again—perhaps even using the same grand jury true bill.”
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