ATLANTA — As former President Donald Trump was arraigned on federal charges in a South Florida courtroom, he could be just weeks away from facing charges here in Georgia.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray that the federal case against Trump will not impact any criminal prosecution here.
The Georgia case is squarely focused on the 2020 presidential election and Trump’s push to overturn Georgia’s election results.
But even Trump himself clearly has Georgia on his mind as he spoke about that Fulton County investigation in Columbus, Georgia over the weekend.
“Right here in Georgia, you have a lunatic, Marxist district attorney of Atlanta who they say is coming after me over a perfect phone call,” Trump told the crowd at the Georgia GOP convention.
Gray first reported on the phone this between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger that started all Back in January 2021.
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“All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Trump told Raffensperger during the call. “Because we won the state.”
But Willis is also investigating Rudy Giuliani’s testimony before a state legislative committee, as well as a scheme to replace Georgia’s presidential electors, and the illegal entry into a Coffee County election office.
Willis is potentially developing a complex RICO case -- that’s a series of smaller crimes committed to benefit a much larger conspiracy.
Willis’s office told Gray on Tuesday: “The federal indictments will not have any impact on the Fulton County election investigation”
But with Trump facing state charges in New York, and now federal charges as well, former district attorneys Gray spoke with said the timelines will be tricky as the former president could potentially be facing three separate criminal cases in three states at the same time, all during a presidential election campaign.
Former Dekalb County District Attorney Robert James says all three cases are complex and could stretch many months or even years. He said in any scheduling issues, the federal case would get preference.
“If he’s on a calendar for a trial or a motion and there’s a conflict, the federal courts are always going to win and take precedence,” James said.
While DAs are used to coordinating with other jurisdictions on defendants facing charges in multiple places, James said this situation is unique.
“I don’t think there’s a DA that’s ever lived who has dealt with a similar situation,” he said.
We expect a decision on any charges in the Georgia case sometime in August.
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