Fulton County, Ga. District Attorney Fani Willis, whose initial campaign was funded in part by left-wing billionaire George Soros, has an ambitious plan to prosecute former President Donald Trump now that she’s indicted him.
OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
In fact, it’s too ambitious.
Willis, during a post-indictment press conference, said she would like to see a trial within six months — which, of course, would be at the heart of the 2024 GOP nomination cycle — but a former federal prosecutor essentially said Willis is dreaming if she thinks a trial will happen that soon.
“Back in 2022, just last year, she brought a case against a rapper and several others. What does that tell you about the timing of this case and how quickly or slowly it might be able to come to trial?” CNN anchor Sara Sidner asked former federal prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers.
“Fani Willis has a lot of experience with RICO throughout her prosecutorial career, so she knows what she’s doing in this regard. But going back to the Young Thug case, it’s still in jury selection. I mean months and months just in jury selection,” she said.
“Picking a jury for the former president and these other high-ranking former officials and lawyers and so on is going to be even more complicated than picking a jury for the Young Thug RICO case, so to me, that just underscores again that six months is an unrealistic goal to try this thing,” she said.
Before the issuance of the indictment, Judge Robert McBurney of the Fulton County Superior Court addressed key procedural matters in the local courthouse on a typical Monday morning as he supervised the proceedings of the grand jury.
“If a grand jury presents an indictment, that’s usually in the afternoon, and you can film and photograph that,” McBurney told reporters and members of the public crowded into his courtroom.
According to a report by The Messenger, “at least part” of the indictment “may be televised.”
“A block away, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has begun her closed-door presentation of her case to a grand jury that’s deciding whether to indict the former president and a number of co-conspirators in the effort to subvert the 2020 election in Georgia. The grand jury Willis is working with meets only on Mondays and Tuesdays, driving heightened attention that charges could come either day to start this week,” the outlet reported.
“If the grand jury votes to indict, be it on Monday or Tuesday, the indictment will be walked over from Willis’ office to the county courthouse by a representative of the clerk’s office, the Fulton County sheriff’s office, and the grand jury. It will be presented to McBurney to sign and be made public. The names of jurors will also be made public at that time,” The Messenger noted further.
The outlet added: “If an indictment happens on Monday or Tuesday, expect it to be in the afternoon, and the media’s cameras in the courtroom will be allowed to film the moment it is made public, McBurney said. There will not, however, be an out loud reading of the documents,” he said.