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Former Fed Prosecutor Makes Big Prediction About Trump’s Georgia Case

By Updated: COURT

One of CNN’s top legal analysts is forecasting that the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump may soon be dismissed. Elie Honig, known for his critical assessments of Trump’s legal troubles, suggested on Tuesday that the state case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is likely to be dropped. Honig’s prediction is based on a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that granted presidents broad immunity for “official acts” performed while in office.

Additionally, a series of missteps by the Georgia prosecutor has already delayed the trial by months. Trump is accused of conspiring with 18 others to overturn the state’s 2020 election results. Trump’s attorneys are seeking dismissal of the case on the grounds of “racial animus” towards him by Willis, who is Black. “I think Trump has a decent chance on getting this case thrown out,” Honig predicted on Monday.



He added it was specifically shrewd by defense lawyers not to target a “conflict of interest” between Willis and Nathan Wade, a former prosecutor in her office who was hired after they engaged in a romantic affair. “The focus here is on alleged prosecutorial misconduct by Fani Willis because, you’ll remember, she went in front of a church outside of court and made public statements blasting the defense lawyers, essentially accusing them of being racist. Donald Trump’s claim here is that tainted the jury pool,” Honig, a former federal prosecutor, added.

Willis, a Democrat first elected in 2020, is seeking a second term while overseeing a high-profile case that has garnered international attention, albeit not in the way she might have hoped. Frustrated by conservative media making juvenile jokes about her first name, Willis criticized Trump and his conservative supporters. In June, during a speech at a church outside Atlanta, she told a supportive audience that “idiots” are targeting her for prosecuting Trump and resorting to “schoolyard” tactics, including mocking her name. Trump had previously ridiculed her name as “fanny, like your ass” during a rally in March, according to Politico.

“Donald Trump’s claim here is that tainted the jury pool. The people who are going to be my juror and the jurors for the other defendants here all saw that and that’s going to incline them against us,” Honig added. “And I think Trump’s got a real leg to stand on there. It wouldn’t at all shock me if the Georgia court of appeals agrees and says prosecutorial misconduct, this case is out.”

“When you talk about a case outside of a court as a prosecutor, you have to be really careful … When you start assailing the motives and suggesting that the defendants or the defense lawyers are racist, you are in really dangerous territory,” he said. “The DA should know that. She’s an accomplished prosecutor. She’s been doing this for a long time. It’s still astonishing to me that she would have done what she did and now there may be consequences.”

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