(RightWing.org) – Former president Donald Trump is facing new legal issues after a Georgia district attorney indicted him and several of his allies on racketeering charges. The prosecution covers much of the same ground as previous federal charges, but it holds an additional complication for Trump; if he’s convicted but then wins next year’s presidential election, he can’t pardon himself. The trial itself, which prosecutors want to hold in March, would be a significant problem for his campaign.
On August 14, Trump and 18 others were indicted by a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia. They face a variety of charges linked to attempts to reverse the 2020 presidential election results, including allegations that one of his lawyers tried to access voting machines and steal data from a company that provided them.
Fulton County DA Fani Willis, who says Trump and his co-defendants “engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia’s presidential election result,” called for them to voluntarily surrender by August 25, wants them arraigned the week of September 5 and has filed for a March 4, 2024 trial date.
Trump is already due in court next March. On the 25th, his trial on New York state charges of making hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels is due to begin. That’s unfortunate for his White House hopes because March 2024 is a key month for presidential primaries.
More importantly, the day after Willis wants the trial to start is “Super Tuesday,” when 15 states — including California and Texas, the two largest — hold primaries or caucuses. It’s seen as the make-or-break day for candidates, and Trump certainly won’t want that day’s headlines to be focused on him in a Georgia courtroom. The timing of the New York trial is awkward, but the date Willis wants is potentially disastrous, and Trump is likely to fight hard to change it.
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