Donald Trump has been convicted of 34 felony counts in the New York hush money case—but there’s a lengthy appeals process ahead. And what ever happened to the other three cases against him—Jack Smith’s federal election interference and classified documents cases, and Fani Willis’ Georgia election interference case? All three have hit various roadblocks. To make it easier to follow all of Trump’s ongoing legal entanglements, each Monday, we’ll keep you updated on the latest developments in Keeping Up With the Trump Trials.
Things were busy down in Georgia last week, where Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis challenged a subpoena served to her by Georgia Republicans who are trying to investigate the misconduct allegations that have plagued her election interference case. Plus, Judge Scott McAfee dismissed three more charges from Willis’ indictment, the second time he’s cracked down on how the DA charged the former president and 14 remaining co-defendants—there were originally 18 co-defendants, but four have accepted plea deals.
Fani Willis Is Sparring With Georgia Republicans
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is locked in a fight with Georgia Republicans, and she’s declining to cooperate with a subpoena that demanded her testimony in a hearing over misconduct allegations last week.
Willis indicted Trump and 18 others one year ago over a conspiracy to overthrow Georgia’s 2020 election results, but the case has been stymied since the beginning of this year, when it became public that Willis had been having a romantic relationship with a prosecutor on her team. Willis admitted to dating special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she hired for her investigation, and after a series of contentious hearings in February, a judge declared that either Wade or Willis must resign. Wade stepped down and Willis stayed on the case. Attorneys for Trump and defendant Mike Roman are appealing that decision in hopes that they can get Willis disqualified from prosecuting them. And while the appeals process plays out, the entire investigation has been paused.
Meanwhile, Republicans in the Georgia state Senate convened a special committee—made up of six Republicans and three Democrats—to also investigate Willis, though it does not have the power to remove her from this case. The committee is focused on alleged financial impropriety, as Wade was paid with state funds and used the money to pay for vacations with Willis. However, Willis previously testified that she personally paid for her share of their expenses. They issued the DA a subpoena for her testimony and a huge swath of documents for last Friday—but Willis declined to show up. Her attorney, Democratic former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, said in a court filing that the subpoena was “overbroad and not reasonably tailored to a legitimate legislative need,” pointing to the documents Willis was asked to produce, which included text messages and emails between her and Wade as well as communications Willis had with the Justice Department and the House related to the 2020 presidential election.
A judge is currently weighing whether the Republicans’ subpoena was lawful, after Willis took the issue to court and argued it should be void because it was issued after Georgia’s Senate legislative session ended. She also argued that the subpoena violates the separation of powers in the state’s Constitution.
On top of that, Willis is also actively campaigning to keep her job. In November, she’s facing Republican challenger Courtney Kramer, a lawyer who previously interned for the Trump administration and worked for the Trump campaign. If Kramer wins, she could dismiss Willis’ indictment of the former president—as she has previously said, “I do not think he broke the law.”
More Charges Dismissed in the Georgia Election Case
Judge Scott McAfee dismissed three more charges from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ election interference indictment last week, adding to the six other charges he dismissed back in March. In total, Willis’ original indictment has come down from 41 charges to 35.
The decision comes in response to a request from defendants John Eastman, Trump’s former attorney, and Shawn Still, a Georgia state senator who signed the false certificate certifying that Trump won the state of Georgia in the 2020 election, to dismiss Willis’ indictment. Though McAfee denied that request, he did conclude that three charges related to fake electors signing a false certificate and sending it to Congress were subject to federal criminal laws, disqualifying the state of Georgia from prosecuting them. The judge referred to the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause, writing that it “declares that state law must yield to federal law when the two conflict.”
Though McAfee was ruling on a question brought by Eastman and Still, his decision will also apply to Trump, since the former president faced the same charges. Back in March, McAfee also dismissed six other charges in Willis’ indictment, finding that the DA did not include enough detail regarding the nature of what crime the defendants were accused of. In total, Trump only faces eight felony counts now, down from 13.
Willis is appealing McAfee’s March decision to dismiss, and it’s not clear whether she’ll also appeal the judge’s latest order.
