News/Commentary

Trump dealt a double blow when judge denies delayed trial date, and NEW charges looming

July 21, 2023 | | Print Article

Former President Trump was slammed twice with bad news on Friday that included a judge denying his motion to delay his trial until after the election and a Georgia District Attorney reportedly looking to indict him on “sprawling racketeering” charges in August.

(Video Credit: CNN)

Judge Aileen Cannon set Trump’s trial date for May 20, 2024, on Friday morning following Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team arguing against Trump’s reasons for seeking a delay in the trial until after the 2024 presidential election in a blistering filing.

“Following review, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED as follows. The Government’s Motion to Continue Trial and Revised Proposed Schedule [ECF No. 34] is GRANTED IN PART for the reasons stated below. The Court finds that the interests of justice served by this continuance outweigh the best interest of the public and Defendants in a speedy trial. 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)(A). The Court has considered the factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)(B) in reaching this determination. Having done so, the Court finds that the period of delay resulting from this Case 9:23-cr-80101-AMC Document 83 Entered on FLSD Docket 07/21/2023 Page 1 of 7 CASE NO. 23-80101-CR-CANNON 2 continuance—i.e., from the date the Motion was filed, June 23, 2023, to the date trial commences—is excludable time under the Speedy Trial Act,” the order mandates.

The order goes on to specify, “Calendar call in this matter will be held on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at 1:45 p.m. in the Fort Pierce Division. The case is set for Jury Trial in the Fort Pierce Division during the two-week trial period commencing on May 20, 2024. The parties shall adhere to the following pre-trial and trial deadlines and are reminded to comply with the Local Rules in all respects and the instructions in the Court’s Orders Setting Trial [ECF Nos. 28, 55] except as superseded by this Order.”

The Guardian also reported on Friday that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has “developed evidence to charge a sprawling racketeering indictment next month” against Trump as a result of an investigation into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the state.

The media outlet cited two “people briefed on the matter” while detailing the looming possibility of racketeering charges, which would be based on “influencing witnesses and computer trespass.”

“The racketeering statute in Georgia requires prosecutors to show the existence of an ‘enterprise’ – and a pattern of racketeering activity that is predicated on at least two ‘qualifying’ crimes,” reporter Hugo Lowell explained from Atlanta.

The report noted that although the “specific evidence was not clear” the “charge regarding influencing witnesses could include Trump’s conversations with Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger.” That stems from Trump being recorded purportedly asking Raffensperger to “find” 11,780 votes.

“For the computer trespass charge, where prosecutors would have to show that defendants used a computer or network without authority to interfere with a program or data, that would include the breach of voting machines in Coffee county, the two people said,” Lowell stated.

“The breach of voting machines involved a group of Trump operatives – paid by the then Trump lawyer Sidney Powell – accessing the voting machines at the county’s election office and copying sensitive voting system data,” he continued.

The report also asserts that the copied data was “uploaded to a password-protected site from where election deniers could download the materials as part of a misguided effort to prove the 2020 election had been rigged.”

Willis had previously indicated that she was weighing racketeering charges in her criminal investigation of Trump, but the new details about what she is planning come as prosecutors are expected to seek indictments starting in the first two weeks of August.

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