CNN’s Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig laid out the bombshell move one of Trump’s co-defendants is making that could “throw a wrench” in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ case.
Co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro’s lawyers filed a motion Wednesday night requesting a speedy trial, a move Honig says could benefit the former president, who is charged alongside 18 others.
“Kenneth Chesebro, peeling off and now requesting, doing a filing to request a speedy trial,” host Kate Bolduan said. “Okay, fine, but what does that do to all of them?”
“So this is a big deal. This could really throw a wrench into the D.A.’s plan here. There’s 19 indicted defendants in this case. Kenneth Chesebro has invoked his rights under Georgia law to a speedy trial. We talk about the speedy trial. We say, ‘Oh, Jack Smith wants a speedy trial’ – it’s the defendant’s right. And that’s what Kenneth Chesebro, who is a lawyer, is doing here,” Honig explained.
“He’s saying, under Georgia law, he has the right if he insists on it, to have that trial start by October or November, and if that happens, there will be at least two trial groups. There will be an early group. It may just be him. It may be others, and there will be a later group, and you can bet that Donald Trump wants to be in the later group, and the judge almost certainly can’t force him into that early group,” Honig said.
“And what do you do if you’re Trump’s team? You sit back, you watch every minute of that first trial, you see all the government’s witnesses, you see them cross-examine, you take notes. It’s like seeing the other teams’ playbook opened up in front of you.” Honig continued. (RELATED: ‘It’s The Reason Bill Belichick Spies’: CNN Panel Goes Off The Rails On Trump Indictment)
Former President Donald Trump is slated to turn himself into authorities for arrest Thursday in Fulton County.