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Americans love courtroom dramas and reality TV. Soon, they will get plenty of both… and they won’t even have to pay a streaming service.
On Wednesday, Fulton County prosecutors said they estimate that they will need more than four months to prosecute Donald Trump and 18 alleged co-conspirators in the case involving the former president’s attempt to overturn the election results in Georgia.
And all of it will be televised or live-streamed.
Just like Wednesday’s hearing was, in which the prosecutors told the presiding judge that they intend to call more than 150 witnesses.
There might even be a rerun!
Because defendants Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell invoked their right to a speedy trial, there is a chance that they will be tried alone first. That trial is slated to begin on October 23.
The Fulton County prosecutors stressed that they would like to try all defendants at the same time. However, if only Chesebro and Powell go first, then they said they would need four months for each case and would call all of the witnesses again when Trump and the other co-conspirators get their turn.
“We contend that we must prove the entire conspiracy against each and every one charged,” said prosecutor Nathan Wade.
While Trump’s strategy has always been to delay trials for as long as possible, the Georgia case is a bit different.
First of all, even though he may not be on trial himself next month, his shadow will loom over the entire proceedings. And, for months, a TV audience will only hear the prosecution’s side of the story. That means there will be a lot of coverage that is bad for the former president.
In addition, it seems likely that the defense will also present some witnesses who will testify that participating in a coup is totally legal if it is done at the behest of the president.
Obviously, at the end of the first trial, the defendants will either be found guilty or not. If it’s the former, that’s really bad for Trump. If it’s the latter, then it’s pretty good.
However, as the kingpin of the entire operation, his own trial will be quite different in terms of media attention. That means another four months of prosecutors getting a chance to highlight how the former president tried to subvert democracy.
In addition, Trump said on Wednesday that he plans to testify in his various criminal trials.
Seeing how it is the former president saying this, it should be taken with a grain of salt.
It also seems likely that his lawyers will advise him against taking the stand because, in general, it’s not great for pathological liars to testify under oath.
Of course, that is assuming that Trump won’t go for an insanity defense, in which case his testimony would be invaluable.
In any case, his legal troubles will soon no longer be theoretical. Instead, they will be front and center on every TV… and that’s not good for the former president.
