Potential Bad News For Trump: Judge Orders Co-Conspirator RICO Trial To Start On October 23

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The judge overseeing the Trump RICO trial has granted Fani Willis’s request for Kenneth Chesebro’s trial to begin on October 23.

The order and the trial schedule:

Per McAfee's scheduling order:

Arraignments – Sept. 6
Discovery – by Sept. 20
Motions – by Sept. 27
Pretrial conference – Sept. 29
Motions hearing – TBD
Trial – Oct. 23

— Tamar Hallerman (@TamarHallerman) August 24, 2023

Chesebro wanted a speedy trial. DA Fani Willis called his bluff and requested October 23, and the judge granted her request. Trump’s legal team has already stated that they will try to separate themselves from any earlier trial dates. Trump, of course, wants to drag this process out for as long as possible.

If Chesebro goes to trial this quickly, it will put pressure on all of the other co-conspirators and accelerate the timeline for those looking to cut deals with DA Willis.

There is a growing volume of public reporting that many of Trump’s co-defendants can’t afford their legal bills and may want to cut a deal with prosecutors. Any deal that Trump’s co-defendants make will involve giving evidence against the former president.

The fact that Chesebro is set to go to trial so quickly is terrible news for Trump, whose best hope was that such a large RICO case would take years to get to court, not the months as the current schedule suggests.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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