After further developments following a so far unsuccessful push in the Georgia criminal case ensnaring Trump and others to get the lead prosecutor disqualified, legal expert Norm Eisen is still predicting the charges head before a jury this year. That scenario unfolding as expected would create another possibility of a criminal conviction of former President Donald Trump as he seeks the presidency again this year.
“IMPORTANT: Judge McAfee is allowing immediate appeal of his ruling denying disqualification of Willis,” Eisen wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “BUT he is NOT staying things. So the Georgia trial can& should proceed to a jury this year. The appellate courts will more likely than not defer to his judgment— no more delay.” “Staying,” in this context, would mean putting the proceedings on hold. Thus, though the presiding judge is allowing an appeal of his rejection of the prospect of outright disqualifying Georgia’s Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the proceedings are still broadly continuing.
The judge did raise limited concerns following the defense push against Willis, and Nathan Wade — formerly a member of Willis’ team handling this case — has left. Wade and Willis were formerly in a romantic relationship, and the apparent idea was that their involvement in the case against Trump facilitated possible personal enrichment like financial advancements.
Eisen, who’s with the think tank/policy organization Brookings, also recently took the latest developments in Trump’s local criminal case in New York to indicate a strong likelihood of trial moving forward next month. Eisen was responding to the judge’s decisions on pre-trial motions allowing, among other moves, testimony by ex-Trump fixer Michael Cohen. Trump is accused there of the criminal falsification of business records in connection to hush money given to a woman named Stormy Daniels before the 2016 elections, and trial was originally happening this month but was put on hold after a late release of evidentiary materials from a federal prosecutor’s office that had some past involvement in responding to elements of the situation.
