OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A pro-Trump lawyer and former federal prosecutor leveled a serious charge of “prosecutorial misconduct” at Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in a late-night court filing last week.
Sidney Powell, who was among a handful of attorneys representing then-President Donald Trump and who claimed that his 2020 election was stolen, argued in her 21-page filing that Willis’ “indictment represents troubling and unethical conduct by the prosecutors.”
The filing, which contains nearly 200 pages of exhibits, also argued that Willis’ office failed to present potentially exculpatory evidence, The Messenger reported.
The Messenger noted: “Powell is accused of seven state felony counts in the sweeping election-racketeering case alleging a conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. She has pleaded not guilty.”
In the Thursday filing, Brian Rafferty, who is Powell’s lawyer, argued that the indictment “represents troubling and unethical conduct by the prosecutors” and added that all charges ought to be dismissed. Rafferty also claimed that prosecutors “failed to conduct an independent investigation” into charges that voting systems were improperly accessed in Coffee County, Ga., that are key to the indictment while noting further that Powell was not in any way involved in whatever transpired there.
The Messenger adds:
Along with Trump election lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, Powell is scheduled to go to trial starting Oct. 23 after the two requested expedited proceedings under Georgia’s Speedy Trial Act. A trial date for the other 17 defendants has not yet been scheduled.
Wednesday was the deadline for Powell and Chesebro to file pre-trial motions other than those dealing with the exclusion of testimony. In a separate filing Wednesday, Powell argued the indictment “fails in every regard” to specify the details of her alleged crime.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee was expected to consider pre-trial motions at a conference scheduled Friday Morning in Atlanta, the outlet noted further.
Meanwhile, a former prosecutor and noted legal expert have both stated that the indictment of former President Trump in Georgia was unnecessary and contributed to the claims of a “pile on” by the Democratic Party.
Elie Honig was responding to Willis’ charges against Trump, Newsweek reported last week.
Willis released a 98-page indictment in August, charging Trump and 18 others with a total of 41 felonies. All the accused were hit with the maximum 20-year sentence for racketeering. After having his mugshot taken at an Atlanta jail in late August, Trump pleaded not guilty.
Honig argued that Trump has already been indicted on federal charges for allegedly plotting to steal the 2020 election in seven states, one of which is Georgia.
Speaking on the legal podcast “Cafe,” Honig said the Georgia charges are “unnecessary and if anything, lend fuel to Trump’s claims…that this is just a Democratic Party pile on.”
Honig said that Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by the Department of Justice, has already charged Trump with an “effort to steal the election nationwide and in seven states in particular, including Georgia.
“So why is [the Atlanta indictment] in the greater good and why is it promoting public confidence in the fairness of this [process] to have one of those seven state prosecutors pile on with a charge of her own? I don’t think it serves any greater good,” he said.
He claimed it was a partisan indictment by Willis.
“I disagree with the exercise of prosecutorial discretion by an elected county prosecutor, a partisan, with a D [for Democrat] next to her name. I think it makes Trump’s chances of being convicted and punished higher if that’s the only goal here. If that’s the only goal, all seven states: Michigan, New Mexico, and on down the line, should be charging him too but that would be ludicrous,” Honig said.
