Trump won’t be tried with Powell and Chesebro next month in the Georgia election case, a judge rules

ATLANTA — ATLANTA (AP) — Donald Trump will not face trial next month in Georgia after a judge ruled Thursday that the former president and 16 others accused of illegally trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election will be tried separately from two other defendants in the case.

Lawyers Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro had filed demands for a speedy trial, and Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee set their trial to begin Oct. 23. Trump and other defendants had asked to be tried separately from Powell and Chesebro, with some saying they could not be ready by the late October trial date.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis last month obtained an indictment against Trump and the others, charging them under the state’s anti-racketeering law and accusing them of participating in an illegal scheme to deny Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over the Republican incumbent. All of those charged have pleaded not guilty.

Willis had been pushing to try all 19 defendants together, arguing that it would be fairer and more efficient. McAfee cited the tight timetable, among other issues, as a factor in his decision to separate Trump and 16 others from Powell and Chesebro.

“The precarious ability of the

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