Judge rejects request to try all Trump Georgia defendants together next month

A state judge Thursday rejected prosecutors’ request to try all 19 defendants together in the Georgia 2020 election interference case next month.

“The Court joins the skepticism expressed by several federal courts that denying severance always ensures efficiency, especially in ‘mega trials’ such as this,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote in an order. 

McAfee’s ruling means former President Trump will not be tried in October alongside at least two of his co-defendants who invoked their right to a speedy trial.

It marks a major blow to District Attorney Fani Willis (D), who repeatedly urged McAfee to keep the defendants together and try them at the same time.

Though McAfee did not set a trial date for Trump, his ruling sets a motions deadline of Dec. 1, which would come before any eventual trial. Trump and his 18 co-defendants have all pleaded not guilty to the combined 41 charges they face. 

Trump has looked to delay all four criminal cases he faces and previously argued he would not be ready for trial by October.

McAfee wrote in his order that severance is “an absolute necessity” regardless of whether each defendants showed a particular need.

“Additional divisions of the defendants may well be required. That is a decision for another day once the many anticipated pretrial motions have been resolved and a realistic trial date approaches,” he wrote.

McAfee also determined that defendants Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell — the two lawyers who last month invoked their right to a speedy trial, expediting their cases — will be tried together, having “not satisfied their burden” to show severance is necessary. 

The judge had said he would do so at a hearing last week.

Chesebro had argued in court filings that he never met Powell, rendering it “impossible” to try their cases together.  

“The  Defendants’  judicial  economy  concerns  simply  do  not  outweigh  the  resources expended through an additional trial, the shuttering of a second judge’s docket, and the resultant delay to a multitude  of  other  criminal  and  civil  cases,  many  of  which  involve  inmates  in  lengthy  pretrial confinement,” McAfee wrote.

Chesebro and Powell’s joint trial is set for Oct. 23 — the first trial on charges alleging a criminal enterprise was formed to keep Trump in power after he lost the 2020 presidential election. 

In his decision, McAfee cited the logistical concerns raised by a 19-defendant trial, suggesting the Fulton County Courthouse contains “no courtroom adequately large enough” to hold the defendants, their legal teams, prosecutors, court personnel and others. 

“Relocating to another larger venue raises security concerns that cannot be rapidly addressed,” McAfee wrote in the filing. 

Willis had insisted that the county’s courthouse could accommodate a singular trial with all 19 defendants.

McAfee also questioned whether trying all the defendants together would have an outsized effect on the local justice system, “sidelining” local defense counsel from handling other cases and bogging down the court’s docket. 

“We must consider the ripple effects of a months-long, multi-defendant trial on the local criminal justice system,” he said.  

McAfee’s ruling also rejects requests from former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and multiple other defendants to pause their prosecutions as they attempt to move their charges to federal court.

A federal appeals court is still weighing a separate pause request from Meadows.

“However, as appeals to the Eleventh Circuit and the United States Supreme Court could take months to resolve even if expedited, the Court does not intend to delay pretrial litigation,” McAfee wrote. “Pending the removal appeals, Defendants are expected at a minimum to review discovery and prepare their pretrial motions. The arguments within these motions should mirror whatever would be filed if this case is removed, lessening concerns regarding unnecessarily expended resources.”

Updated at 9:57 a.m. ET