Fani Willis proves the skeptics wrong: 18 co-defendants is a big problem for Donald Trump

[marmar]

Fani Willis proves the skeptics wrong: 18 co-defendants is a big problem for Donald Trump
Yes, a RICO case is tangled and difficult, but one big advantage is emerging: Defendants are fighting each other

By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED AUGUST 29, 2023 6:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) As soon as it became apparent that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was likely to charge Donald Trump under RICO statutes for his efforts to steal the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, the hand-wringing began. Many observers feared that charging a whole bunch of people — in this case, 19! — for an alleged conspiracy typically described as "sprawling" would make things needlessly complicated, creating multiple legal pitfalls and potential failure points.

"Willis might want to consider a simple rule of thumb for all prosecutors: Less is more," wrote Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post before the 98-page Fulton County indictment came down. Rubin worried that Willis was "heading for an overstuffed case that would take far longer than any of the other Trump indictments (or frankly, all indictments combined) to get to trial and then to a verdict."

....(snip)....

Yet recent developments suggest that Willis knew what she was doing in the Trump case, and may be wilier than her critics assume. Her long experience with RICO seems to have taught her another lesson, one which is already manifesting within the ranks of the Georgia 19: A conspiracy is only as strong as its weakest members. Yes, Trump and most of his fellow coup plotters tried to put on brave faces for their mug shots, hoping to raise funds for their criminal defense. But these people are not hardened criminals, prepared to go to prison rather than flip on the boss. This is a well-heeled and coddled crowd, distinctly unfamiliar with facing serious consequences for their behavior. The scarier this gets for them, the more they're going to consider the possibility that going to prison on behalf of Donald J. Trump is not a good use of their one wild and precious life.

Already, cracks are forming in the Georgia 19's alliance. It didn't take long for some of the lower level people in the alleged "criminal enterprise" to start pointing fingers at Trump. David Shafer, the former chair of Georgia's Republican Party, has already filed documents alleging that he was just acting on Trump's orders when he tried to interfere in the election. Two other defendants quickly followed suit, blaming the former president for their alleged or apparent misdeeds. While those people haven't yet become prosecution witnesses, it sure sounds like they're warming to the idea. Add to this the number of people who are angry they have to pay for their own lawyers because their notoriously cheap ex-boss won't do it, and you've got a rapidly thickening baseline of discontent toward the conspiracy's head honcho. ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2023/08/29/fani-willis-proves-the-skeptics/