The Fulton County DA threw everyone a curveball in her case against Donald Trump.
She handed out a surprising offer to the defendants in the case.
And the Fulton County DA is trying to cut a deal in the Trump case for this surprising reason.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis made the surprising move of offering last-minute plea agreements to former Trump legal advisors Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro.
The pair were scheduled to be the first defendants in the case to head to trial when they invoked their constitutional right to a speedy trial.
Powell who was charged with seven felonies pled guilty to six misdemeanors that will be discharged after probation if she doesn’t get in any more legal trouble.
Former President Donald Trump and 18 of his allies are facing a complex case tried under Georgia’s RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act for their role in contesting the state’s 2020 Election results.
Willis was pushing to have all 19 defendants tried at once under the RICO law.
Offering last-minute plea deals ahead of Powell and Chesebro’s scheduled trial is about keeping Trump’s legal team from getting a “free look” at the Fulton County DA’s case against the former President according to legal experts.
Trump’s attorneys would have been able to see a preview of the case and evidence that she intends to use against him in the Powell and Chesebro cases.
“She really wanted this upcoming trial in October to not happen because she did not want to reveal her playbook, so to speak, to the primary defendants: Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and the others,” Georgia criminal defense attorney Philip Holloway told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The scheduled trial would have been the first time that Willis had to prove her case in a courtroom.
“If there had been a trial of Kenneth Chesebro, it would have been the first time any prosecutor in the multiple cases against Trump has had to prove their case, rather than making allegations in an indictment,” Cornell Law School professor William A. Jacobson explained. “Such a trial would have signaled to the public how strong the evidence was against Trump, and also would have given the Trump defense a chance to preview the prosecution’s case against him.”
Jacobson that the Fulton County DA was keeping her target locked on Trump with the plea deals.
Part of the plea deal required that Chesebro and Powell testify in the trials of their co-defendants.
Fani Willis is trying to keep her cards close to her vest so she can try and drop the hammer on Donald Trump.