Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has asked Judge Scott McAfee to set an Aug. 5, 2024 trial date for Donald Trump’s racketeering and election interference case—just three months before the 2024 presidential election.
“This proposed trial date balances potential delays from Defendant Trump’s other criminal trials in sister sovereigns and the other Defendants’ constitutional speedy trial rights,” Willis wrote in a Friday court filing.
If Willis gets her way, Trump and co-defendants will only have until June 21, 2024 to negotiate a plea agreement with the state, after which defendants would only have the option to accept non-negotiated pleas or head to trial.
Willis signaled earlier this week that, if the case goes to trial, it will likely stretch on well past the 2024 election and even into the spring of 2025. That timeline threatens to cause tumult, as it would potentially force Trump into a criminal courtroom during the actual election in November 2024.