August 31, 2023
We will not be seeing former President Trump in a Georgia courtroom next week for his arraignment and his lawyers want his case to be separated from his 18 co-defendants.
So first — let’s talk about why Trump won’t be in court. Instead of saying not guilty in person to the serious racketeering charges he’s facing in Georgia – the former President said it on paper.
This paper.
Filed with the Georgia court today. You can see his signature right there.
The former President waived his right to a first appearance and says he fully understands the charges against him. This is a standard practice. There’s nothing sketchy about this waiving your right to a first appearance. Defendants do this all the time. In the case of the former president, this just avoids another dramatic court appearance like we’ve seen with the three other criminal cases he’s facing.
The Trump legal team also filed a motion to officially have the former President’s case severed from his co-defendants in Georgia. Trump says his legal time will not be prepared to go to trial by October 2023. That quick date set by the court because one of trump’s co-defendants exercised his right to a “speedy trial.” The Fulton County district attorney has said she wanted to prosecute all of the co-defendants together because of the RICO case she’s trying to prove.
Read Trump’s “not guilty” filing here.
Read Trump’s motion to sever here.
