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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has indicated that her office plans to announce any possible charges against former President Donald Trump this summer, but legal experts are wary that the Georgia prosecutor is not keeping her case "simple."
Legal analysts Harry Litman and Norm Eisen briefly discussed their concerns surrounding Willis' case while speaking on Litman's Talking Feds podcast Tuesday. The two dedicated much of the episode analyzing Trump's federal indictment in connection with his handling of classified documents since leaving the Oval Office.
According to Litman and Eisen, Willis had hinted that she "is planning to go really big" with a possible indictment against Trump and a handful of his associates. Willis' office has been investigating since 2021 if the former president broke election laws when making a call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, asking him to "find" enough votes to help Trump win the state in 2020.
The Fulton County probe has also focused on a group of Trump electors who met in December 2020 and declared the former president the winner in the state of Georgia, despite President Joe Biden's win already being certified by the state. A partial grand jury report released in February recommended indictments for over a dozen people connected to Willis' investigation.
Litman said on Tuesday that it could make Willis' prosecution harder in the courtroom if she doesn't "keep it simple, stupid," adding that keeping a case clear and straightforward "marks a good prosecutor."
"I'm worried, or objectively speaking, I think there's a strong risk that she is really coming out of the box strong in August with a total sprawling mess of a case of the sort that at least, historically, huge defendants, complicated charges, don't have happy history," Litman said.
Eisen noted in response that "the DOJ classically overcharges" in their prosecutions, adding that he "would love that as a defense lawyer."
"Willis, however, is more likely than not to do a big sprawling RICO case because it was a big sprawling conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election," Eisen continued. "You know, the charges must fit the crime."
RICO refers to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, and violations of RICO charges involve a pattern of organized crime.
Willis wrote in a letter to local law enforcement in April that she will be announcing charging decisions between July and September, warning the agencies that "heightened security and preparedness" will be needed in the coming months as a result. In May, the prosecutor added to the anticipation in an additional letter asking judges at a courthouse in Atlanta to clear their schedules during the first half of August.
Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner previously noted that the letter likely means "a big old conspiracy indictment will be dropping in early August."
However, New York State Attorney General Letitia James said this week that it's possible the cases against Trump in New York and Georgia may have to be adjourned while the Justice Department proceeds with its 37-count indictment against the former president.
"In all likelihood, I believe that my case, as well as [Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's] and the Georgia case, will unfortunately have to be adjourned pending the outcome of the federal case," James said while speaking with MSNBC's Alex Wagner on Monday. "It all depends upon the scheduling of this particular case. I know there's gonna be a flood—a flurry of motions—motion to dismiss, discovery issues, all of that. So it really all depends."
The former president has maintained that he is innocent in the investigations against him, including pleading not guilty to all federal charges on Tuesday.
Newsweek has reached out to Willis' office via email for comment.
About the writer
Kaitlin Lewis is a Newsweek reporter on the Night Team based in Boston, Massachusetts. Her focus is reporting on national ... Read more