Expect a wave of new pleas from Trump co-defendants as Georgia trial starts: ex-prosecutor

Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis has already begun her election racketeering case against former President Donald Trump with multiple plea deals secured with several of his co-defendants, including attorneys Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, and Jenna Ellis.

But that could just be the beginning, former federal prosecutor Harry Litman told MSNBC's Symone Sanders on Friday — because as the trial kicks into high gear, there could be even more pleas as Willis makes her way to the top prize.

"Pretty big fish to begin with as she works her way up," said Sanders. "Not to mention the first and only mug shot of a former U.S. president, all while holding her own against Republican Jim Jordan's outrageous demands and political accusations. And let's not forget the failed attempts by five defendants, including Trump's former chief of staff, to move their cases to federal court ... quite the year for District Attorney Fani Willis. I think there's so much to choose from. What stood out to you?"

"Well, first, she really has, as you say, held her own," said Litman. "And I think it's the way she started big and begun to whittle it down, make it very clear at least Trump, Meadows, and Giuliani are not getting deals. And I think there may be three others. There are 15 total, but a lot of them are genuine small-fry Georgia electors. And I think we could see a whole passel of pleas once the trial is imminent."

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"So I think this is an interesting point, Harry," said Sanders. "You know, there were lots of defendants who turned down plea deals, and you just noted that you could see more people flipping, but when — whenever this case comes to fruition, I mean in the — in the current racketeering case that Fani Willis is trying in Georgia, it took 10 months to do jury selection there. Do you foresee the same thing happening here?"

"Ten months is a long time. I don't see that," said Litman. "But if you take her four-month estimate and add on jury selection and however long a defense case takes, they've got to start by the spring to have any shot of finishing ... the big thing about this case, Symone, is everybody has the same exposure, everyone is charged as being part of the RICO, so the smaller actors are really facing very big exposures. I think when we're looking at the eve of trial, you'll see them plead in the same way we saw the other four plead already. But it's a sprawling trial. This jury selection is not going to be easy, and as of now, it doesn't look like it can finish before November, but everyone's starting to look at it because the other big case that could, the January 6th case, may itself be delayed. So that's really the sort of on deck case as it were."

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