Trump co-defendant cites rapper Young Thug in effort to sever trial from co-defendants

In an effort to get his trial separated from co-defendants in the Georgia election racketeering case, an ally of former President Donald Trump is citing the case of rap star Young Thug, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Another person targeted for prosecution by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is rap star Young Thug.

Ray Smith, who had been a lawyer for Trump in Georgia before being charged in the plot to overturn the election result, is invoking the criminal case involving Young Slime Life, a criminal street gang which Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, is accused of being a part of.

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The case is also being prosecuted in Fulton County.

“The experience learned by this Court in the YSL gang trial...is a lesson learned that should inform any Court about the dangers of pursuing a joint trial for over a dozen defendants,” said the motion.

In the Young Thug case, Willis' prosecutors allege that his record label is a front for a criminal gang that engages in drug dealing, theft, carjacking, assault, and murder. The case is controversial, as prosecutors have relied in part on Young Thug's song lyrics as evidence of his involvement in crime, which has raised questions about free expression and using art as evidence.

But the fact that Young Thug was indicted along with 26 alleged associates, who are being tried together, has thrown many hurdles before the court. In eight months since jury selection began, it has still not been seated.

Smith is not alone in trying to go a separate way in the case. Several defendants have tried to expedite their own trials, which could potentially force the case to be split up, and some, including former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, are trying to get their charges removed to a federal court venue.

The case relies on Georgia's aggressive Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which goes beyond federal RICO laws to allow all sorts of organizations not conventionally considered organized crime to be charged as such. Willis cites a number of schemes to shut down the election, from the fake elector plot, to Trump's phone call with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger demanding he "find" extra votes, to efforts to harass election workers, to a breach of voting equipment in Coffee County.