Donald Trump on Thursday moved to have his Georgia election racketeering case severed from his co-defendants who are seeking a speedy trial , according to court documents obtained by Politico’s Kyle Cheney.
Trump claimed being jointly tried would, "Violate his rights to a fair trial,” Cheney reported on his social media account.
In a separate filing earlier in the day, Trump pleaded not guilty to the sprawling Fulton County indictment involving attempts to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia in a move that spares the former president from having to appear in court for his arraignment.
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Attorneys representing Trump in the motion to sever the case argued in Thursday’s filing that the former president will not have enough time to prepare for the Oct. 23 date set for co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro.
Chesebro is among two of the 19 co-defendants in the case who have also requested their case be severed from the others. Former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell is the second.
Trump attorney Steven Sadow wrote in the court filing: “Respectfully, requiring less than two months preparation time to defend a 98-page indictment, charging 19 defendants, with 41 various charges including a RICO conspiracy charge with 161 Overt Acts, Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer, False Statements and Writings, Forgery, Influencing Witnesses, Computer Crimes, Conspiracy to Defraud the State, and other offenses would violate President Trump’s federal and state constitutional rights to a fair trial and due process of law.”
