By Jason Morris and Bonney Kapp, CNN
(CNN) — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is spearheading the Georgia election subversion case against former President Donald Trump and his allies, said it was “ridiculous” to claim that holding a trial in August would amount to “election interference,” as Trump’s attorney did.
Trump’s attorney Steve Sadow argued last week during a pretrial hearing that if Trump wins the 2024 election, his trial in Fulton County should not move forward until he has left office.
Georgia prosecutors pushed back in court on Sadow’s assertion that holding a trial in August would amount to “election interference,” saying they had no intention of “getting involved” in the presidential election.
Willis also pushed back on Sadow’s claim Tuesday when CNN reporters caught up with her as she attended an event honoring Black Americans held by the digital media publisher The Root in New York.
“I think it’s ridiculous; we’ve been conducting that investigation since 2021,” Willis told CNN when asked about Sadow’s claims. “The investigation has taken the normal course and we’re at the point that the investigation naturally took us to.”
In a written statement to CNN, Sadow responded to Willis’ comments.
“What is utterly ‘ridiculous’ is Willis, the DA in Fulton County, GA, campaigning for substantial money handouts from left-wing democrats in Washington D.C. and NYC yet proclaiming her prosecution of President Trump is not political,” Trump’s Georgia attorney wrote.
Fulton County prosecutors want the trial of Trump and his co-defendants to begin in early August, which could be directly in the middle of his presidential election campaign if he wins the Republican nomination.
“The judge will set the date ultimately. It won’t be the district attorney’s office who sets the date. We tried to be respectful in our request of other jurisdictions where one of the defendants in the case had to be present,” Willis told CNN.
In court last week, Sadow said if Trump – the GOP front-runner – wins reelection, “under the Supremacy Clause and its duty to the president of the United States, this trial would not take place at all until after he left his term of office.”
The historic indictment of Trump and 18 co-defendants, which includes felony racketeering charges for attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, is one of several criminal cases the former president faces.
Since the indictment, four of the co-defendants – including three of his former attorneys – cut deals with prosecutors to plead guilty and testify against Trump in return for staying out of jail. The remaining 15 defendants, including Trump, have pleaded not guilty.
CNN’s Marshall Cohen, Nick Valencia, Zachary Cohen and Artemis Moshtaghian contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional details.
The-CNN-Wire
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