Trump is ripping off his Georgia legal defense from less wealthy co-defendants: report

Former President Donald Trump is relying on the legal counsel of his less-wealthy co-defendants in the Georgia election racketeering case, reported The Messenger on Tuesday — effectively "cribbing" his defense off of them.

"By the numbers, at least nine of Trump’s recent defense motions seeking to quash the indictment from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis have been very brief items that essentially adopted the arguments of fellow co-defendants," reported Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon and Adam Klasfeld. "Trump is 'letting them do the heavy lifting,' said Caren Morrison, a Georgia State University law professor who has attended key recent Trump-related court hearings. 'Just basically let your co-defendant do the work and spend the money and then just be like: ‘Okay. I'll just add my name to that, please.''"

According to this report, Trump's strategy has already effectively gotten him to delay his trial, because lawyers Sidney Powell and Ken Chesebro, two of his co-defendants, successfully moved to sever their cases from his, requiring that he and at least some of the others stand trial at a later date.

Trump is also reportedly watching intently as his former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and high-ranking DOJ ally Jeffrey Clark have moved, with little success, to get their cases removed to federal court, which could inform his decision about whether to try this himself.

"It remains unclear when or whether Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee will subdivide the remaining 17 co-defendants' case further, potentially spelling more delay," said the report. "But legal experts note that Trump's ability to sit back and watch the Fulton County proceedings play out over the next four or so months could work to the former president's advantage by giving him an early preview of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ evidence and strategy."

Willis is charging Trump and his allies' electoral scheme under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute, which is much stronger in Georgia than on the federal level or in most states; numerous criminal conspiracies not conventionally considered organized crime can be charged under this law.