FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Attorneys for a former U.S. Department of Justice official have filed a motion pushing back on the trial timeline set out by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Jeffrey Clark is one of 19 defendants, including former President Donald Trump, to be indicted in a 98-page document handed up on Monday night.
On Wednesday, Willis filed a motion that laid out prospective dates for pretrial hearings and a possible trial start date of March 4, 2024.
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Attorneys for Clark have now filed a separate motion calling the district attorney’s timeline “highly premature.”
The motion to dismiss the DA’s scheduling motion goes on to say that Willis’ office did not attempt to speak with any defense attorneys before filing her motion.
“Since the District Attorney’s Office made no attempt to confer with opposing counsel for any of the 19 Defendants before filing its Motion, it has no earthly idea whether any of the proposed dates fit the calendars of any, much less all of the dozens of busy attorneys who will be involved in representing the Defendants,” the motion reads.
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Clark’s attorneys also take issue with the suggested March 4 date because of the “manifest politicization of this case.”
The state of Georgia’s presidential primary is scheduled for March 12, 2024, which former President Trump is planning to participate in. That date is just once one week after the suggested trial start date.
Attorneys are encouraging the judge to deny Willis’ scheduling motion and order her to confer with defense teams.
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