# What happens if Trump is indicted in Georgia? (Indicted on August 14, 2023) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [February 17, 2023, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928 "2023-02-17T03:14:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 93
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1841 "2023-10-20T19:56:51Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Well, it sped up their decision-making process. Makes me wonder if that was part of their thinking in the first place. By asking for, and getting, a speedy trial, that forced the DA to get serious with plea negotiations sooner than with their co-defendants whose trials that aren’t until next spring. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1842 "2023-10-20T20:04:08Z")
i reckoned on chesebro and powell thinking the da wouldn’t be ready. i believe the indictments took so long because the da was anticipating speedy trial requests. imminent turned out to be months. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1843 "2023-10-20T20:09:37Z")
Shouldn’t there be a point where they stop offering plea deals? Once they have enough high-ish level conspirator-witnesses, they shouldn’t need more to convict the rest of the gang. I’d think Powell and Chesebro would be enough and they don’t need more. And I really don’t want to see Giuliani walk with just probation. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1844 "2023-10-20T20:19:50Z")
The more plea deals, the more evidence they have against the other co-conspirators. Letting the smaller fish off to get the bigger fish convicted seems like a smart strategy to me. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1845 "2023-10-20T20:48:01Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > The more plea deals, the more evidence they have against the other co-conspirators. Indeed. My first thought about Powell and Chesebro copping plea deals and agreeing to testify is that the chances of the orange-hued ringleader of the whole thing being acquitted are now basically zero. It warms the cockles of my heart to imagine the amount of flying ketchup that must be assaulting the walls of Mar-a-Lago! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1846 "2023-10-20T21:07:43Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Shouldn’t there be a point where they stop offering plea deals? What’s the point of going to trial if a particular individual wants to plead guilty? And if their lawyer contacts the prosecution, the prosecution has to consider options. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1847 "2023-10-20T21:23:51Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > The more plea deals, the more evidence they have against the other co-conspirators. Letting the smaller fish off to get the bigger fish convicted seems like a smart strategy to me. From one of the experts in the area: > Deep Throat stamped his foot. "A conspiracy like this … a conspiracy investigation … the rope has to tighten slowly around everyone’s neck. You build convincingly from the outer edges in, you get ten times the evidence you need against the Hunts and Liddys. They feel hopelessly finished — they may not talk right away, but the grip is on them. Then you move up and do the same thing at the next level. If you shoot too high, then everyone feels more secure. — _All the President’s Men_, chapter 9. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1848 "2023-10-20T21:38:18Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > [@dtilque](#): > > > > Shouldn’t there be a point where they stop offering plea deals? > > What’s the point of going to trial if a particular individual wants to plead guilty? And if their lawyer contacts the prosecution, the prosecution has to consider options. Yeah, there can always be a deal. What you should expect is that each subsequent deal is less advantageous to the defendant. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1849 "2023-10-20T21:55:49Z")
Yeah but somebody has to go to jail. There need to be at least a little deterrence that future Powells and Chesbros would want to consider. A slap on the wrist, minor fine and that’s it? Oh, and a letter of apology! If you are holding all the cards, press a little. How about the same deal but add 6 months in jail? Or be barred from practicing law anywhere ever again. Is the ‘no profits from book/movie deals’ an automatic thing? Overall, this is a good thing but I’d prefer harsher punishment. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1850 "2023-10-20T21:58:51Z")
Oh. Don’t worry. Have you seen the sentences being handed out for the lowest level participants in the January 6th insurrection cases? I’m not posting this in this thread to discuss what’s happening in the January 6th cases, but to simply point out that at both the state and federal levels, extremely severe sentences are coming. We’re only up to the third person pleading out in the Georgia case, and misdemeanor charges are already off the table. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1851 "2023-10-20T22:07:55Z")
I’ve lost track here… what’s the trial schedule for everyone else in the Georgia case? Is everyone else being tried together? This one is expected to take forever if it goes to trial, right? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1852 "2023-10-20T22:10:00Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > Overall, this is a good thing but I’d prefer harsher punishment. But if the starting point is harsher punishment, they may all take their chances at trial. It’s called a plea bargain for a reason: the accused has something the prosecution wants, the prosecution has something that the accused wants. The first accused who start pleading out will get more favourable treatment, because the goal is to get the big fish. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1853 "2023-10-20T22:17:56Z")
I don’t believe a date has been set. Ms Willis is planning on I believe 6 months from indictment. Just remembered. Ms Willis’ school trial started at 30+ and only 12 went to trial. There are convictions on electors and voting machines now, the defendants are going to have to bring a new thing to the table. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1854 "2023-10-20T22:25:47Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I’ve lost track here… what’s the trial schedule for everyone else in the Georgia case? Is everyone else being tried together? This one is expected to take forever if it goes to trial, right? @rocking_chair is correct. No trial date is yet set, but I expect one will be very soon. When all the plea deals are done, the prosecutors will work hard to try whomever is left together. Too easy for defendants to play games blaming each other when trials are bifurcated. Re time it will take, way too soon to tell. I expect a lot of plea agreements before we know who’s left to try. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1855 "2023-10-20T22:27:46Z")
And apparently jury selection in Georgia RICO trials can take quite awhile. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1856 "2023-10-20T22:31:16Z")
From the NY Times: > But Mr. Chesebro’s deal could present a more serious threat to Mr. Trump than the others [Powell and the bondsman] given that he pleaded guilty to a conspiracy count that involved both the former president and some of his closest allies. > > Mr. Chesebro also maintained an extensive correspondence with other pro-Trump lawyers charged in the case and played a central role in one of Mr. Trump’s chief plans to stay in office: [a scheme to create slates of pro-Trump electors](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/us/politics/fake-electors-explained-trump-jan-6.html) in states like Georgia, which Mr. Trump had actually lost. > If and when Mr. Chesebro takes the stand in Georgia, he could give an insider’s perspective not only on the legal advice he provided to Mr. Trump, but also on another important issue: the roles that other lawyers, including John Eastman and Rudolph W. Giuliani, played in the fake elector scheme. > > Moreover, having already put in writing that some of Mr. Trump’s postelection legal maneuvers were feints of a sort undertaken for political ends, Mr. Chesebro might also be able to undermine one of the defenses that the former president could use in both of the election prosecutions. > > If Mr. Chesebro were to testify that Mr. Trump’s lawsuits challenging his loss were not designed to win, but merely as ploys to sow doubt about the election, it could cut against Mr. Trump’s possible plan to use a so-called [advice of counsel defense](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/us/politics/prosecutors-trump-blame-lawyers.html). That strategy involves blaming one’s lawyers for giving bad advice. > It remained unclear what effect Mr. Chesebro’s cooperation deal in Georgia might have on Mr. Smith’s federal election case. Like Ms. Powell, Mr. Chesebro has not been charged in Washington and if he were subpoenaed to testify there against Mr. Trump, he could still avoid taking the stand by exercising his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. > > Then again, if he did give testimony in Georgia, any statements he made from the stand would be fair game for Mr. Smith’s prosecutors if they ultimately decided to bring charges. [Gift link](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/20/us/politics/chesebro-plea-deal-georgia-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.4Ew.Thce.awz0aK2fCiKi&smid=url-share) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1857 "2023-10-20T22:35:05Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Have you seen the sentences being handed out for the lowest level participants in the January 6th insurrection cases? That’s a good point. The first ones, the easiest ones to prosecute because the charges were low, were getting probations, fines, etc. Now that they cases are getting to the big fish, the courts are giving sentences ranging up to two decades. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1858 "2023-10-20T22:37:12Z")
I would also have to imagine that Chesebro and Powell can corroborate the statements of Team Normal (Office of General Counsel, et al) as to the vehemence of their objections at the bat-shit crazy proposals the Elite Strike Force Legal Team was making. It sounds like – in the most literal way possible – Team Normal was shouted down by the crazies. I can’t recall what we heard about how much Trump was present for **[every minute of this](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/12/january-6-hearings-testimony-cipollone-meeting)**, but – to the extent he was – it’s hard to imagine that his “on advice of counsel” defense is enhanced because “my people were SO much louder than theirs.” ETA: and … on reflection … this may have been off-topic for this thread. If so … apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1859 "2023-10-20T23:14:24Z")
Anyone brave enough to go look at how Fox news is spinning this? What can they say about two longtime Trump allies pleading guilty and promising to testify? ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1860 "2023-10-20T23:16:02Z")
Not to mention Powell was on fox every other minute peddling her lies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928.md?page=92) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928.md?page=94)