Indictments expected soon in the Fulton County investigation into 2020 election interference. Any case brought in Georgia would carry two big differences to the federal indictment.
ATLANTA - Even before expected indictments are handed up by a Fulton County grand jury, we already know two big differences between the Georgia election interference case and the federal indictment made public Tuesday against Donald Trump: pardons and the press.
"The president has no power to pardon anyone in Georgia convicted of a state crime," explained J.Tom Morgan, a longtime former DeKalb County prosecutor.
That means that even if the former president is re-elected, he will be unable to reverse the convictions of anyone found guilty from a possible Fulton County indictment.
"Whoever’s indicted in Georgia needs to take a serious look at their ability to cooperate with the prosecution," cautioned Morgan.
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Trump indictment: What would be different in Georgia?
We already know two big differences between the Georgia election interference case and the federal indictment made public Tuesday against Donald Trump even before expected indictments are handed up by a Fulton County grand jury: pardons and the press.
Some of the people described as co-conspirators in the federal indictment have also been targeted by the Fulton County grand jury: attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark and Kenneth Chesebro.
So far, only Donald Trump has been indicted. Georgia was mentioned 48 times in the Trump indictment.
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But Morgan agrees pardon power may not be the most important difference between the two cases.
The biggest? Television.
Longtime former prosecutor J.Tom Morgan believes a televised trial of Donald Trump would be more important for public perception than a federal trial without cameras.
Cameras are not allowed in federal trials. Mr. Trump also faces prosecution in the state of New York over payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels. But even though photographers were allowed to take still pictures of the arraignment, New York has some of the most restrictive laws in the country when it comes to cameras in the courtroom. Video cameras are not expected to be okayed for any future trial.
In contrast, Georgia law regarding courtroom cameras are some of the most liberal in the country. Cameras are assumed to be allowed inside Georgia courtrooms unless there a limited set of circumstances, usually involving juvenile cases.
Morgan said that makes a potential Fulton County criminal case more important than any other Trump indictment.
"The public can for the first time actually see and hear for themselves what the witnesses and if the defendants choose to take the stand what they have to say about this matter," he said. "And the American public as well as the world can see what these cases are all about."
And for that reason alone, he predicts defense attorneys will try to schedule any Fulton County case last.
"The defense strategy in this will be to use everything known to lawyers to delay, delay, delay the Georgia case."