Here's the latest on Trump's criminal trials:
- Former President Donald Trump attended a scheduling hearing in Florida for his criminal trial on charges that he mishandled classified documents and national security secrets. At the hearing, Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, did not set a date for the trial or choose to delay the case.
- Prosecutors proposed a July 8 start date for the Florida trial, while Trump's lawyers suggested he stand trial Aug. 12.
- Meanwhile, a judge heard summations on misconduct allegations against Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis.
- Willis, who is prosecuting the Georgia election interference case against Trump, has acknowledged that she had a romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade but denied that it was improper.
- Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him in all four cases.
Ga. case: Summations have concluded
Closing arguments have ended in the effort to disqualify Willis in Georgia. McAfee said he will decide in the next two weeks.
Ga. case: The prosecution is done with arguments
The prosecution is done with its closing arguments and Willis has left the room. Sadow, Trump's attorney, is now giving a five-minute rebuttal argument.
Ga. case: Abbate questions why Willis would push for a speedy trial if she financially benefits from relationship with Wade
Abbate questioned the idea that Willis was financially benefiting from her relationship with Wade, pointing to her push for a speedy trial and decision to indict only 19 of 39 potential defendants.
"Why would Ms. Willis repeatedly ask this court to set a trial date as soon as possible if her motive in prosecuting this case was to continue to financially gain, as alleged, from the prosecution of this case?" he said. "It doesn’t line up. It doesn't make sense."
Abbate argued that Willis' accommodations were not lavish.
"She stayed at a DoubleTree in Napa. A DoubleTree. I don't know that to be a lavish hotel," Abbate said.
"So the allegations and assertions that Ms. Willis was living the lifestyle of the rich and the famous is a joke, an absolute joke," he added.
Ga. case: Abbate raises concerns about defense's use of cellphone records
Asked by McAfee about the cellphone records submitted by the defense, Abbate said prosecutors had "several foundational concerns as it relates to the cellphone records."
Abbate alleged that the records "were not analyzed by an expert and not peer-reviewed."
"The normal practices that are used to check data were not used here," he added.
He also said the defense's contention that Wade visited Hapeville 23 times in a period of January-March 2021 is complicated by the fact that Willis didn’t live in the Hapeville area at the time. Out of the 35 times Wade’s handset connected to Hapeville cell towers in 2021, Willis wasn’t there at least eight times, Abbate said.
Ga. case: State argues that there is an inherent partisan bias
In his closing arguments, Abbate cited case law that says a prosecutor is "necessarily a partisan in the case," pushing back on the argument from the defense that Willis is biased.
"The appearance of impropriety is to apply to judges, not prosecutors," Abbate added.
He said that if prosecutors were held to the same impartial standards as judges, "then there would never be a criminal prosecution because the state is always going to appear biased."
Ga. case: Defense attorneys laugh at prosecutor's claim that 'actual conflict' must be found
Defense attorneys Harry MacDougald and Scott Grubman laughed at prosecutor Adam Abbate saying there’s no case disqualifying a district attorney that solely relies on appearance of impropriety.
Every instance of disqualification relied on the finding of an actual conflict of interest, Abbate said.
"The state would contend and submit to the court that the defense must show an actual conflict in order to have the district attorney disqualified, and that actual conflict has to be in the form of showing Ms. Willis, in this instance, received a financial benefit or gain in relation to the outcome of the case," Abbate said.
"I would submit to the court we have absolutely no evidence that Ms. Willis received any financial gain or benefit," he added.
McAfee also appeared skeptical, questioning whether Abbate's contention that an actual conflict needed to be demonstrated in terms of just the outcome of a case or could apply to the prosecution thereof. Abbate agreed that any benefit gained during the prosecution would apply to the outcome of the case.
Ga. case: Willis is listening intently to prosecution
Willis is leaning back in her chair, listening to closing arguments.
Fla. case: Court adjourns with no trial date set
Just before 3 p.m., Cannon adjourned court for the day, with no date set for the start of a trial in the classified documents case.
Ga. case: Prosecution accuses defense of 'material misrepresentations'
The prosecution gets underway with its closing arguments, with Abbate saying, "I am strongly bringing to the court’s attention that the claims that were made were material misrepresentations." He's referencing MacDougald’s claims that the prosecutors knew Bradley was perjuring himself.
Ga. case: Willis is in the courtroom
Willis is in the courtroom sitting with Wade at the prosecution table.