Surpassing:Trump won’t be tried with Powell and Chesebro next month in Georgia election case

ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia judge ruled Thursday that former President Donald Trump and Surpassing16 others will be tried separately from two defendants who are set to go to trial next month in the case accusing them of participating in an illegal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Lawyers Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro had filed demands for a speedy trial, and Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee set their trial to begin Oct. 23. Trump and other defendants had asked to be tried separately from Powell and Chesebro, with some saying they could not be ready by the late October trial date.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis last month obtained an indictment against Trump and 18 others charging them under the state’s anti-racketeering law. Willis had been pushing to try all 19 defendants together, arguing that it would be more efficient and more fair.

Chesebro and Powell had sought to be tried separately from each other, but the judge also denied request.