Judge Scott McAfee of the Fulton County Superior Court will oversee the criminal case against Donald Trump and 18 of his allies.Photo:Superior Court of Fulton County
Superior Court of Fulton County
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has been assigned to oversee the closely followed Georgia election interference case, which sawDonald Trumpand18 of his alliesfederally charged in an indictment released late Monday night.
The county’s district attorney, Fani Willis, who led the two-plus-year investigation into Team Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, revealed after the charges were publicized that if the case moves to trial — which looks likely, as Trump is expected to plead not guilty — she intends to try all 19 defendants together.
Willis also said she will request that the trial be scheduled to take place within the next six months, though the timing will ultimately be up to McAfee, a relatively new judge whose own political pressures could in theory impact his treatment of the case.
Here’s everything to know about Judge Scott McAfee as he navigates one of the most closely watched criminal cases in the nation.
McAfee was sworn-in on Feb. 1, 2023. At the time that he was assigned to Trump’s case, he remained the newest member of the court, PEOPLE confirmed.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who appointed Judge Scott McAfee to the Fulton County Superior Court.
McAfee is up for election in 2024
In Georgia, superior court judges are nonpartisan positions, meaning McAfee will not run as a Republican or Democrat. But with the nation’s eyes on him, his treatment of the election interference case — including when he schedules the trial — will almost certainly translate to his likelihood of securing a full term in office.
This is McAfee’s first judgeship
McAfee’s legal experience in Atlanta is extensive, but his seat on the Fulton County Superior Court marks his first time serving as a judge.
Most recently, McAfee served as Georgia’s inspector general, and he previously held positions as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, a senior assistant district attorney in Fulton County, and an assistant district attorney in Barrow County.
McAfee had only been sworn-in as a judge for six months when he was assigned one of the United States' most consequential criminal cases in history.
Judge Scott McAfee will oversee the likely trial of Donald Trump and his co-defendants in Fulton County Superior Court.CJ GUNTHER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
He graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law in 2013
According to McAfee’s LinkedIn profile, he completed law school at the University of Georgia in 2013, where he was a member of the moot court and mock trial teams. Gov. Kemp also noted in a December 2022 press release that McAfee was inducted into the Order of Barristers, an honor society for law school graduates.
He earned his undergraduate degree in 2010 from Emory University, where Kemp says he majored in music and earned received a scholarship to play cello in the Emory Symphony Orchestra. McAfee’s LinkedIn profile shows that he also studied political science.
source: people.com
