Judge in Georgia Trump Case Became a Judge 6 Months Ago

The Georgia judge assigned to one of the highest-profile cases in the state's history has only been a judge for around six months. But people who have worked with Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee say he has many qualities that could make him the right person to handle the Trump case. The 34-year-old, who was randomly assigned to handle the case, is "fair, he's smart, he listens, he's professional, and he knows criminal law really well," attorney E. Jay Abt tells the Wall Street Journal. Abt says McAfee has the patience needed to preside over the case, and both the prosecution and the defense "could have done so much worse in terms of judge selection."

McAfee, who has a law degree from the University of Georgia, was appointed earlier this year by Gov. Brian Kemp, who had praised him as a "tough prosecutor," the Washington Post reports. McAfee became a Fulton County prosecutor in 2015. He became assistant US attorney for the Northern District of Georgia in 2018 and was named as Georgia's inspector general by Kemp in early 2021. Defense attorney Tom Church tells the Post that McAfee has a reputation for being diligent. "Because he's relatively new, he's going to be especially focused on getting it right and being deliberate," says Church, who has represented clients McAfee prosecuted on drug charges.

Lawrence Zimmerman, another defense attorney, says he's glad he's not in McAfee's shoes. He tells the Journal that while the judge is a "fairly knowledgeable, kind person," he might be overwhelmed by the "vast and voluminous" case, with 19 defendants. He predicts that McAfee will split the case into separate trials for different groups of defendants. (Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows is trying to have his case moved to federal court.)