Judge severs Trump's Georgia case, and 16 others, from trial starting in October

The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case has severed the case, ordering that 17 defendants -- including Donald Trump -- will not be tried alongside speedy trial defendants Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell on Oct. 23.

Judge Scott McAfee said severing the remaining 17 defendants was "a procedural and logistical inevitability," and did not rule out the possibility that "additional divisions" may be required later on.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had been seeking to have all 19 defendants in the case to stand trial together, arguing that multiple trials would create an "enormous strain" on the court.

McAfee, in his ruling, noted issues regarding due process and the voluminous discovery in the case.

"The precarious ability of the Court to safeguard each defendant's due process rights and preparation ensure adequate pretrial preparation on the current accelerated track weights heavily, if not decisively, in favor of severance," the order stated.

The judge also laid out numerous logistical concerns about a 19-person trial, saying the courthouse "simply contained no courtroom adequately large enough to hold all 19 defendants."

Trump and 18 others have pleaded not guilty to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.

The former president says his actions were not illegal and that the investigation is politically motivated.

Chesebro, in the DA's indictment, is accused of drafting a strategy to use so-called "alternate electors" to prevent Joe Biden from receiving 270 electoral votes, -- but that that action was justified since Chesebro was "fulfilling his duty to his client as an attorney."