This is good news with one caveat.

Donald Trump is being investigated up and down the Eastern Seaboard (seemingly), and the majority of the criminal investigations involve the FBI, or the IRS’s very experienced team of investigators and prosecutors. New York’s civil lawsuit has been referred out to the FBI, the IRS, and state prosecutors, but that investigation would likely eventually be brought by DOJ or through the IRS if the evidence is clear. That leaves Georgia as the one-state investigation/potential indictment.

As strong as Georgia’s case may be, speaking for myself, I am uneasy about a single state prosecuting an ex-president. It seems to me that such a volatile situation requires the backing of the full U.S. government (Reasonable people can disagree). I would be more comfortable if Fulton County brought the DOJ into the investigation and prosecution. Surely if the evidence opens up a state crime, the same evidence would constitute a federal crime of some kind. Using the phone across state lines to commit a crime could be offered up. Then the full weight of the national government is behind the decision-making process.

But a chance to hold Trump accountable is positive, even if not an ideal precedent going into the future. Imagine the number of states that would’ve loved to have charged Obama with a crime. It doesn’t matter that he didn’t commit one. But according to CNN, Fulton Co. D.A. Fanni Willis is preparing for December indictments. CNN says, “Merry Christmas.”

The Georgia prosecutor leading an investigation into efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election is aiming to quickly wrap up the grand jury’s work after the midterm elections and could begin issuing indictments as early as December, sources familiar with the situation tell CNN.

She wants to avoid as many cries about politicization or “weaponization” as possible:

I think her hands are tied, certainly, until after the midterms,” said Michael J. Moore, former US attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. “She wants to pull some of the politics out of it, so to ensure that the investigation is not forgotten, instead of sort of rattling the sabers and subpoenaing other witnesses you would just say you know we’re going to take this time to reflect on the investigation.”

And it’s just so wide open for federal charges. It is possible that Willis is working with the FBI and DOJ in the background, not ready to announce the partnership. Unlikely, but possible:

The Georgia probe – set off by an hour-long January 2021 phone call from Trump to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to “find” the votes necessary for Trump to win the Peach State – has steadily expanded. It now covers presentations on unfounded election fraud claims to state lawmakers, the fake elector scheme, efforts by unauthorized individuals to access voting machines in one Georgia county and a campaign of threats and harassment against lower-level election workers.

I may be in a small minority of attorneys that worry about this, but I do. It is very important to hold Trump accountable, but a decision this big should involve “the Nation,” and it appears that Georgia could have brought in the national government. There is nothing stopping DOJ from filing its own concurrent charges in Federal Court, though that would be unusual. All of this is unusual. Including holding Trump accountable and that is the most important consideration in the end.

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[email protected], @JasonMiciak, with Nicole Hickman