An appellate ruling by the same circuit that is overseeing President Trump’s criminal trial in Georgia could reshape the landscape of that sprawling racketeering prosecution just as its first two defendants are set to go to trial. 

The facts of United States v. Timothy Jermain Pate are colorful, but they generate a case of black letter law. The defendant, Timothy Pate, who goes by “Akenaten Ali” and describes himself as the “heir to the kingdom of Morocco,” was criminally charged with filing false liens against multiple public officials, including  a former secretary of the treasury, Jacob Lew, who will soon be nominated to be America’s next ambassador to Israel.