Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office dealt a major blow to Donald Trump’s effort to have his Georgia election interference charges dropped with a new round of objections.
The Georgia prosecutor’s office in court documents filed Wednesday pushed back against the president-elect’s demand that his case be thrown out in light of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling, according to The New Republic, which called the development a "massive twist."
Trump returning to the White House might not be enough to hold back his state court proceedings surrounding his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, an attorney for Willis argued.
“Appellant does not specify or articulate how the appeal — or indeed, any other aspect of this case — will constitutionally impede or interfere with his duties once he assumes office,” F. McDonald Wakeford, Fulton County's chief senior assistant district attorney, told the court, according to the New Republic.
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The filing added that Trump’s attorneys did not demonstrate “why state prosecution should be subject to a Justice Department mandate preventing the prosecution of sitting presidents,” ABC News reported.
“The notice makes mention of these concepts without actually examining them or applying them to the present circumstances,” Wakeford wrote in the document. “In other words, Appellant has not done the work but would very much like for this Court to do so.”
The legal filing from Willis’ office argued that the incoming president could still face consequences in his Georgia case. The “lack of legal precedent related to court proceedings against sitting presidents” might offer room for the prosecution to move forward, the New Republic added.
“Given these vague statements, to simply invoke the phrase ‘federalism and comity concerns,’ without more, offers nothing of substance,” the filing said.