Former President Donald Trump's legal team has moved to dismiss the Georgia election subversion case, arguing that presidential immunity shields Trump from prosecution.
The GOP front-runner's attorneys argue that the indictment from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charges Trump for “acts that lie at the heart of his official responsibilities as President.”
Willis charged Trump last August with 13 counts for attempting to overturn President Joe Biden's 11,779 vote victory in Georgia. The headline-grabbing charge was a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute, a law associated with the American mafia.
Willis' case that Trump and his co-conspirators exerted pressure on Georgia election officials in public and private included testimony from 75 witnesses, from former Trump advisers and attorneys to Peach State office-holders.
As CNN reports:
Trump's immunity claims in the Georgia case, filed on Monday as part of a motion to dismiss state-level criminal charges against the former president, are similar to those argued by his defense team in the federal election subversion case.
“The indictment in this case charges President Trump for acts that lie at the heart of his official responsibilities as President. The indictment is barred by presidential immunity and should be dismissed with prejudice,” the motion filed by Trump's lawyer in the Georgia case reads.
Monday's filing in the Georgia case reiterates what the former president's lawyers have repeatedly asserted – that Trump was working in his official capacity as president when he allegedly undermined the 2020 election results and therefore has immunity.
As such, Trump's indictment in both the Georgia and federal case are unconstitutional because presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted for “official acts” unless they are impeached and convicted by the US Senate.
Reacting to the filing, Georgia State University constitutional law professor Anthony Michael Kreis called the motion to dismiss “so meritless it borders on the comical.”
“Trump was acting as a candidate and not as president,” Kreis commented on X. “Despite using the trappings of his office to browbeat officials, nothing that Trump has been indicted for in Georgia constituted an official presidential act. Engaging in racketeering activity is not shielded by Article II.”
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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