ATLANTA — The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday rejected Donald Trump’s attempt to halt the Fulton County district attorney’s investigation into whether the former president and his allies interfered in the state’s 2020 presidential election.
The rejected petition was one of two filed by Trump’s lawyers in different Georgia courthouses last week, both seeking to effectively derail District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation into whether there were “coordinated attempts to unlawfully tamper with the election outcome.” of 2020”.
The Georgia high court petition sought to disqualify Willis from investigating Trump and to strike down a special grand jury report he used to help his investigation.
In a brief unanimous ruling, the nine justices on the Georgia Supreme Court said that what Trump was seeking “is not the kind of relief that this Court offers, at least absent extraordinary circumstances that Petitioner has not shown are present.” here”.
“Furthermore, even if the petition were procedurally appropriate, the petitioner has not shown that he would be entitled to the relief he seeks,” the court said.
A representative for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The prosecutor’s office declined to comment.
A similar petition by Trump filed Friday is still pending in Fulton County Superior Court.
Both petitions sought an injunction barring Willis “from presenting any evidence obtained through the special purpose grand jury process to a regular grand jury.”
The special grand jury recommended indicting more than a dozen people, its president, Emily Kohrs, said on NBC’s “Nightly News” in February. Their names have not been made public.
Trump’s petition called on both courts to move quickly because Willis “has indicated that he will use the report, itself the product of a distorted and co-opted process, to secure an indictment against the petitioner in weeks, if not days.”
Trump filed a similar petition in Fulton County Superior Court in March. The judge who oversaw the grand jury investigation, Robert McBurney, has yet to rule on that filing.
Willis began his extensive investigation in January 2021. Trump denied any wrongdoing, saying Willis, a Democrat, is conducting a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
In letters to local law enforcement, Willis has indicated that he would likely seek indictments in the case during the first half of August.
