Court records showed the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously
dismissed the petition, filed last week by Trump's lawyers, that
had sought to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani
Willis and to quash a special grand jury report that recommended
indictments against certain individuals.
The report has remained largely under seal while Willis
finalizes her investigation. The special panel, which did not
have the authority to issue its own indictments, produced the
report after interviewing about 75 witnesses over the course of
nine months, including some of the state's top officials.
Willis' probe began soon after a recorded January 2021 phone
call in which Trump urged Georgia's top election official to
"find" enough votes to overturn Democrat Joe Biden's statewide
victory, falsely claiming that widespread fraud had tainted the
results.
Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential
nomination, has denied any wrongdoing and accused Willis, an
elected Democrat, of targeting him for political reasons.
Willis has indicated to local officials that she will seek
indictments in the case from a regular grand jury in August.
Trump's lawyers previously filed a separate petition asking the
state judge who oversaw the grand jury to quash its report and
disqualify Willis from the case. The judge has not yet ruled on
that request.
Trump became the first former U.S. president to face criminal
prosecution in March, when New York prosecutors charged him with
falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to a
porn star who said she had an affair with him. Trump has denied
her account.
He was separately charged in federal court in June with
unlawfully retaining classified documents after leaving office
and obstructing efforts to retrieve them.
He has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax)
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