Trump's bid to block Georgia election probe rejected by state's top court

[July 18, 2023]  By Joseph Ax
 
(Reuters) - Georgia's top court on Monday rejected former President Donald Trump's latest effort to block an investigation into whether he and his allies illegally sought to interfere with the state's 2020 election, weeks before prosecutors are expected to seek formal charges.  

Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event in Council Bluffs, Iowa, U.S., July 7, 2023. REUTERS/Scott Morgan/File Photo

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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