Lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday asked a Georgia appeals court to dismiss the Fulton County racketeering case against him, saying a “sitting president is completely immune from indictment or any criminal process, state or federal.”
In documents filed with the Georgia Court of Appeals, Trump’s lawyers argued that the 2020 election interference charges against him should be dismissed due to “the unconstitutionality of his continued indictment and prosecution by the state of Georgia” now that “he is president-elect and it will do’. soon to become the 47th President of the United States.”
The case has been at a standstill for most of the year as Trump’s lawyers challenged a ruling that denied their request to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her office from prosecuting the case on the grounds of a conflict of interest.
The appeals court was scheduled to hear arguments on Willis’ disqualification this week, but abruptly canceled the hearing last month without explanation.
In their filing, Trump lawyers Steven Sadow, Jennifer Little and Matthew Winchester argued that Trump’s election victory is reason to dismiss the case altogether. They cited a Justice Department legal memo that said presidents cannot be prosecuted while in office. The Justice Department relied on that memo last month when it decided to dismiss two federal criminal cases against Trump, but the Georgia case is a state case, not a federal case.
The Trump filing said the same principles should apply anyway, urging the justices to take action “well before President Trump’s inauguration.”
The appeals court “should dismiss his appeal for lack of jurisdiction, with instructions to the trial court to immediately dismiss the indictment against President Trump,” the filing said.
The district attorney’s office declined a request for comment.
The Georgia case was one of what were once four criminal cases against Trump. The federal classified documents and election interference cases were officially dismissed last month. Trump was convicted of felony charges in a New York case earlier this year, but his sentencing has been indefinitely stayed as a judge weighs Trump’s requests to dismiss the case.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
