Fulton County DA rebuffs Trump's efforts to dismiss her from 2020 election probe

May 16 (UPI) -- Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis called on a federal judge to reject efforts by former President Donald Trump to dismiss her from an investigation into his alleged interference in the 2020 election.

Willis said that Trump's arguments that she is politically biased and should be removed from the investigation lacked merit and were procedurally flawed, requesting that they be dismissed without a hearing.

"Most of the arguments are barred by lack of standing, untimeliness, and other procedural flaws, and any remaining arguments are without merit," Willis and one of her deputies, Donald Wakeford, wrote in a 24-page court filing Monday.

Willis' filing also disputed claims by Trump's attorneys that Georgia's law allowing for a special grand jury was unconstitutionally vague.

"They refer vaguely to violations of their own due process rights arising from a 'tainted grand jury process without making a showing demonstrating the existence of either," the motion states.

Monday's filing came in response to a motion filed by Trump in March to remove Willis and also block the release of the report from the special grand jury. Cathy Latham, a former chair of the Coffee County GOP and one of more than a dozen people who allegedly made false claims that they were official electors for the state in December 2020, reportedly filed a motion in step with Trump's.

Willis also argued that Latham's legal challenge was without merit since Latham did not testify or face any charges.

The filing said that Trump and Latham are "not content to follow the ordinary course of law" noting that many of the complaints they lodged against Willis, including things she said and retweeted about Trump, should have been filed much earlier.

"They seek to 'restrain' a criminal investigation before any charges are filed or even sought," Willis wrote of the pair.

Willis has notified the Fulton County Sheriff's Office that it should prepare for a decision on a potential indictment to come in the summer.

Trump's attorneys Drew Findling, Jennifer Little and Marissa Goldberg said Willis' response "failed to address several of the critical substantive issues which were discussed at length in our brief and exhibits" and said they would seek permission to file their own response.

Willis opened the investigation into potential election interference by Trump and allies in 2021. A special grand jury investigation has since heard testimony from about 75 witnesses, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, and Trump's former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.